BWCA Entry Point, Route, and Trip Report Blog
April 26 2026
Entry Point 30 - Lake One
Lake One entry point allows overnight paddle only. This entry point is supported by Kawishiwi Ranger Station near the city of Ely, MN. The distance from ranger station to entry point is 21 miles. Access is a canoe landing at Lake One.
Number of Permits per Day: 13
Elevation: 1230 feet
Latitude: 47.9391
Longitude: -91.4792
My son Remy and I, and my friend Keith and his son Charlie put our canoes into Lake one at 9:30 Monday morning after dropping off a car at the Snowbank Lake landing. Lake One can be tricky to navigate. On our way to Lake Two we turned East too early and ended up paddling about a mile out of our way into a dead-end bay before we realized our mistake. We blamed the fact that Lake One was split between Fisher Maps #10 and #4 for our error. If the entire lake had been visible at once on a single map, we would not have made the wrong turn. Once we got back on course we portaged the 30 rods into a pond and then portaged the 40 rods into Lake Two. The weather was nice, and there was a bit of a tail wind out of the West. We stopped for lunch on the shore of Lake Two. After lunch we canoed through the North end of Lake Three and into Lake Four. We stopped for the night at a campsite on the West shore of Lake Four, just North of the channel heading toward Hudson Lake. We had to battle swarms of mosquitoes as we set up the tents. We then had a nice refreshing swim. Because we had brought steaks along for the first night, we didn't go fishing.
On Tuesday morning we had a bacon and eggs breakfast then packed up camp and headed out in our canoes. As we canoed past our campsite, we realized that Remy & I had left our hammocks pitched between trees. We landed again and quickly packed them up. Once again we had beautiful weather. We paddled East and completed 3 short portages before entering Hudson Lake. The 105 rod portage into Lake Insula was exhausting! Lake Insula is a large gorgeous lake broken up by multiple islands and penninsulas. We had lunch at a campsite on a large island just East of Hudson Lake. It felt like we had a tail wind as we were heading East, and then as we turned North it seemed like the wind shifted and was at our backs once again. We navigated Lake Insula flawlessly and camped for the night on the island just West of Williamson Island. After setting up the tents and a refreshing swim, Remy & I got back into the canoe and tried to catch some fish. We had no luck! At 9PM that night, just as we were going to bed, a thunderstorm rolled through. That night I was awakened several times by the loud croaking of bullfrogs from the shallows around our island. What noisy neighbors!
By Wednesday morning the weather had cleared, but the wind was now coming from the Northwest, pretty much in our faces. We paddled to the North end of Lake Insula and tackled the largest portage of our trip. The 180 rod walk to Kiana Lake actually seemed easier than the 105 rod carry into Lake Insula. We headed onward into Thomas Lake where we really started feeling the headwind. We finally made it to the campsite just Northeast of the portage into Thomas Pond in time for lunch. After lunch we proceeded across Thomas Pond and into Thomas Creek after hiking across the famous Kekekabic Trail. We managed to easily run the rapids in Thomas Creek and avoid the 2 short portages. We camped for the night on Hatchet Lake at the northern campsite. It was cool and windy, so we didn't swim. There was lots of threatening weather going by to the North of us, but we stayed dry. After supper we canoed back to Thomas Creek to fish and look for moose. No luck on either count, but we did see a beaver swimmming.
The weather was nice again Thursday morning, but the wind was out of the West which was the direction we were heading. We portaged into Ima Lake and canoed across it. Before portaging into Jordan Lake, we watched a bald eagle sitting in a tree get harrassed repeatedly by a seagull. The narrow channel leading into Jordan Lake is quite beautiful. It is narrow like a river with big rock outcroppings. We paddled across Jordan, Cattyman, Adventure, and Jitterbug Lakes. We found the Eastern campsite on Ahsub Lake taken, so we camped at the Western campsite which had a great place for swimming in front of it. There was a very brave loon in front of the campsite who didn't seem to mind if we got close to it. We tried our luck at fishing, but only caught 1 smallmouth which was too small to eat. Between 5:00 and 7:30 that evening we saw a number of canoes heading across Ahsub Lake from Disappointment Lake to Jitterbug Lake. We weren't sure where they were planning to camp, but it was getting late.
On Friday we awoke again to good weather. We paddled the length of Disappointment Lake and portaged into to Parent Lake and then on to Snowbank Lake. It was July 4th, and as we entered Snowbank Lake the sounfd of firecrackers reminded us we weren't in the wilderness anaymore. After a brief splash war on our way across Snowbank, we made it to the landing and our car was still there. What a great trip!
Number of Permits per Day: 13
Elevation: 1230 feet
Latitude: 47.9391
Longitude: -91.4792
My son Remy and I, and my friend Keith and his son Charlie put our canoes into Lake one at 9:30 Monday morning after dropping off a car at the Snowbank Lake landing. Lake One can be tricky to navigate. On our way to Lake Two we turned East too early and ended up paddling about a mile out of our way into a dead-end bay before we realized our mistake. We blamed the fact that Lake One was split between Fisher Maps #10 and #4 for our error. If the entire lake had been visible at once on a single map, we would not have made the wrong turn. Once we got back on course we portaged the 30 rods into a pond and then portaged the 40 rods into Lake Two. The weather was nice, and there was a bit of a tail wind out of the West. We stopped for lunch on the shore of Lake Two. After lunch we canoed through the North end of Lake Three and into Lake Four. We stopped for the night at a campsite on the West shore of Lake Four, just North of the channel heading toward Hudson Lake. We had to battle swarms of mosquitoes as we set up the tents. We then had a nice refreshing swim. Because we had brought steaks along for the first night, we didn't go fishing.
On Tuesday morning we had a bacon and eggs breakfast then packed up camp and headed out in our canoes. As we canoed past our campsite, we realized that Remy & I had left our hammocks pitched between trees. We landed again and quickly packed them up. Once again we had beautiful weather. We paddled East and completed 3 short portages before entering Hudson Lake. The 105 rod portage into Lake Insula was exhausting! Lake Insula is a large gorgeous lake broken up by multiple islands and penninsulas. We had lunch at a campsite on a large island just East of Hudson Lake. It felt like we had a tail wind as we were heading East, and then as we turned North it seemed like the wind shifted and was at our backs once again. We navigated Lake Insula flawlessly and camped for the night on the island just West of Williamson Island. After setting up the tents and a refreshing swim, Remy & I got back into the canoe and tried to catch some fish. We had no luck! At 9PM that night, just as we were going to bed, a thunderstorm rolled through. That night I was awakened several times by the loud croaking of bullfrogs from the shallows around our island. What noisy neighbors!
By Wednesday morning the weather had cleared, but the wind was now coming from the Northwest, pretty much in our faces. We paddled to the North end of Lake Insula and tackled the largest portage of our trip. The 180 rod walk to Kiana Lake actually seemed easier than the 105 rod carry into Lake Insula. We headed onward into Thomas Lake where we really started feeling the headwind. We finally made it to the campsite just Northeast of the portage into Thomas Pond in time for lunch. After lunch we proceeded across Thomas Pond and into Thomas Creek after hiking across the famous Kekekabic Trail. We managed to easily run the rapids in Thomas Creek and avoid the 2 short portages. We camped for the night on Hatchet Lake at the northern campsite. It was cool and windy, so we didn't swim. There was lots of threatening weather going by to the North of us, but we stayed dry. After supper we canoed back to Thomas Creek to fish and look for moose. No luck on either count, but we did see a beaver swimmming.
The weather was nice again Thursday morning, but the wind was out of the West which was the direction we were heading. We portaged into Ima Lake and canoed across it. Before portaging into Jordan Lake, we watched a bald eagle sitting in a tree get harrassed repeatedly by a seagull. The narrow channel leading into Jordan Lake is quite beautiful. It is narrow like a river with big rock outcroppings. We paddled across Jordan, Cattyman, Adventure, and Jitterbug Lakes. We found the Eastern campsite on Ahsub Lake taken, so we camped at the Western campsite which had a great place for swimming in front of it. There was a very brave loon in front of the campsite who didn't seem to mind if we got close to it. We tried our luck at fishing, but only caught 1 smallmouth which was too small to eat. Between 5:00 and 7:30 that evening we saw a number of canoes heading across Ahsub Lake from Disappointment Lake to Jitterbug Lake. We weren't sure where they were planning to camp, but it was getting late.
On Friday we awoke again to good weather. We paddled the length of Disappointment Lake and portaged into to Parent Lake and then on to Snowbank Lake. It was July 4th, and as we entered Snowbank Lake the sounfd of firecrackers reminded us we weren't in the wilderness anaymore. After a brief splash war on our way across Snowbank, we made it to the landing and our car was still there. What a great trip!
Perent Lake - father son trip
by Prosper
Trip Report
Entry Date:
July 14, 2011
Entry Point:
Hog Creek
Number of Days:
4
Group Size:
2
Trip Introduction:
1st visit to Perent Lake. Have been wanting to visit Perent
with 10 year old son since it seemed like an easy destination
lake to get to with good fishing.
Day 1 of 4
Thursday, July 14, 2011 Stayed at Camp 61 Bunkhouse in Beaver Bay. Woke up around 6:45am. Rented canoe from Sawtooth Outfitters. Breakfast across from entry to Sawbill Trail at Coho Cafe at ~8am. Drove about 45 min. to get to entry point #36. Put in around 10am. Hog Creek about 2.25 hr paddle, lots of turns/winds a lot, narrow. Ran into shore a bit more than expected. Ethan’s paddling a bit less helpful than hoped for but not out of range of what was expected. Only one beaver dam pullover. Another 25 min. of canoeing looking for a campsite. 1st 2 island sites taken. Got to site #12 around 1:45pm. Ethan was really excited to get an island site. Overall, nice campsite. Fire grate/sitting area on peninsula. Room and good tent pads for at least 3 tents. 3 canoe landing areas. Good swimming area right at canoe landings. Walk to latrine pretty short. No logs around fire grate for sitting. No fishing from shore b/c too shallow and gradual. Saw a muskrat or otter right by campsite while filtering water. Ate lunch of seaweed, mangos, beef jerky, trail mix and set up camp. E napped for about an hour while I finished setting up camp (hang bear bag, clothes line, hammock). Then canoed and fished a bit just NNW of campsite. Didn't catch anything. Dinner was enchiladas, which initially were good but then E said made him feel nauseous. Taught E how to set up Jetboil and had him set it up and take it apart most of the time. Generally did a good job but needed guidance to do it well. Partly sunny all day and very comfortable in shorts/t-shirt, temp. in low 70's. Overall, a good day of getting to the campsite and getting set up. Ethan was very appreciative of going camping. We were both very much looking forward to the next few days. 
Day 2 of 4
Friday, July 15, 2011 Woke up around 7am but neither of us slept well due to itchiness (E) and buzzing like mosquitoes were in tent (me). Ate breakfast of skillet which E declared was very good. Fished east side of northern bay in am and only action was Ethan caught a fish w/ a Banjo minnow but the fish got away before we could get it into the canoe. Forgot the net so went back to get the net. Went back to northern bay to fish and started to drizzle and rain. Pulled up at island to wait out the rain which was heavy at times then went back to camp for lunch. Lunch was smoked salmon on crackers, cheese and crackers and seaweed. After lunch we both napped. Fished NE bay in pm but did not get anything. On the was to the NE bay saw a bald eagle soaring high above from canoe on east side of campsite island. Dinner was organic mac ‘n cheese which tasted a bit sour and E did not like, corn (very good) and brownies (took a long time to cook and didn’t cook completely). Complete overcast all day with am on and off drizzle and some steady, sometimes heavy rain, no rain in pm, temp in low to mid 60's, breezy from SE and damp/humid. 
Day 3 of 4
Saturday, July 16, 2011 I woke up ~6am and slept great. E woke up ~8am, slept well except for itching. Overcast, very calm wind and water and fogged in to start the day, although pretty warm and humid. Very eerie feel to the start of the day. Ate another breakfast skillet. Got onto water around 9:15am and canoed to west side of lake to explore and fish. Tried to teach E about navigation with a map and compass but he wasn’t very interested which was a bit frustrating to me. Skies cleared to partly cloudy and then mostly sunny and became more and more breezy from SSW as the afternoon went on but then died down in the evening. Temp started in mid-60s and got to low 80s. Didn't catch anything all morning. Ran into a couple of guys who looked like they knew what they were doing while fishing. They said they’ve caught ~30 fish (walleye and northern pike) all over in about 10-15 feet of water with leeches. We went to north peninsula campsite to have lunch of beef jerky, mangos, cheese and crackers, trail mix. Very nice elevated campsite with awesome fire grate/great room with nice logs for seating overlooking water, room for 3-4 tents but not much shade and rocky canoe landing. Swam for about an hour to the surrounding islands. Lots of fun. Water was very comfortable. E wanted to duel with sticks on the rocks on one of the islands. E was asking lots of questions about how far it was to our campsite, if we could swim to it and how long it would take and moss one the rocks. He also asked a lot of questions about swords and what they could or could not be made of. Seemed like the black flies came out that day since there weren’t very many before that but they were all over the place while and after swimming and for the rest of the trip. Then canoed directly south from peninsula campsite to western shore of southern part of main lake body. Just as getting across main body of lake saw 2 bald eagles perched high in a tree across main body of lake. As we got closer one of them took flight. Pretty cool. Fished for about an hour but no action at all. Ethan wanted to nap so canoed back to campsite ~3:15pm. Got pretty windy. Laid in hammock and took a short nap while E napped in the tent until ~6:15pm. Swam off of our campsite for about 35 minutes. Then canoed around our island while E trolled w/ a Gulp leech on a jig. No action. Ate dinner of pad see ew which E liked very much. Was pretty warm in the tent all night. Almost full moon rising at ~10pm was really bright and very cool looking. 
Day 4 of 4
Sunday, July 17, 2011 Woke up @ 6:15am. Took down camp and got a quick bite to eat (mangos, beef jerky, trail mix). Got onto the water ~9:45am. Mostly cloudy, wind clam, very warm and humid with temp going up to low 80s. Water like glass. Saw a perched bald eagle from afar and then a few minutes later probably the same eagle soaring high above while on the SE area of Perent Lake. Took ~25 min to get to Hog Creek. Saw a small beaver pretty early on the creek. Got to entry point ~12:15pm. Drove out and returned canoe w/o problems. E napped for ~1 hr. Stopped at Blackwoods in Duluth @2:30pm to eat. E had 1/2 slab BBQ ribs (adult sized and ate almost all his meal) and I had pan fried walleye. Very yummy. Got home to Oak Park, IL ~11:25pm.[paragraph break]General comments: a. Perent Lake very pretty with lots of islands and bays but also fair amount of people on lake and competition for campsites, good for easy BWCA trip. b. Lots of mosquitoes the whole time except when windy and some black flies especially after Sat noon. c. A bit disappointed with fishing given Perent has a reputation for being a good walleye and northern lake. However, just about everyone else only caught 1-2 fish all weekend except guys using leeches who looked and talked like real fishermen, we only used Gulp, Banjo minnows and crank bait and it was the middle of July. d. Hard to steer canoe when breezy/windy due to lighter weight Ethan in the bow. e. Water filter OK for 1.5 bottles than slow with lots of backflow into collection tube until element scrubbed, possibly due to high tannin content of water(?) f. Overall, a great father-son bonding trip to a very nice lake. Would visit Perent again especially with newbies to the BWCA.
discuss this trip report (9 comments) - last post on August 14, 2011