Northwind Lodge Activities

Hiking Trails:

Canoe Day trips:

These are both routes that take you through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and require that you have a day permit (no charge & reservations needed). Metal cans and glass bottles are not allowed with the exceptions of fuel containers and personal toiletries. Plastic bottles are OK, but you have to pack everything out with you.

The Wood Lake to Jasper Lake Route is diverse in terrain with all size lakes to paddle on. There are 8 portages which vary from 5 rods in length (rod =16.5 feet) to 210 rods. Paddle time to complete this route is about 8-10 hours of leisurely paddling assuming moderate weather conditions.

The Ojibway Lake to Lake One route is generally started from Lake One and paddled back to Ojibway. It’s a beautiful route with different terrain than the Wood Lake loop. 5 portages ranging from 5 rods to 195 rods.

Both of these trips are moderately rugged on the portages. Please take this into account when planning this trip and talk to us for more details.

Kayaking: If you’ve never been in a kayak only because you’ve seen all of those ESPN film clips of gonzo whitewater kayakers flipping over, don’t worry. That’s really NOT how true kayaking is at Northwind Lodge or anywhere else for that matter. The kayaks we use are general, recreational kayaks which have big coskpits and are quite stable. The biggest fear most people have is flipping over and not being able to fall out of the kayak. That doesn’t happen with our Old Town kayaks. Unless you are doing something really unusual (can’t imagine what that would be), you will fall out of the kayak and float there alongside of with your lifevest on. Tipping these kayaks is also a very infrequent occurence. It’s possible, but pretty hard to do because you have to literally lean back and hard to one side. Why you would do that, would be difficult to understand as well. If you just sit comfortably and normally, it’s a LOT of fun whether you know how to swim or not! So relax and enjoy! A lot of our guests get so hooked on kayaking it remains a really high point of their stay at Northwind Lodge!

Surrounding Waters of Northwind Lodge :Fishing, Scenery & Bumps in the road:

1. Jasper Lake – Excellent smallmouth/largemouth bass, northern pike, sunfish, perch, some walleyes. Very little motor traffic, few people overall, some summer homes and a few private residences. Generally quiet and low-keyed in wilderness setting with no public boat access to the water but there is a portage from Jasper to Moose Lake. Clear water. 33 feet max depth. Fishing generally best in 8-12 feet of water mornings and evenings on overcast days.

2. Wood Lake – 210 rod portage to lake from parking lot. Paddle only, BWCA lake with no cans or bottles allowed. No cabins on lake. Rental rowboats & canoes available for Northwind Lodge guests at landing. Good walleye fishing, northerns, bass and scattered large sunfish and perch. Dark water. Max depth 21 feet. Fishing generally best in 8-10 feet of water from 8 am to 5 pm. Definitely a day-trip adventure. Pack a lunch, bring plenty of water to drink.

3. Tofte – Stocked rainbow trout lake with splake (speckled trout – lake trout hybrid) also available. Boat access, no motor limit. Crystal clear water. Some summer dwellings but generally very quiet. Trout stamp required. Best fishing in spring and fall on overcast days with Little Cleo spoons, night crawlers. During June – August, cowbells are effective but cumbersome to use.

4. Ojibway Lake – fairly low-keyed, lake with good smallmouth population (lots of little ones) plus some lake trout. Also walleyes and northern, but few overall. Very clear, deep, waters. Rocks and reefs scattered about. Many cabins, some water-skiers (city dwellers in summer homes – they don’t know any better) during July and August. Also has several noisy electrical generator operators in the summer homes group of federal leaseholders located on the Ojibway Summer Homes Road. Ojibway serves as BWCA entry point #29 to North Kawishiwi river through adjacent Triangle Lake. No motor restrictions or permits necessary to enter.

5. Triangle Lake – Beautiful lake with good walleye population. They can be tricky to catch however with the bet fishing on cloudy, overcast days and west wind. Lots of little bass, big northerns, few scraggly weed beds. Few rustic cabins with more building development on the way (trendy thing – everybody wants to be Jeremiah Johnson). Historic roller portage allows you to pull your boat from Ojibway to Triangle by hand. If you have a large heavy boat, forget it. Can be a nice day trip. Bald eagle nests present on the islands. Few cabins. Not a lot of people usually on this lake – yet.

6. Glacier Pond I – Located right on the Ojibway Lake Summer Homes road across from Tofte Lake Road. Figure on bringing a canoe to this one as it has a difficult access. Stocked with rainbow trout only (test-tube trout – they don’t reproduce). Trout stamp required. Some nice trout, good place for flyrod from canoe. No cabins or development.

7. Glacier Pond II – Just past GP I . Park on left before you get to gate. Beautiful pond with natural brook trout and stocked splake (hybrid test-tube trout). Great for flyrod and canoe. Trout stamp required. NOTE: You may walk past the gate with to launch your canoe legally. The gate is in place to regulate auto traffic on the road beyond it. The rest of the road beyond the gate is private property.
   
8. Section 12 Lake – A beautiful little lake with small mouth, bluegills, and walleyes. Very clear water and the walleyes can be very spooky and tough to catch. Lots of little bass and some bigger ones scattered about. The shores of this lake are very steep drop-offs. Jumping out of your canoe 5 feet from shore in the main part of the lake will put you in well over your head. Great lake to drop a canoe in and enjoy for a morning or an evening with spinning gear or flyrod. No development.

9. Moose Lake – Can be portaged to from Jasper. Huge lake chain with LOTS of development along with the BWCA line about 2 miles from the Jasper Lake portage. Tough lake to fish. Lots of boat motor traffic, huge canoe outfitters, towboats, resorts and lots of home development. Water can be very rough when the wind blows. Occasional jetskiers and other assorted yahoos just outside of the BWCA line. Major entry point to Boundary Waters Canoe Area and is accessible by road to public access just 4 miles from Northwind Lodge. It may be better to access it through the public access which is closer to the BWCA line which has various watercraft and permit restrictions.

10. Lake One, Snowbank Lake, North Kawishiwi River – While not shown on this map, these are some beautiful waters which offer scenic views and fairly good fishing depending upon the time of year. Snowbank is huge, motorized, but not terribly busy. Due to it’s size there are some windy days when it’s considered by some to be too dangerous travel upon. While it has a good walleye population, they are very difficult to find. It’s noted for lake trout which is a completely different type of fishing. It also has plentiful though smaller,smallmouth bass and tons of small rockbass. Lake One is a busy entry point with canoers entering the BWCA, but it is generally quiet as it is non-motorized. It has variable fishing and beautiful scenery. Requires the ability to handle a canoe, read a map and use a compass to navigate safely. N. Kawishiwi River offers a great day trip on a less traveled route with some beautiful rapids and short portages. Also should use a map for this one. Access to these waters is located only 10-15 minues from Northwind Lodge on the Fernberg Road.