Good for you! I'll assume that you'll want to minimize portaging, change campsites once, and have beautiful scenery. The Ely area might be hard to meet all those criteria. My first thought is the Numbered Lakes, but they were pretty badly burnt in 2011 and are just recovering. My second thought is to put in at Moose River North (EP16), camp on Nina-Moose Lake, then travel up to the Tiger Bay area. There's an oblong island north of Tiger Bay with a 6-star campsite (on a 5-star system) at the south end. I'd stay there two nights and then come back the same way, camping on Nina-Moose again. However, this involves a bunch of portages, though none of them is particularly difficult, the longest being about 90 rods.

You might also look at an out-and-back on the Little Indian Sioux River (EP14).

Another option is Fall Lake. Travel all the way up to Basswood Falls, should take a few days.

Or Moose Lake up to Ensign and back.

If you want to look at the east side, I strongly recommend putting in at SeaGull Lake (south side of EP54) or Saganaga Lake (north side of EP54). From SeaGull, it's four portages to Lake Ogishkemuncie and a couple of excellent campsites. Now if you are strong portagers and are willing to stretch the trip to 5-7 days I might have a few more ideas.

My suggestions would really depend on how comfortable you are with portaging. Can you do several short portages? Or one long one? Minimize the portaging or none at all?

Another thing to think about is how comfortable you are with big water. Would you be OK being windbound for a day or two if needed? Or are you on a tight schedule with no wiggle room? As an example, I got back from Trout Lake last week. Trout Lake is the largest lake completely within the BWCA. I had planned to come out on a Sunday, but because of wind, I had to wait until Tuesday. It was too big of a risk going out in the waves on Sunday and Monday (25-35 MPH winds), so I waited. Luckily I had the flexibility that I could wait.

The suggestions that Gavia and Bill gave you are both good. 

You probably already have your permit, but just incase, I have my two cents to add.  I'm not sure of your wifes age and endurance level, but on a short trip, I'm assuming you'd like to keep the portaging limited?  With that said, I would strongly advise against going up to Tiger Bay on a short trip, I personally love this trip and am actually doing it again this year, but there are 9 portages to get there and on a 3-4 day trip, you will spend much of it portaging and working pretty hard to get to your destination.  I would hate for your wife to hate this trip due to exhaustian.  If you were doing a week, I'd recommend it, but not on a short trip.

My suggestion for a 3-4 day trip would be:  Go in at Sawbill on EP38.  They have an outfitter right at the EP.  You can load off of a dock.  Paddle about 1/4 of the way up Sawbill and take the 28 rod portage to Alton; the easiest 28 rod portage you'll ever take.  Once on Alton, head north.  There is a nice 5 star campsite at the very north end.  Base camp there if possible, if taken, just find any other site on Alton.  Good news is, your only about 1-2 hours in at this point, so you'll have plenty of energy to find another spot if taken.  For a day trip, you can paddle north up the Kelso river, which is a pretty paddle that will take up to 4 or 5 hours on a liesure paddle.  There is a popular rock called the Doleman Rock that you can set out to find on the Kelso River.  Another day can be spent fishing if you like to fish, or day paddling to other lakes.  If you're wife likes this trip, I'd shoot for a more difficult one the next time.  In my humble opinion, this is one of the best "dip your toes into the water" trips for any newbie.  It's not dificult at all and can be very enjoyable and make you want to come back for more.  It's honestly not my favorite destination, (but it's still the BWCA and is awsome) but I have gone there twice, once with 4 kids and 4 adults (all greenies) and once with my dad, brother and nephew who were also greenhorns.  Out of the total of 11 greenies, I have been back to the boundary waters on more adventurous trip with 10 of them.

Hope this helps! God Bless,

Darin

Originally Posted by: eelpout

I was in the BWCA 35 years ago and 35 years younger. I am now in my mid 60's and my wife and I (never been to BWCA) want to plan a trip next year. I plan to partial outfit ouselves up by Ely. I would like suggestions for a 3-4 day trip that would give us a taste of BWCA. Thanks in advance.

Jim

Edited by user Wednesday, February 24, 2021 4:16:18 PM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified