Tagged: winter camping

A Guide to Winter Parking on the Gunflint Trail

North Gunflint Lake Snow Plow TurnaroundBefore heading up the Gunflint Trail for winter camping or ice fishing, make sure you know where to park. Winter parking on the Gunflint Trail often surprises first-time winter visitors because many of the public landings used for summer Boundary Waters trip starts aren’t plowed out. In fact, parking on the Gunflint Trail in the winter can feel like a kind of wink-y, “gotta be in the know” sort of situation.

Since getting all confused by parking right out of the gate isn’t the most auspicious start to the perfect winter camping trip or day trip, we’ve put together a handy guide to winter parking on the Gunflint Trail for every Gunflint Trail Boundary Waters entry point. If you’re a visual person, check out our video tour of Gunflint Trail winter parking areas. 

Winter parking can be confusing on the Gunflint Trail. Give us a call at 218-388-2221 with any questions you have about it. We can help point you in the right direction, regardless of which Gunflint Trail BWCA entry point you’re using. 

Gunflint Trail Parking Guide for Winter Campers and Winter Boundary Waters Visitors

BWCA Entry Point Public Landing Winter Status Winter Parking notes
#43 Bower Trout Not plowed Two options for winter parking: The South Brule snowmobile trail parking lot off the Gunflint Trail just south of the Greenwood Lake Road. There is also frequently a small parking area plowed out on Forest Service Road 152 (Lima Mountain Road) with room for a couple cars. Due to the distance between parking areas and entry points, access without a snowmobile is very difficult. 
#44 Ram Not plowed Two options for winter parking: The South Brule snowmobile trail parking lot off the Gunflint Trail just south of the Greenwood Lake Road. There is also frequently a small parking area plowed out on Forest Service Road 152 (Lima Mountain Road) with room for a couple cars. Due to the distance between parking areas and entry points, access without a snowmobile is very difficult. 
#45 Morgan Not plowed Two options for winter parking: The South Brule snowmobile trail parking lot off the Gunflint Trail just south of the Greenwood Lake Road. There is also frequently a small parking area plowed out on Forest Service Road 152 (Lima Mountain Road) with room for a couple cars. Due to the distance between parking areas and entry points, access without a snowmobile is very difficult. 
#64 East Bearskin Not plowed Contact Bearskin Lodge at 218-388-2292 in advance to make parking arrangements
#62 Clearwater Plowed Sometimes there’s parking lot plowed on the lake off the public landing. If not, make sure to park as far south as possible in the lot to allow enough room for the county snow plow to turn around. Contact Clearwater Lodge at 218-388-2254 with any questions. 
#60 Duncan Plowed For easiest/fastest access, use public parking lot at the very end of County Road 21 (Hungry Jack Lake Road)
#61 Daniels Plowed For easiest/fastest access, use public parking lot at the very end of County Road 21 (Hungry Jack Lake Road)
#47 Lizz and Swamp Not really plowed Best option call a Poplar Lake business (Trail Center, Nor’wester, Poplar Haus, Big Bear Lodge, or Rockwood) to make parking arrangements. There is a very small parking area plowed out at the start of the Poplar Public Lake Access Road off of County Road 92 with room for 1-2 vehicles max. Be careful not to block the nearby driveway. 
#48 Meeds Not really plowed Best option call a Poplar Lake business (Trail Center, Nor’wester, Poplar Haus, Big Bear Lodge, or Rockwood) to make parking arrangements. There is a very small parking area plowed out at the start of the Poplar Public Lake Access Road off of County Road 92 with room for 1-2 vehicles max. Be careful not to block the nearby driveway. 
#49 Skipper and Portage Not really plowed Best option call a Poplar Lake business (Trail Center, Nor’wester, Poplar Haus, Big Bear Lodge, or Rockwood) to make parking arrangements. There is a very small parking area plowed out at the start of the Poplar Public Lake Access Road off of County Road 92 with room for 1-2 vehicles max. Be careful not to block the nearby driveway. Portage Lake can also be accessed by parking at the Little Iron Lake parking lot off the Gunflint Trail. 
#58 South Technically plowed Most winter visitors to South access the lake via the Mayhew Lake Rd. Small parking lot plowed off the Gunflint Trail – be sure not to park anyone in. 
#57 Magnetic Technically plowed Not a recommended winter destination due to bad ice from moving current
#50 Cross Bay Not plowed Not a recommended winter destination due to bad ice from moving current
#51 Missing Link Not plowed A parking area is plowed out at the start of the Round Lake Public Access Road off of County Road 47 (Round Lake Road) with space for 4-5 vehicles. Parking also often available at Tuscarora Lodge and Canoe Outfitters (218-388-2221) if you make arrangements in advance. 
#52 Brant Not plowed A parking area is plowed out at the start of the Round Lake Public Access Road off of County Road 47 (Round Lake Road) with space for 4-5 vehicles. Parking also often available at Tuscarora Lodge and Canoe Outfitters (218-388-2221) if you make arrangements in advance. 
#80 Larch Creek Not plowed Not a recommended winter destination due to bad ice from moving current
#54 Seagull Plowed Best option: park at the Blankenburg Public Landing lot at the end of the Seagull Lake Access Road to access the southeast corner of Seagull Lake. Alternative parking is available at the entrance to End of the Trail campground, but not recommended due to bad ice on the Seagull River.
#55 Saganaga Plowed Both county parking lots for Saganaga Lake (on County Road 81/Moose Pond Drive and County Road 83/Sag Lake Trail) are plowed and free of charge in the winter months. 


Curious about parking at a specific Boundary Waters entry point off the Gunflint Trail this winter? Click on its link below for a video tour.

Seagull Campground Landing
Seagull Landing (Blankenburg)
Saganaga Lake (Moose Pond)
Saganaga Lake (Sag Lake Trail)
Missing Link and Brant (Round Lake)
Duncan and Daniels (West Bearskin)
Clearwater Lake
South Lake (Via Topper)
Lizz, Swamp, Meeds, and Skipper (Poplar Lake)
East Bearskin
Ram, Morgan, Bower Trout

Oh, These Maple Sugar Days

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A couple years ago, somewhat inadvertently, I wrote a series of articles about Minnesota maple syrup producers. I’m no maple syrup expert, but I do always remember that when temperatures climb above freezing in the day and then fall back below freezing at night, that’s when maple sap starts flowing through the tree trunks and maple syrup producers start firing up their big evaporators. Now each spring when the sun shines high and bright in the sky and snow starts drip, drip, dripping off the pine branches and packed trails grow slick and smooth, I crave waffles. I’ve come to think of these days as “maple sugar” days, especially since this is when the hot sun melts the snow into a texture similar to granulated sugar.

February Sunshine on Tuscarora Portage BWCA

We’re not quite at the 2016 maple sap run just yet (it’s currently -3ºF), but like the rest of the state, we had quite the “maple sugar” day on Saturday. I took one look out the window on Saturday morning at the brilliant blue sky and decided two things: 1) I was done taking a Vitamin D supplement until November and 2) It was a good day for adventure.

McKenzie Tuscarora map BWCAW

We jumped on the bandwagon and headed into Tuscarora Lake. Starting on Wednesday, we watched group after group head across Round Lake for the Missing Link portage. By the time Saturday morning rolled around, there were about 10 groups camping or fishing on Tuscarora. I guess we’re all pretty good at reading weather forecasts.

Tuscarora Boundary Waters portage Gunflint Trail winter ice fishing

All the tree stumps were wearing “snow hats” on the hike in on the 426 rod Tuscarora portage. By the time we came back, most of this snow had slipped off.

Tuscarora Lake end of 426 rod portage

We were hoping to meet up with a couple friends camping on the west end of Tuscarora among the islands. We couldn’t spot them at first, so we started ice fishing on the edge of the north bay. I got a bite and lost my minnow, but that was it for action, so we packed up and set off to search for Mark and Dave again.

Ice fishing Marcum fish finder and NILS ice auger Tuscarora Lake Boundary Waters

We finally spotted them along the south shoreline east of the Owl Portage. They really blended into their surroundings with their white anoraks on!

Eastern BWCAW ice fishing and winter camping

Because it was so busy on Tuscarora Lake, U.S. Forest Service wilderness rangers were out making contact with winter campers. They want to make sure that campers are filling out permits and also talk about responsible firewood gathering and fire making during the winter. We really appreciate all the work these folks do so the wilderness can be enjoyed by everyone.

U.S. Forest Service wilderness ranger winter camper check

Although Dave and Andy’s fish finders showed a pretty impressive underwater drop off, fishing was remarkably slow. Apparently the fish were as confused by what was going on with the barometer and thermometer as we were.

Ice fishing on Tuscarora Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

Even if the fish were feeling shy, it sure was a pretty spot to hang out for an hour or so. The cliffs behind us was busy making snowballs by itself as the sunshine melted snow at the top of the cliff which then rolled down the side of the cliffs to the lake ice.
Snow cliffs on Tuscarora Lake BWCAW Tuscarora Lake cliff lichen Tuscarora Lake Boundary Waters winter Gunflint Trail

By the time we hiked out, the temperature was 42 degrees in the shade. Our sunburned faces attest that we got more than our fair share of Vitamin D. The perfect maple sugar day!

Day Trip Ice Fishing on Bat Lake

“People always catch fish on Bat.”

When Nathan, a family friend who happens to take a lake trout fishing focused winter camping trip each Martin Luther King weekend, told us that last fall, we knew we had to check it out. After all, Bat Lake is practically just a hop, skip, and jump from Tuscarora. So just four days into the Boundary Waters winter lake trout season, Andy and I headed across Round Lake to see if we could prove Nathan wrong.

Thanks to a bunch of ambitious winter campers who headed into the Boundary Waters just after Christmas, there are miles of very well packed trail from Round Lake through the Brant Lake entry point route. Since we weren’t pulling sleds and we also snowmobiled across Round Lake, we were able to reach Bat Lake in less than two hours.

Portage from Brant into Gotter Lakes Winter Camping on Brant Lake in the Boundary Waters

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Down the stairs on the portage from Gotter Lake into Flying Lake

Gotter Portage Stairs

Along the hike, I kept stopping to take photographs of the icicles on the shoreline cliff faces. This cliff face on Flying Lake is just past the portage into Green Lake.

Icicles on a rock face on Flying Lake winter Boundary Waters

When we reached Bat Lake, we set up speedily. With just six inches of pure blue ice, it doesn’t take long to drill enough holes for tip-ups and jigging, even with a hand auger!

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Still, by the time we had lines in the water, it was after noon, so we weren’t exactly capitalizing on the “morning bite.” Although the action was a little slow for a lake the DNR says has abundant (but small) lake trout, we were able to prove correct Nathan’s theory that people always catch fish on Bat Lake. About an hour into our afternoon on Bat Lake, I reeled up this little guy. Andy unhooked him quickly and popped him back into the drink.

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While we waited for more action on the lines, we took a timeout to make some coffee and cocoa as we watched the tip-up lines. With the shadows growing long, we knew it was time to start the trek home.

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After a stop to chat up some winter campers, we walked home with a beautiful sunset at our backs. It’s amazing what a little snow and ice can do to transform a boggy lowland into a spectacular vista.

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We’ll be back, Bat Lake.