Trout Lake
Making Connections
- Portage Northeast, 700 rods, to Norway Creek
Road
- Portage Southeast, 141 rods, to Little
Trout
- Portage East, 40 rods, to Pine Creek
- Portage East, 260 rods, to Pine
Lake
- Portage South, 60 rods, to Lake
Vermilion
- Portage South, 160 rods, to Lake
Vermilion
- Portage West, 200 rods, to Merritt
- Portage Northwest, 170 rods, to Oriniack
Maps
- Fisher
F-1, West
Lake Vermilion, Vermilion, Trout, Lost Lakes; F-2, Bear
Head Park, Eagle's Nest, East Vermilion; F-8, Vermilion,
Trout Lake, Vermilion River, Bootleg Lake
- McKenzie
No. 15, Trout Lake
Links
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Scale 1:85682
Full image approximately 8
miles square |
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Description
Trout is a huge lake in the Vermilion
drainage, anchoring the southwest corner of the BWCAW, 18¾ miles
SSE of Crane Lake and 20¾ miles WNW of Ely. Some 7½
miles long on its north/south axis and up to 4 miles across, Trout is the
5th largest lake in the wilderness and the largest lake contained entirely
within the borders of the BWCAW (ie, not on the Canadian border).
It covers a whopping 7,641 acres and touches some 78 miles of shoreline.
Though with a maximum depth of 98' it is not particularly deep for a lake
of this size, more than ¾ of the lake is in the deep water zone,
more than 15' deep. The only major stream entering the lake is Pine
Creek, the mouth of which is tucked away in a bay on the eastern shore behind
Cramer Island. Trout drains to the south, the outlet stream dropping
36' in its short run (under a ¼ mile) to the north shore of Lake
Vermilion.
The Fourth of July windstorms of 1999 cut a broad swath across the Trout
Lake area, with numerous patches of heavy blowdown everywhere but at the
extreme northern and southern ends of the big lake. was largely confined
to the area north of Stony Island and Norway Point. The heaviest
damage includes the area around of the Merritt
portage, the southern portion of Pine Island, Stony Island, Norway Point,
Trout Rock, and the area between Trout and Little
Trout.
Portages
Trout is connected to the outside world, and other portions of the BWCAW,
by seven maintained portages.
- to Lake Vermilion, a 160 rod (½
mile) truck portage brings in boats and motors from the south.
- to Lake Vermilion, a shorter, 60 rod
carry
- to Pine Lake, a 260 rod, up-and-over carry
heads east, climbing 75' in the first 70 rods, then dropping back 78'
in a gradual descent over the final 190 rods, into the end of a narrow
arm on the western shore of Pine.
- to Pine Creek, an easy, 40 rod carry along the south bank of Pine
Creek heads upstream, providing access to the Chad
Lake portage and the chain of lakes east towards Cummings.
- to Little Trout, a 141 rod, up-and-over
portage out of the North Arm of Trout climbs gradually to an elevation
some 40' above the lakeshore, then drops down the other side, into the
northwest corner of Little Trout, with no overall change in elevation.
- to Oriniack, an up-and-over portage of
just over ½ mile heads to the northwest, gaining some 75' of
elevation to the crest of the trail, then dropping back some 85' to
Oriniack's southeastern shore.
- to Merritt, a 200 rod, up-and-over portage
climbs 38' in the first 75 rods before dropping back 53' to the eastern
shore of Merritt.
Campsites
Trout supports over 40 established campsites
scattered along its 78 miles of shoreline. While this is a large number
of sites, they are often separated by miles of open water so that, at any
given point, the number of campsites realistically available to a canoe
party is much more limited.
Planning Considerations
Trout is unlike any other BWCAW lake for
the wilderness paddler. Its great expanses of open water are not particulary
hospitable to small, muscle-powered watercraft. It is popular with,
and quite accessible to, the motorized visitor. And it tends to be a destination
in and of itself. While a few lakes on the periphery of the wilderness
can only be reached by way of Trout (Oriniack,
Merritt), the big lake does not fit in well as
a link in the region's canoe routes, short of the occasional dodge in and
out along the eastern shore.
Trout is included in Beymer,
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area, vol. 1, The Western Region, routes
1, 2, 3, and 12.
Wildlife
Trout is named for its Lake Trout (Salvelinus
namaycush), and also supports populations of Northern Pike (Esox
lucius), Pumpkinseed Sunfish (Lepomis
gibbosus), Rock Bass (Ambloplites
rupestris), Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus
dolomieui), Walleye (Stizostedion
vitreum), White Sucker (Catostomus
commersoni), and Yellow Perch (Perca
flavescens).
Notes and Comments
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Last updated on
11 April, 2004
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