BWCA Campsite 1684 on Basswood River

The view is spectacular of this quiet section of the Basswood River. You can hear the falls in the background, but it is not overpowering. When I visited, the trail from the portage was muddy. The kitchen and tent pad area are up high. The shoreline is smooth, sloping rock in both directions. The tent pads are OK. Since everything is on a rock with shallow soil, you may have an issue with stakes. Admin Note: The number and locations of campsites in and around the Basswood Falls portage were confusing based on the maps that I had and the existing campsite reviews. The reviews implied that there was a campsite missing on Paddle Planner, so I added it. However, when I explored the area, I found out that there was not a missing campsite; instead, all the maps had the campsites in the wrong locations. I have corrected the locations of the campsites, removed the "extra" campsite, and associated the reviews with the correct campsites. There are four campsites along the portage and two on the northern peninsula. One of the northern campsites can be reached from the portage; the other requires paddling.

There's a better campsite closer to the falls. This is the second site on the portage. I had guided a trip earlier in the year and stayed at that site. We tried to stay there for this trip too (with a different group) but it was full. I took the group farther down the trail to this one. It's not too bad of a portage to get to and would be a good way to break up the mile. The site is really incredibly scenic. There is good swimming just off shore. The fire pit and cooking area is a little better than it was (we put some work into it.) The biff is in a really awkward spot (between the campsite and the portage) meaning that if anyone comes to check if the site is full they walk right next to the biff. The tent pads work for pretty good sized tents (we had a 6 man and a 5 man on the site.) All in all a pretty decent site.