This is a very small lake along the Ada Creek drainage. There are no campsites on the lake. Because of a general lack of campsites along this entire route, Skoop Lake probably experiences many frequent but short visits, a pass through lake of sorts.
Skoop Lake probably contains a few northern pike and has a maximum depth of 17 feet.
Ada Creek flows into the east side of the lake. Skoop Lake drains out to the south through Ada Creek (called Skoop Creek on some old maps). Older maps might show two portages along Skoop Creek. That has been changed and now it is just one long portage. You only need to take the portage if the creek doesn't have enough water in it to paddle.
References:
Beymer, Robert, Boundary Waters Canoe Area – Volume 1 – Western Region (Berkeley: Wilderness Press, 2006), 57, 60, 133, 139, 151.
Pauly, Daniel, Exploring the Boundary Waters (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005), 251.
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PADDLING FROM THE ADA LAKE PORTAGE TO THE CHEROKEE CREEK PORTAGE
View of Skoop Lake looking toward the north. You are standing at the location of the portage to Ada Lake (Image not expandable).
A short evening paddle across Skoop Lake. Starting from the Ada Lake portage, you paddle north over to the Cherokee Creek portage. About midway across the lake you can hear the song of the white-throated sparrow for a couple minutes.
View of the more rocky eastern shoreline of Skoop Lake, as seen from the Cherokee Creek portage.
Full view of Skoop Lake late in the afternoon looking toward the south from the Cherokee Creek portage.
