Find here a list of popular canoe routes near the mid-trail area of the Gunflint Trail. The listed trips can all be completed in one day – no overnight permits or plans needed. Routes vary from short 2-hour paddles to all day 10-hour excursions. Explore the options below for more detailed descriptions, route maps, difficulty levels, and photos to help plan your trip!
Rose Lake Falls is a short day trip into the BWCA wilderness. Enjoy beautiful Rose Falls as well as the famous Stairway Portage down to Rose Lake. Experience breathtaking vistas at the top of the portage, looking across into Canada.
© St Paul Pioneer Press
Featuring 2 separate waterfalls within a few hundred feet of each other, Johnson Falls makes a fun day trip into the BWCA; plan a full day for this paddle. With two different routes available, one can canoe to Johnson Falls without hitting the same lake twice until you return back to Flour Lake.
The Clearwater Palisades can be a great trip for the beginning canoer or it can offer a longer adventure for the more experienced. The Palisades have a great view that can only be accessed by water.
Enjoy two beautiful overlooks with this moderate distance day trip into the BWCA. No portaging of canoes/kayaks are required. Take in the beauty of Clearwater Lake and the stunning overlooks above Mountain as you gaze upon the Canadian shoreline on one side, and the American shoreline on the other.
Old Logging Camp Tour is a short day trip into the BWCA wilderness. This canoe route brings you by old logging camps, accessed by railroad back in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, on Flour and East Bearskin lakes.