BWCA Portage 642 (Sawbill to Smoke)

A pretty easy flat portage. Just stay on the boards on the Smoke end.

Very standard portage that seems to be frequently used. Rocky landing on Sawbill side, mostly flat trail with a few muddy spots, and a pretty wide and clear path. Smoke landing consists of a boardwalk through a weedy area that can be tricky with more than one canoe. 3/10.

Sawbill portage landing is a bit awkward, but manageable if you're the only canoe there. Trail was OK, with just a few muddy spots. The boardwalk/platform on the Smoke side is a unique experience. You will see some boggy grass on either side of the platform...do NOT try to step on it to get into the canoe. My paddling partner found out the hard way. It was a heck of a good laugh! 4/10

Do not step off of the boardwalk or platform. It was interesting loading canoe solo from the platform. Portage itself was easy on Aug. 1st.

Sawbill end is rocky. Portage has some gradual ups/downs, rocks and mud holes after some heavy rains on this trip. Smoke end has a plank board walk out to a plank platform landing. Platform in high water can be under/float.

Portage is flat with some rocks and mud. The planks on the Smoke Lake side are in good shape. Ground by where you put in can be deceiving though. One person in our group went right into the lake because the muck on the surface looked like solid ground.

The portage is flat with some rocks in the trail, nothing too bad. The landing on the Smoke side has been rebuilt a bit since the photo tab1324 posted last fall. The wood planks aren't sinking anymore and felt very solid.

rocky landing on Sawbill side, with a floating (sinking) boardwalk landing on Smoke side. A bit rocky and muddy throughout portage, but overall not bad. Took 45 minutes to double portage with three guys - could have singled in about 20