The Portage between BWCA Entry Point 44 and Ram Lake

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Portaging Direction: From BWCA Entry Point 44 to Ram Lake

The bulletin board just up the small hill from the parking lot. The first 15 rods or so of this trail are packed gravel and sand. Don't expect this trail to stay nice and flat for long though.

After you walk a few rods up this portage, you may be thinking that this portage is going to be a walk in the park. Then reality sets in. Starting at around the 15 rod mark, the trails heads relentlessly uphill...and it just keeps going up. You finally top out as you near Ram Lake and pass by the BWCA boundary sign. The last 5 rods are down a stone staircase to the waters edge.

There are a lot of boulders here, but the bottom of the lake is mostly made of small gravel. The water is also quite shallow. So it is much easier to load a canoe here than it looks.

Now that you've made it over the portage, visit: RAM LAKE

Portaging Direction: From Ram Lake to BWCA Entry Point 44

Coming in for a landing at the start of this portage.

This isn't a bad landing. Water is nice and clear and the depth is minimal. The lakes substrate is hard and made up of small gravel. There are some rocks along the shore (behind you). Its a small lift up from the water to this packed sandy area you see here.

Going in this direction, the only elevation gain of any consequence is this stairway. Once at the top of the stairs, the portage for the most part is downhill all the way to the parking lot. The trail is quite rocky, but almost always dry and well drained.

A nice view along this portage, particularly going in this direction. You probably won't even notice this view coming from the other way. These three distant hills are some of the highest in Minnesota. In fact the slightly obscured hill on the left is called Point 2266 and is the second highest point in Minnesota (after Eagle Mountain).

The small parking lot for BWCA Entry Point 44 - Ram Lake.

Now that you've made it over the portage, visit: BWCA ENTRY POINT 44

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