Screamer Lake
Old 1960’s map showed a 320 rod portage from Screamer Lake leading up to near the middle of Fishdance Lake near the island. You can bet that this portage would have been a real “screamer”. It is probably gone now, but maybe something remains of it. Another portage used to extend down to Maniwaki Lake and that portage was 140 rods. Neither of these portages is shown on the 2001 Fisher F-5 map.
This area was scorched by the 2011 Pagami Creek Fire that burned much of the southwestern part of the BWCA and was the largest fire in recorded history at about 100,000 acres (almost 10% of the entire BWCA).
There was a large fire in this area around 1863-1864. This fire is known as the North Kawishiwi River/Alice Lake/Cypress Lake/Saganaga Lake Complex. This burn began south of the current BWCAW's southern boundary near the town of Isabella, Minnesota.
Approach to Screamer Lake
Starting at the northeast corner of South Hope Lake, proceed up the creek toward Screamer Lake.
Bushwhack to Screamer Lake
The creek connecting South Hope Lake to Screamer Lake is about two and a half miles long. The last mile and a half (480 rods) can be paddled for the most part. The first mile or so is less easy to traverse. Several bushwhacks and a number of liftovers will likely be required through this section.
Exploring Screamer Lake
Look for the old portage that used to cover 320 rods up to Fishdance Lake. Very unlikely anything remains of it. Another long creek flows into the north shore of Screamer Lake. This creek can be paddled far to the northeast and heads up into the general area of Puffer Lake. This creek connects Screamer Lake to an unnamed lake about two and a half miles upstream.
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