BWCAW Quota Permit — Daniels Lake (EP61)

Daniels Lake (EP61): what makes it different

Daniels Lake is a paddle-only entry off Hungry Jack Road on the Gunflint Trail. You cross West Bearskin Lake, make one carry of 60 rods, and land on a deep lake trout lake with four campsites. Only one overnight group a day gets in, and the way on to Rose and Rove lakes is a very long portage.^1,2,3,4

Getting to the start

The Forest Service lists EP61 in the Gunflint District, run from Grand Marais, as an overnight paddle-only entry. Recreation.gov describes it as access from West Bearskin Lake, with a 60-rod portage to Daniels Lake and a 665-rod portage to Rose Lake.^1,2

From Grand Marais, one guide has you follow the Gunflint Trail about 29 miles to Hungry Jack Road, just before Trail Center. You turn right and drive 2.4 miles to the lot on your left.³

The lot is shared with the Duncan Lake entry point (EP60) and has a pit toilet reached by a signed trail. A short carry from the lot crosses Hungry Jack Road between Hungry Jack Lake and West Bearskin Lake.^3,5

The first leg

The first water is West Bearskin Lake. You paddle about 0.6 mile northeast across it, and the Daniels portage can be seen from the landing. The trip back from the portage to the landing takes about ten minutes.^3,5

The Forest Service, Recreation.gov and the lake pages on BWCA Wild all say 60 rods for the Daniels carry. The entry point page on BWCA Wild says 50 rods. Plan on 60, and call the carry fairly easy and well kept.^1,2,5,3

Terrain and difficulty

Daniels Lake is deep, about 90 feet, and sits at roughly 1,648 feet above sea level. The fish are lake trout and smallmouth bass.⁴

West Bearskin is a big lake too, 78 feet deep, with lake trout, northern pike, smallmouth bass and bluegill. The YMCA Camp Menogyn sits along its south shore, near the lot.⁵

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Daniels Lake (EP61), overnight paddle: 1 group a day. One was the most common daily total on Rec.gov across May to September 2026. BWCA Wild's entry page also gives a daily quota of 1.^2,3

Rules specific to this entry point

West Bearskin has one campsite, just west of the Daniels portage, but it lies outside the wilderness boundary, so it needs no BWCA permit.⁵

The Long Portage beyond Daniels is shared with the Border Route Trail, a hiking trail of roughly 65 miles across the eastern half of the BWCA. Expect hikers on that carry.⁶

Where it leads

Daniels has four campsites. One (#668) is on the south shore, the first site east of the West Bearskin portage. Another (#670) is the easternmost site near the Rove and Rose portage. A third (#667) is the easternmost on the north shore. A fourth (#2062) is the westernmost on the north shore and is hard to spot from the water.⁴

An outfitter's campsite review rates all four slightly above average. It notes that the Daniels Spur Trail, which joins the Border Route Trail, passes through two of the sites, so early-morning hikers can walk through camp.⁷

From the north end of Daniels, BWCA Wild lists 83 rods to the Long Portage junction, then 325 rods to Rove Lake or 380 rods to Rose Lake. The Forest Service gives 665 rods to Rose in one figure, so the two sources split the same carry differently.^4,1

Rove Lake is a 74-acre border lake with good smallmouth fishing and no campsites, and the Long Portage between Rove and Rose runs 660 rods.⁶

What trip reports say

BWCA Wild last visited the Daniels portage in July 2022 and the lake itself in October 2024. It describes the carry as generally well maintained and fairly easy, and the paddle across West Bearskin as short.^3,4

That same visit counted four campsites on the lake and could not find the hidden one on the north shore, so do not count on every site being easy to see from the water.⁴

The Clearwater lodge review says the lake often has permits open longer than nearby lakes do, which makes it a decent last-minute pick, and that going farther to Rose or Rove means a hard carry out. BWCA Wild's long-carry distances back that up.^7,4

When to go from here

With one permit a day, the lake has at most one entry party at a time, and the outfitter review says permits often stay open late.^2,7

Compare with nearby entry points

• Duncan Lake (EP60): Duncan Lake (EP60) uses the same lot and the same first lake. The Forest Service lists a 70-rod carry to Duncan and an 80-rod carry to Rose, against 60 rods to Daniels here.¹
• East Bearskin Lake (EP64): East Bearskin Lake (EP64) allows paddle or motor up to 25 horsepower on East Bearskin only. Daniels has no motors and sits behind a portage.¹
• Clearwater Lake (EP62): Clearwater Lake (EP62) allows paddle or motor with a 10 horsepower limit on Clearwater only, while Daniels is paddle only.¹

Sources

1. Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness Entry Points, Superior National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
2. Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Permit, Daniels Lake division, Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
3. Entry Point 61 - Daniels Lake, BWCA Wild. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Daniels Lake, BWCA Wild. Read 2026-10-15.
5. West Bearskin Lake, BWCA Wild. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Rove Lake, BWCA Wild. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Daniels Lake campsites, Clearwater Historic Lodge and Canoe Outfitters. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Permits, Superior National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Daniels Lake (EP61) permit