Banadad Lake
Making Connections
- Portage North, 50 rods, to Rush
- Portage West, 94 rods, to Sebeka
Maps
- Fisher
F-13, No. Gunflint Trail,
Gunflint, Bearskin Lakes
- McKenzie
4, Gunflint Lake
Links
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Scale 1:42840
Full image approximately 4
miles square |
Description
Banadad is one of many long and narrow
lakes, with a distinct east/west orientation, which mark this eastern end
of the BWCA. Over 2½ miles long it is barely an eighth mile
wide over much of that length. It is one of the larger lakes on the route
that runs west from Poplar to Long Island,
located only a mile south of the BWCAW border and but two miles south of
County Road 12, the Gunflint Trail. Near its far eastern end, a 50
rod portage north connects with the west end of Rush;
from the Northwest corner, a 94 rod carry drops some 70' into Sebeka. Campsites
Banadad supports four established campsites,
two on rocky islands, one tucked away in its northeastern arm, and the fourth
along the northern shore of the narrow east end. The island site at
the west end is superb, and one of the few places in the BWCA where we've
found Canada Yew (Taxus canadensis)
growing. This dark evergreen shrub is very tasty to moose, which have
browsed it into obscurity in much of the northwoods. Planning Considerations
The route through Banadad is probably
the least traveled of the east/west routes through this region. Of the traffic
from Poplar Lake (outside the BWCAW but providing access to several entry
points), to the hub that is Long Island, most
will drop farther south, to the Pillsbery/Henson,
or Gaskin/Winchell
routes. In large part this is due to the longer and more challenging
portages on the Banadad route. At the east end, access is available
through One Island Lake, and a 220 rod portage,
or Skipper, with a 320 rod carry. Beyond
Banadad to the west, one faces four portages totalling nearly 600 rods before
reaching the next campsite, on Long Island. Wildlife
This is moose and wolf country, so don't
be surprised if one of the local packs lets loose in the middle of the night.
Game fishing is poor though the lake does support some numbers of White
Sucker (Catostomus commersoni),
Northern Pike (Esox lucius),
and Burbot (Lota lota).
Notes and Comments
Banadad is a rocky, boreal gem; well worth
the trouble of getting there. The name means "lost" in the Ojibwe language
of the region.
Last updated on
11 April, 2004
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