Sawbill Lake/Cherokee Lake/Brule Lake Area

Overlay #21 in the BWCA

Short weekend trippers usually head over to Alton Lake to spend a couple days. Another short trip option is the three "Fire Lakes" - Smoke Lake, Burnt Lake and Flame Lake.

A good circular route of at least four days is the following (going clockwise): Alton Lake, Beth Lake, Grace Lake, Phoebe Lake, Phoebe River, Lake Polly, Koma Lake, Malberg Lake, Boze Lake, Louse River, Trail Lake, Dent Lake,Wine Lake, Lujenida Lake, Kelso Lake and back to Alton Lake. This route is most easily begun at BWCA Entry Point 38 - Sawbill Lake.

A slightly shorter route is from Sawbill Lake up the Ada Creek drainage to Cherokee Lake. From Cherokee Lake head to the southeast through Town Lake and a string of small lakes (Cam Lake, Vesper Lake and Gasket Lake) to Brule Lake. The portages between Town Lake and Brule Lake are very rugged (Cam Lake, Vesper Lake, Gasket Lake). From Brule Lake follow the Temperence River as it passes through several lakes (Weird Lake, Jack Lake) down to Kelly Lake. From Kelly Lake head west through the "Fire" Lake's back to Sawbill Lake.

The area around Sawbill Lake was logged relatively recently (1960's). So the trees tend to be smaller in this area because of their young age.

The following major lakes (and many other minor lakes) are shown on the McKenzie(TM) #21 (Sawbill Lake) Map:

Baker Lake
Brule Lake
Burnt Lake
Cherokee Lake
Cone Lake
Homer Lake
Juno Lake
Kelly Lake
Kinogami Lake
North Temperance Lake
Pipe Lake
Sawbill Lake
Smoke Lake
South Temperance Lake
Vern Lake