BWCAW Quota Permit — Hog Creek (EP36)

Hog Creek (EP36): what makes it different

Hog Creek (EP36) is a paddle-only overnight entry point in the Tofte District that drops you down a short stair to a slow, twisting creek and then into Perent Lake. Most trips are an out-and-back to Perent. Recreation.gov showed 4 groups a day in 2026.^1,2,3

Getting to the start

The Forest Service lists EP36 as overnight, paddle only, in the Tofte District, run from Tofte. Access is a 15-rod portage to Hog Creek leading into Perent Lake.^1,2

One guide has you take the Sawbill Trail (Cook County Road 2) inland from Tofte, pass Temperance Lake Campground about 12 miles out, and turn left at a signed intersection onto Cook County Road 33, narrower and rougher, for about nine miles west. Stay left onto Road 7 (Perent Lake Road) for about three miles, then turn right at the sign for Kawishiwi Lake and Hog Creek onto Forest Road 354, rougher still, for about two miles.³

The lot is small and well kept, with an outhouse in the back corner and a bulletin board that holds the day-permit box. Kawishiwi Lake (EP37) and the Forest Service's Kawishiwi Lake Campground are about two more miles down the same road, which makes the campground a handy place to sleep before a trip.³

The first leg

From the lot, a short downhill portage of 15 rods ends at the Hog Creek canoe landing. A June 2024 solo paddler on the Sawbill blog noted it is not a drive-up landing like most, because you carry gear down short but steep steps to the water.^3,8

At the landing you paddle left, downstream, with almost no current. Only the last stretch of the creek, about 3.1 miles of its roughly 14.5, is paddled on the way to Perent Lake.^3,4

The creek has one small portage on the way down. The Forest Service and the Sawbill report say 15 rods, rocky but well worn and easy to find. BWCA Wild's creek page says about 9 rods, so sources differ. Expect a few beaver dams to lift over between the landing and Perent.^1,8,4

Terrain and difficulty

Hog Creek is twisty, slow and mostly free of obstacles, so BWCA Wild suggests it for beginners. It runs through swamps and bogs, bugs can be heavy, and in a very dry year you may have to push the canoe through shallow spots.⁴

A 2015 Cloquet River Press column described about two hours of canoeing down dark, tea-colored water on a creek that kept doubling back, which the writer found claustrophobic. The 2024 Sawbill paddler found the many bends hard to steer solo, though the current helped.^9,8

Perent Lake is a large, mostly shallow basin of about 1,598 acres, 38 feet at its deepest, with northern pike and walleye in the DNR survey.⁵

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Hog Creek (EP36), overnight paddle: 4 groups a day. The most common daily total on Rec.gov across May to September 2026. About 17 dates in the window read 0.²

Rules specific to this entry point

No motors. Both the Forest Service table and Recreation.gov give the method of travel as paddle only.^1,2

BWCA Wild notes that Hog Creek is underused, so a permit on short notice is sometimes still available. Rec.gov showed 4 groups a day, so a short-notice try is reasonable, but do not count on it for a summer weekend.^4,2

Where it leads

Perent Lake holds 20 campsites, six of them on islands. The western sites near the Perent River outlet usually get fewer visitors, and the sites near the Hog Creek mouth tend to fill quickly in peak season. No major wildfire has hit the area in about 250 years.⁵

The only way on from Perent by water is west up the Perent River, which has 13 portages between the lake and Lake Isabella. Friends of the Boundary Waters lists the one-way Island River to Perent trip at about 21 miles over two days, with 17 portages totaling 414 rods, and puts a shuttle vehicle at the Hog Creek lot.^5,10

A one-way trip from Hog Creek to Little Gabbro Lake works with a car shuttle, and local outfitters can set it up. A rough, unmaintained portage of roughly 640 rods leads from Perent to Kawishiwi Lake, and BWCA Wild calls it overgrown and hard to follow.^3,5

What trip reports say

A June 16 to 18, 2024 report on the Sawbill blog went in around 9:30 a.m. and reached Perent in time for lunch. The paddler took the first island campsite, large and rocky with trees for a hammock, and watched bald eagles. A layover day was spent in camp. On the way out, the paddler left at 8:30 a.m. to beat weather, saw pre-storm fog over the lake, and was caught in heavy rain up the creek.⁸

A 2015 Cloquet River Press column from a father-and-son fishing trip describes camping on an island on Perent, catching walleye, rock bass, northern pike and perch, and waking to dense fog and then a rain squall.⁹

When to go from here

Both written trips mention fog and rain around the lake. The creek is the part that changes with water: BWCA Wild says that in an unusually dry year you may push the canoe through shallow spots, and the 2024 paddler found the climb back up the creek took longer than the ride down.^4,8

Compare with nearby entry points

• Kawishiwi Lake (EP37): Kawishiwi Lake (EP37) is about two miles further down the same road and has a canoe landing you can drive up to, with no portage. It shows 7 groups a day against 4 at Hog Creek, and its single route runs to Lake Polly rather than to Perent.^3,7,2
• Isabella Lake (EP35): Isabella Lake (EP35) is also paddle only, reached from the Isabella side with a 70-rod portage, and shows 2 groups a day. A shuttle between it and Hog Creek avoids doubling back along the Perent River.^1,2,6
• Sawbill Lake (EP38): Sawbill Lake (EP38) has a canoe landing and showed 11 groups a day in 2026, against 4 for Hog Creek. Hog Creek needs county roads 33 and 7 and then Forest Road 354, each rougher than the one before.^1,2,3

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, Hog Creek, Sawbill Lake and Kawishiwi Lake divisions, Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
3. BWCA Entry Point 36 - Hog Creek, BWCA Wild. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Hog Creek, BWCA Wild. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Perent Lake, BWCA Wild. Read 2026-10-15.
6. BWCA Entry Point 35 - Isabella Lake, BWCA Wild. Read 2026-10-15.
7. BWCA Entry Point 37 - Kawishiwi Lake, BWCA Wild. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Perent Lake Trip Report 6/16 to 6/18, Sawbill Canoe Outfitters. Read 2026-10-15.
9. Column on a canoe trip down Hog Creek into Perent Lake, Cloquet River Press. Read 2026-10-15.
10. One Way to Perent Lake, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. Read 2026-10-15.
11. Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Permits, Superior National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Hog Creek (EP36) permit