Brule Lake (EP41) Gear Checklist
Brule Lake is the entry where the water, not the carry, sets the pace. You launch from a gravel landing with no portage onto the largest lake in the wilderness that bans motors. The writing we found is about wind: a Friends of the Boundary Waters loop that tells you to cross early and build in a spare day, four days stuck on an island site, and a spring paddle through black ice and fog. A June 2022 trip adds flooded carries, a beaver dam and old maps that show portages in the wrong place. People pack fishing tackle, bug defenses and footwear that can get wet.
What shapes your gear on Brule Lake
- Landing, lot and quota
- You can drive to the edge of the lake and unload on a smooth gravel landing in shallow water, with zero rods of portage. The big lot also serves the Brule Lake Trail and Entry 42, the Brule-only entry. Entries 41 and 42 share one daily quota of 7. The access road is 5 miles of Brule Lake Road. The Forest Service lists the entry as a boat landing at a large lake with several campsites.
From BWCAwild.com: Entry Point 41 - Brule Lake in the BWCA and Superior National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Entry Points
- How big the lake is, and a count that disagrees with itself
- One directory page gives the lake 4,272 acres and nearly 38 miles of shoreline and says it is the largest non-motorized lake in the wilderness. Its own header counts 28 campsites, and its prose says over 30. It lists six portages leading out. It adds that a strong wind makes crossing a poor idea.
- Wind and the spare day
- The Friends loop from this entry says to cross early when winds are typically low, that a west wind builds rollers which stop open canoes going north or south, and that your schedule should hold a day of being wind bound. An island-site visitor in July 2018 was wind bound for 4 straight days with whitecaps that never eased. Another says landings are poor in a stiff east wind.
From Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and Paddle Planner
- Ice can linger into mid-May
- On a May 2013 paddle, after ice-out ran 14 to 20 days late, the put-in was clear at 50 degrees. Farther east the paddlers met black ice up to a foot thick, and ice fog that turned to whiteout after lunch. They crept along narrow leads between the shore and the ice.
From Paddling Light
- What a June 2022 loop north found
- A former outfitter crew member saw the lot less than half full and about 6 occupied sites. A portage into South Cone Lake lay under a foot of water. The long carry from Davis into Kiskadinna had a beaver dam about 100 rods in, with hip-deep water behind it, and was one 300-plus-rod carry, not two as one map showed. The Friends loop lists the Davis carry at 176 rods.
From Sawbill Canoe Outfitters blog and Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness
What the agency requires on Brule Lake
Fires only in the steel grates
Campfires are allowed only inside the steel grates at designated campsites, and a fire restriction can require a stove. Collect firewood well away from camp.
What hikers carry on Brule Lake
An extra day of food for wind
The Friends loop tells paddlers to plan one wind-bound day on Brule. One visitor spent four straight days pinned at an island site.
From Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and Paddle Planner
Tackle for walleye, bass and northern
Visitors report an evening walleye bite from shore at island sites, good walleye fishing off the north side of one island, and bass and northern in the bays to the north. The June 2022 trip caught a bass in the north bay.
Bug protection for May camps
A May 2016 visitor loved the kitchen and tent pad at an island site but called it very buggy, the only fault they found.
From Paddle Planner
A hammock for sites with trees
The visitor who sat out four days of wind said the site had plenty of space and hammock trees. Commenters count three to four good tent pads there.
From Paddle Planner
Footwear for flooded carries
In June 2022 the South Cone carry stood under a foot of water, and the water behind the Davis carry's beaver dam was hip deep. The writer could walk across the dam itself.
A current map and a skeptical eye
The June 2022 writer says some maps start the South Cone carry at a nearby campsite when the real landing is about 100 yards past it, and one map split a long carry into two.
Cold and wet weather gear in a late spring
The May 2013 paddlers met ice, a light rain and fog on a day that began at 50 degrees. Their closing line is a Minnesota proverb that blames the gear, not the weather.
From Paddling Light
9 people can go on one permit. Split this list between them so nobody carries two stoves.
Plan a trip hereWhat hikers regret or leave behind on Brule Lake
A tight schedule
The loop guidance and the four-day wind stay both show that the lake can erase a plan, which is why the guidance asks for a spare day.
From Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness and Paddle Planner
An exposed island camp in an east wind
A May 2017 visitor had a hard time coming and going at an island site in a stiff east wind and fog, and said the landings are not good in that wind. A July 2017 visitor notes the site sits in open water and takes wind-driven waves.
From Paddle Planner
Hunting firewood right beside camp
The June 2022 trip found camps near the landing picked over for firewood, but plenty of dry down wood a minute or two past the latrine.
Gear questions for Brule Lake
Is there a portage at the Brule Lake entry point?
No. The entry is a boat landing, and you can drive up to the water to unload. A BWCA directory lists the portage from the lot as 0 rods.
From Superior National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Entry Points and BWCAwild.com: Entry Point 41 - Brule Lake in the BWCA
How bad does the wind get on Brule Lake?
Bad enough that one visitor was wind bound for 4 days. A Friends of the Boundary Waters loop says to cross early and keep a spare day, and warns that a west wind can stop open canoes heading north or south.
From Paddle Planner and Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness
How many campsites are on Brule Lake?
The Forest Service says several. One directory page lists 28 in a header and says over 30 in its text, so treat the count as about 30.
From Superior National Forest (USDA Forest Service): Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Entry Points and BWCAwild.com: Brule Lake in the BWCA
Can there still be ice on Brule Lake in mid-May?
In May 2013 a cold spring left ice up to a foot thick on part of Brule Lake while the put-in was clear. Ice-out that year ran 14 to 20 days late, so check conditions in a late spring.
From Paddling Light
Sources
- Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Rules and Regulations · Superior National Forest (USDA Forest Service) · Agency
- Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Entry Points · Superior National Forest (USDA Forest Service) · Agency
- Entry Point 41 - Brule Lake in the BWCA · BWCAwild.com · Blog
- Brule Lake in the BWCA · BWCAwild.com · Blog
- Brule to Long Island Loop · Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness · Blog
- BWCA Campsite 954 on Brule, visitor comments · Paddle Planner · Trip report
- Brule to Cones to Winchell · Sawbill Canoe Outfitters blog, Jesse Bergeson · Trip report
- Spring(?) Kayaking on Brule Lake in the BWCA · Paddling Light, Bryan Hansel · Trip report