Timber-Frear Canoe Route
Schroeder, MN
As lots of you know by now, we are in love with Minnesota’s north shore. We started going up there in the fall of 2017 after we got married, and we did a lot of car camping and day hiking in numerous state parks. We gradually worked our way up to trying backpacking, which we love, and last summer we did our first Boundary Waters canoe trip. After that trip we discovered how much we love paddling and canoe camping, and decided we wanted to do more of that! In our research we discovered tons of backcountry campsites on lakes in the Superior National Forest, and came across the Timber-Frear Canoe Route.
You can find the Timber-Frear Canoe Route about 15 miles northwest of Tofte, MN. It is a loop of five lakes connected by portages with several backcountry sites to choose from. It is described as a “near wilderness experience”, similar to the Boundary Waters, except you don’t need a permit or a reservation to go! All campsites are first come, first serve, and the whole experience is free. There is also a rustic car campground on one of the lakes, but it is currently closed due to COVID. Luckily for us, backcountry camping is still open! We thought it would be a great warm-up for our upcoming BWCAW trip and a good way to see how the pup handled canoe life.
This story actually starts Friday June 26th, with a brand new canoe rack for our Kia…that didn’t fit the canoe (facepalm). We planned to leave Minneapolis on Friday at around 3pm, drive up to Tofte, and be on the water by 7:30/8ish or so, with just enough daylight left to find a campsite. What a nice thought! Well, after we realized our canoe rack didn’t work out, Joe had to go to REI to find another. We were lucky they had what we needed in stock, and after NO arguing at all (LOL) we were on the road by 5pm. So we’re sitting in the car, headed for the north shore, trying to come up with a backup plan. We figured we wouldn’t even get to the canoe launch until after 9:30, and then we would need to find a campsite, all before dark…yeah right. We decided to make a side trip to the Simon family cabin and stay there Friday night instead, then get an early start Saturday morning. It was a tough decision and we were disappointed, but it was the right call.
Day 1: Whitefish-> Elbow-> Lost-> Frear-> Timber
We woke up early Saturday morning, got on the road by 5am, and arrived at the canoe launch at around 8:30. To our surprise, there were no other cars in the parking lot! We filtered some water, loaded up the canoe, then set off. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the water was calm. Crimson was a little uneasy in the canoe at first, and kept trying to climb over our bags to roam around the canoe. This made us feel a little tippy, but eventually everyone got used to the rhythm. We arrived at our first portage, 74 rods to Elbow Lake. We each wore our packs, Joe carried the canoe, and Ashley handled the dog and the extra stuff including paddles, poles, and the net. Our goal was to try to make all of our portages in one trip to save time. It was a little awkward, but we got it done!
We tested out our rod holders on Elbow Lake and trolled for fish. It was a really pretty lake with lots of pines and rolling hills in the distance. We saw one other person in a fishing boat, but otherwise we appeared to be alone. Joe caught a northern pike, and as he was taking it off the hook, it fell into the canoe and slithered right up to Crimson! She of course flipped out, but somehow we all kept our balance and Joe was able to release the fish back into the lake. After a short paddle across Elbow Lake’s western side, we arrived at our second portage. It was 140 rods to Lost Lake - the trail was long, tough, and clearly not used very often. The thick trees and shrubs made it tough to squeeze by on the path, and even tougher to find our footing at times. We perfected our portage technique here - we each wore our packs, Joe carried the canoe, we attached the poles to the canoe using big rubber twist ties, hooked the net onto Ashley’s pack, and then Ashley carried the paddles and held Crimmy’s leash. It worked perfectly! Finally we made it to Lost Lake, another beautiful area with a big flat rock on the shoreline. We relaxed on the rock for a little while, and Crimson started finding her stride. She jumped easily in and out of the canoe and explored the shoreline around the portage as we loaded the canoe.
It was a quick paddle to our third portage, although it seemed to take longer because we had some trouble finding it. We portaged another long 128 rods to Fear Lake - a rocky, hilly, MUDDY portage. The mud was up to our shins in some spots, and there was nothing we could do but walk straight through! We were both getting pretty tired with two long portages back-to-back, and we were looking forward to calling it a day. Frear was a nice lake, but both campsites were already taken, from the looks of it by people in motor boats doing some fishing. Next came trying to find the portage onto Timber Lake…this was confusing, exhausting, upsetting, and annoying. We got in and out of the canoe at two different locations, and neither of them seemed like they could be right. We probably explored each spot for 30-45 minutes, and tried all the different trails to see where we would end up. We found the same lake from two different could-be portage locations, but we thought that lake seemed too small to be the one we were looking for. We decided to give it a try (for a lack of a better option), and after a short paddle we reached a sign marking the portage to Timber Lake. Confused as all hell, we took another look at the map. Apparently at some point there is a creek/swamp area connecting Fear and Timber Lakes, and then we were supposed to look for the portage after that. After we actually made it through we realized that if the water had been a little higher, we might have seen where we were supposed to go - it also would have been a little easier to find if we were doing the loop counterclockwise…or if we had a better map.
After a quick 65 rod portage, we finally made it to Timber Lake. We knew there was only one campsite on this lake, and we were really hoping to be able to stop for the day! At that point so far both of the campsites we passed had been taken in addition to one on Whitefish Lake, so we were getting nervous. The campsite was a straight shot paddle from where we put our canoe in after the portage, and we were so relieved it was open! We shared a big hug when we reached shore while Crimson scampered around the campsite. It had been a tough weekend so far but we were so happy to find a campsite and have the entire lake to ourselves. The campsite itself was really cool - even cooler than any of our BWCAW sites from last year, we both agreed. It was huge and had a little beach for swimming, tons of tent pads to choose from, a small picnic table, a fire grate right on the lake, and the lakeshore wasn’t too crowded with trees which gave us great views of the lake. We had some snacks, cooled off in the lake, and took some much needed naps in our hammocks (even Crimmy!)
After our naps we set up the rest of camp, and chose a tent pad in front of a clearing right next to the lake. We made dinner, drank some Summer Shandy we put in a water bottle (it was still kind of cold), then started a fire. It was so peaceful, and we loved how remote it felt and that we were literally the only people (and dog) on the whole lake. It was a hard day of long portages and getting lost, but we were looking forward to an easier day on Sunday. We agreed that all the physical and emotional stress was worth it for the awesome campsite and lake views. We got a pretty good fire going - it had it’s good and bad moments, and there may have been some lighter fluid involved. It was relaxing to sit around the fire, stare out at the lake, and catch a little bit of a sunset. Eventually the ravenous mosquitos sent us running for our tent! It was a nice warm night, no breeze, and we could hear all the insects outside the tent buzzing like crazy. Tired from our eventful day, we fell fast asleep.
Day 2: Timber-> Elbow-> Whitefish
Crimson had us awake by 6:30ish ready to rock and roll. We rolled our eyes and released her from the tent! She has been doing a really good job with recall, even out in the woods, and since we were so remote we weren’t worried about her bothering anyone (or anything, except squirrels). Mosquitos covered the outside of our tent like dew - gross! Slowly we got dressed, had some coffee and oatmeal, and admired our view from the campsite. To our delight the bugs weren’t so bad. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, and we took our time sipping coffee and sitting back in our chairs next to the lake. Eventually we packed everything up and started paddling across Timber Lake.
We cast our lines out and started trolling, and Ashley got a bite and started reeling in a northern pike. This of course sent Crimson into a frenzy, and she rocked the canoe side to side while she dashed around trying to get closer to the line. In the panic Ashley reeled the line in too far and the lure got stuck in the net and the poor fish’s gills. Joe had a hell of a time getting the lure out, and in the process the northern bit down on his thumb, and we had to fix it up with tape and gauze. Finally he got it out and we released the fish, continuing on our way. We thought the excitement was over, and then Crimson tried to walk over our bags to chase Joe’s lure as he cast…then she slipped right off the edge of the canoe into the lake! There was a brief moment of panic, followed by hysterical laughter. She had her doggy life jacket on, so we knew she wouldn’t drown. The canoe was moving at a pretty good speed because Joe was trying to cast, and he had to reel his line in before we could turn around and paddle towards her! At first she started swimming to shore, but when we called her name she turned toward the canoe. She came right up to the side and Joe was able to pull her into the canoe with the big handle on her life jacket. We couldn’t stop laughing! Crimson appeared to be just fine and kept trying to rub off on us to dry off.
We were grateful that the rest of our paddle was uneventful, and we found the portage to Elbow Lake pretty easily. It was a quick 38 rods, mainly over boardwalks, and it was very well maintained. Elbow Lake was a nice long paddle, and it felt good to take a break from portaging (we were sick of it from the day before, do you blame us?!). We passed by three campsites on Elbow Lake, all of which were vacant and looked pretty nice - something to keep in mind for next time, but it would be hard to beat our campsite on Timber Lake. Joe tried trolling for more fish but had no luck, and Crimson relaxed for a little bit and napped next to our bags. Eventually we made it to the portage on Whitefish Lake, which took a little while to find but nothing compared to the day before. We portaged 74 yards onto Whitefish Lake, then paddled a short distance back to the canoe launch.
It was a bit of a rough start (and a rough middle getting lost on some portages), but the last half of the trip was so great! It was nice to get out in the woods and away from civilization, and we actually saw fewer people than on our trip to BWCAW last year. Was it a perfect wilderness experience? No, we saw quite a few motor boats especially on Whitefish and Fear Lakes, but we were completely alone on Timber Lake where we camped. It was fun to practice portaging and paddling, and we got our portage technique down to a science!
Lessons learned? Oh where to start! How about the really obvious TEST OUT YOUR CAR RACK. Enough said. Another thing we’re keeping in mind for next time is we should really spring for the more detailed maps from an outfitter, instead of relying on the free printouts on the forest service website. Lastly, I think this trip really taught us to just stop and take a breath when things get really hard (especially Ashley, yes I can admit it). Everything works out in the end!
If we were to plan this trip over again, we decided we wouldn’t do the full loop - the portages between Elbow, Lost, and Fear lakes were not only long, but also poorly maintained - just a step below bush-wacking! Next time we’ll go northeast on Elbow, and maybe go up into Timber or Fear from a counterclockwise direction. If you are interested in getting started with canoe camping this is a great place to try it out, because you can paddle as far in as you want! If you decide to do the whole loop, let’s just hope you’re smarter and better at route-finding than we are…haha!
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