ROUTES/PORTAGES FROM ANGLEWORM LAKE:
To BWCA Entry Point 20 Parking Lot: Walk the 716 rod portage (this is also the Angleworm Lake Trail)
To Home Lake: Walk the 65 rod portage
To Trease Lake: Walk the 428 rod portage (you first follow part of Angleworm Lake Trail to the four way intersection, then head down the Trease Lake portage)
Access to: Angleworm Lake Trail
Angleworm Lake
Kawishiwi Ranger District
ANGLEWORM LAKE CAMPSITES: Campsite 1 (#1894): Campsite on north end of lake, west shore Campsite 2 (#1900): Southern most of the three campsites in the southwest corner of the lake. Accessible from Angleworm Hiking Trail Campsite 3 (#1898): Northmost of the three campsites in southwest corner of the lake. Accessible from Angleworm Trail. Poor condition as of 2023 Campsite 4 (#1899): Middle of the three campsites in the southwest corner of the lake. Accessible from Angleworm Hiking Trail
Campsite 5 (#1895): Likely CLOSED as of 2023 (not verified). Was the north most campsite on east side of lake. Accessible from Angleworm Trail.
Campsite 6 (#1896): Second campsite from south end of lake on east shore. This is the site with the old fuel tanks. Accessible from Angleworm Trail
Campsite 7 (#1897): South most campsite on east shore of the lake. Not easy to access from the Angleworm Trail Campsite 8 (#Angleworm1): Unknown campsite number. Second campsite from north end of lake on west shore. Accessible from Angleworm Trail
Angleworm Lake is a long, relatively shallow lake that has one of the longest (if not the longest) parking lot to the lake portages in the BWCA. The portage of 716 rods is also the "stick" section of the Angleworm Trail, which makes a loop around Angleworm Lake, Home Lake and Whisky Jack Lake. There is an intersection at about the three-quarters distance mark from Entry Point 20/21 to the lake where two portages and the Angleworm Trail (from two directions) converge. this forms a four way intersection. The other portage found at this intersection is the one to Trease Lake and it is 426 rods long. This portage is both long and rugged. Trease Lake is in the North Hegman Lake and South Hegman Lake watershed to the south. The Angleworm Trail enters this four way intersection twice from both the east and the west side of Angleworm Lake, as the trail completes its loop of the lake.
The flowage from Angleworm Lake is to the north through a small creek into Home Lake. A beaver dam typically marks the start of this creek from the Angleworm Lake side. The portage to Home Lake from Angleworm Lake runs along the east side of this creek.
There are eight campsites on Angleworm Lake, but four of them are available for use by hikers traveling the Angleworm Trail. You will frequently see hikers along this trail as you paddle around Angleworm Lake. The campsites for canoeists can fill up on this lake, as many groups are too pooped out after the two mile portage to go any further than Angleworm Lake their first day. Remember, if you have to double portage from the parking lot to Angleworm Lake, you must walk it three times for a total of nearly 6 miles. Plan accordingly when using Entry Point 20 - Angleworm Lake to access the BWCA. Lighten your gear as much as possible. It helps to be in decent shape too. The entry point for the Angleworm Trail is from the same parking lot and is Entry Point 21 - Angleworm Trail.
The General Logging Company had a railway that ran up the east side of Angleworm Lake. This was part of the Cloquet Line. A spur of this rail ended at BWCA Campsite 1897 (the south most campsite on the east side of Angleworm Lake). The rail spur ran through the valley just south of that campsite. Remants are easily visible on satellite images of the area. From Angleworm Lake, this railway headed north, eventually terminating near the start of the bushwhack portage that connects the Beartrap River (now in the Sundial PMA) and Beartrap Lake.
References:
Beymer, Robert, Boundary Waters Canoe Area – Volume 1 – Western Region (Berkeley: Wilderness Press, 2006), 118, 120, 124, 127, 130, 133.
Heinselman, Miron, The Boundary Waters Wilderness Ecosystem (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999), 57, 104, 112-114.
Rom, William N., M.D., Canoe Country Wilderness (Stillwater: Voyageur Press, 1987), 95, 96.
Pauly, Daniel, Exploring the Boundary Waters (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005), 128, 129, 131, 132.
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VIEWS OF THE SOUTHERN END OF ANGLEWORM LAKE
The portage landing on Angleworm Lake. It is at the very south end of the lake, back in a small inlet.
A panoramic view of the south end of Angleworm Lake. The inlet that leads to the portage landing is just to the right around the bend, behind those pine trees. You are looking out from the campsite and toward the south/southeast.
This is the campsite that is farthest south on Angleworm Lake and on the west shore. The campsite is marked with a triangle on the Fisher Maps so it is specified for hikers of the Angleworm Trail. There are four campsites for hikers and four for paddlers on Angleworm Lake; a total of eight campsites. You can camp at any of them though, whether hiker or paddler, if you can reach the campsite. This is a view looking to the northeast.
View straight east across the lake from the campsite found farthest south on Angleworm Lake's west shore. This is very near the small inlet leading to the portage landing. Explore Another Route ***********************************************END OF ROUTE***********************************************
PADDLING FROM THE SOUTH END OF THE LAKE ALONG THE EAST SHORE TO THE HOME LAKE PORTAGE
Starting on the east shore of Angleworm Lake near its southern end, paddle northward up the entire length of the lake to the Home Lake portage. There is often a large beaver dam here marking the beginning of the creek that drains Angleworm Lake into Home Lake to the north.
There are two prominent islands on Angleworm Lake. This view is from the mainland shoreline looking southeast. One island is visible on the right side of your view. A small bay is back behind the islands on the east side of the lake.
This beaver dam marks the north end of Angleworm Lake and is also the location of the Home Lake portage. A creek flows out of Angleworm Lake toward the north and drains into Home Lake.
The far northern tip of Angleworm Lake looking south. This is your view from the start of the Home Lake portage. Portage to Home Lake -or- Explore Another Route ***********************************************END OF ROUTE***********************************************
