BWCAW Quota Permit — Lizz & Swamp Lakes (EP47)

Lizz & Swamp Lakes (EP47): what makes it different

Lizz & Swamp Lakes is a paddle-only entry on the Gunflint Trail where you cross Poplar Lake first, then take a 51-rod portage into Lizz Lake or a 100-rod portage into Swamp Lake. Only 3 groups a day can enter, and it is the quick door to Caribou and Horseshoe lakes.^1,2,4

Getting to the start

The landing sits on the west end of Poplar Lake. From Grand Marais you follow the Gunflint Trail about 32.5 miles to Old Gunflint Trail Road (County Road 92), which is roughly 3 miles past Trail Center, then follow signs for about a mile to the water.³

Plan the drop-off in two steps. Unload gear at the water, then drive back up and park at the top of the hill and walk the stairs down. The only restroom is up by the parking lot, not at the landing.³

The Forest Service table lists this entry as Gunflint District, Grand Marais, overnight paddle only. Questions go to the Gunflint Ranger Station, which Recreation.gov lists at 218-387-1750.^1,2

The first leg

You are not in the wilderness yet when you launch. One guide measures about 1.9 miles of paddling southeast across Poplar Lake to the Lizz portage, which sits at the back of a small bay on the south shore, roughly halfway down the lake.^3,4

The Forest Service and Recreation.gov both give 51 rods from Poplar into Lizz Lake and 100 rods from Poplar into Swamp Lake. Hobby guides measure these carries differently, with 63 rods for Lizz and 86 for Swamp, so trust the permit's numbers and expect the trail to feel a little longer or shorter than a guidebook says.^1,2,3

The Swamp portage is on the far east end of Poplar Lake, a paddle of about 3.3 miles from the public landing. Swamp is the harder way in, with about 160 rods more to reach Caribou Lake. Lodge guests on Poplar tend to use it; from the public landing, Lizz is closer.^3,6

Lizz is a narrow 23-acre pond, and only its south half is inside the Boundary Waters. You cross the wilderness line about halfway down it.⁵

Terrain and difficulty

Lizz Lake drains south by a small creek into Caribou, which is 246 acres, shallow, and has eight campsites. From the Lizz side the usual next carry to Caribou is around 70 rods; the outfitter writes it as 68 and the hobby guide as 73.^5,6,7

The trail from Poplar into Lizz is described as an easy walk. The route over to Meeds Lake from Caribou is a different story, with a boulder-filled creek bed on the first of two carries and rough landings.^3,6

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Lizz & Swamp Lakes (EP47), overnight paddle: 3 groups a day. Recreation.gov showed 3 for 136 of the 153 dates from May to September 2026; the rest read zero.²

Rules specific to this entry point

This permit is for the Lizz and Swamp doors only. Recreation.gov points anyone who wants to enter at Meeds Lake to Entry Point 48, a separate permit, even though both start from Poplar Lake.^2,1

Where it leads

Lizz is the usual gateway to Caribou, Horseshoe, Vista and the lakes west toward Gaskin. A Horseshoe base camp needs three portages from Poplar (63, 68 and 20 rods by one outfitter's count) and Horseshoe has seven campsites.^4,7

From a Horseshoe camp, an outfitter lists day trips south to Vista for walleye, down to Winchell Lake for its cliffs, and a short Allen, Jump and Gaskin loop. North of Caribou, Meeds is another fishing option.⁷

What trip reports say

A July 2023 solo report on Never A Goose Chase left the Poplar shore at 7:45 and finished the double portage onto Lizz about an hour later. The wind came from the south and slowed the paddle, and nobody was on Lizz, Caribou or Horseshoe on that Tuesday.⁸

The same writer found the first two Horseshoe sites empty but the next few taken, and took the middle site where the lake forks. By the weekend, Caribou felt like a train station and only one small, rocky southwest site was left.⁸

The 2023 report also mentions a moose with two calves on Horseshoe, a Winchell day loop of roughly 10 miles, and fierce mosquitoes on the portages.⁸

In a June 2013 Poplar Lake Loop thread on bwca.com, a reader of the report called out blowdown on the Lizz portage, and others said they had used the same route and loved it. Blowdown there is worth checking before you go.⁹

When to go from here

The hobby guide says the Lizz permit is usually gone for any given day, so the pressure is on the date more than the month. Meeds and Skipper, by the same guide, often have spare permits at the last minute.⁴

Weekends are when Caribou fills. The 2023 solo trip saw empty camps midweek and a full lake on a Saturday.⁸

Compare with nearby entry points

• Cross Bay Lake (EP50): Cross Bay (EP50) shares this entry's 3-group daily quota but starts on the Cross River, with a 50-rod and a 40-rod carry to Ham Lake and then 24 rods to Cross Bay. Lizz & Swamp needs one open-lake crossing of Poplar and a single first portage instead.^1,2
• Missing Link Lake (EP51): Missing Link (EP51) starts from a landing on Round Lake and has one 142-rod portage, nearly three times Lizz's 51 rods, but Recreation.gov showed 5 groups a day against 3 here.^1,2
• Duncan Lake (EP60): Duncan Lake (EP60) leaves from West Bearskin Lake with a 70-rod and an 80-rod portage to reach Rose Lake, and it showed only 2 groups a day on most dates, one fewer than Lizz & Swamp.^1,2

Sources

1. Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Entry Points, Superior National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
2. Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Permit, Lizz and Swamp Lakes division and 2026 availability, Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
3. Entry Point 47 - Lizz Lake and Swamp Lake in the BWCA, BWCAwild.com. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Poplar Lake near the BWCA, BWCAwild.com. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Lizz Lake in the BWCA, BWCAwild.com. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Caribou Lake in the BWCA, BWCAwild.com. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Horseshoe Lake Base Camp, Tuscarora Lodge & Canoe Outfitters. Read 2026-10-15.
8. BWCA Entry Point 47: Minnesota's Beautiful Finger Lakes, Never A Goose Chase. Read 2026-10-15.
9. Trip Report - Poplar Lake Loop 2013, BWCA.com forum. Read 2026-10-15.
10. Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Permits, Superior National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Lizz & Swamp Lakes (EP47) permit