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Border Route Trail BWCAW permit

Border Route Trail itinerary

Every mile marker on the Border Route Trail route, in order, with the distance and elevation change between each one, and which permit each stretch needs. To set alerts for your dates, go to the Border Route Trail BWCAW permit page.

Which permit covers this route

The Border Route Trail. One reservation is a trailhead or zone plus an entry date; you roam after that, issued by reservation.

Track Border Route Trail BWCAW permitSee live availability
Stops mapped
10
Across the markers
53.0 mi
Published route length
53 mi
Ascent, at least
346 ft

How long it takes: 5-7 days. That is the figure the permit publishes. This page does not divide the route into days, because no source records which stop you sleep at.

The stops below are the route's published mile markers, in order, with the elevations recorded against each one.

Distance and elevation change on each leg are the difference between the two published figures either side of it, so the legs are arithmetic on the markers and nothing more.

The Border Route Trail route, stop by stop

  1. Mile 0.0

    1,744 ft

    Border Route Trail West Trailhead (Round Lake / Gunflint Trail)

    Western terminus on the Gunflint Trail, connecting to the Kekekabic Trail.

    8.3 miles · 171 ft up to High Cliffs Overlook

  2. Mile 8.3

    1,915 ft

    High Cliffs Overlook

    1.1 miles · 206 ft down to Lonely Lake

  3. Mile 9.4

    1,709 ft

    Lonely Lake

    5.8 miles · 60 ft down to Bridal Veil Falls

  4. Mile 15.2

    1,649 ft

    Bridal Veil Falls

    3.2 miles · 166 ft up to Topper Lake

  5. Mile 18.4

    1,815 ft

    Topper Lake

    2.3 miles · 165 ft down to Mucker Lake

  6. Mile 20.7

    1,650 ft

    Mucker Lake

    5.3 miles · 2 ft up to Rose Falls

  7. Mile 26.0

    1,652 ft

    Rose Falls

    5.4 miles · 6 ft up to Rove Lake

  8. Mile 31.4

    1,658 ft

    Rove Lake

    20.5 miles · 194 ft down to John Lake

  9. Mile 51.9

    1,464 ft

    John Lake

    1.1 miles · 1 ft up to McFarland Lake / Border Route Trail East Trailhead

  10. Mile 53.0

    1,465 ft

    McFarland Lake / Border Route Trail East Trailhead

    Eastern terminus near the Gunflint Trail's end, where the trail connects onward to the Superior Hiking Trail.

Getting a Border Route Trail for the dates you want

Planning the route is the easy half. Border Route Trail dates go fast, and the ones that come back are cancellations. They return to the booking system without warning and are gone again quickly. PermitSnag checks Border Route Trail around the clock and alerts you the moment a date opens.

Set up Border Route Trail BWCAW permit alertsWhen Border Route Trail dates open up