I’m not going to be able to make it to the Quetico this year. My usual paddling partner suggested a trip to some yet to be determined location in northern Wisconsin as an alternative. Someplace where we could possibly paddle several bodies of water out of a base camp in a national forest or commercial campground. Or a camp on a lake with others worth paddling within a short drive. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to find such an experience? We have a limited amount of time and feel it would be better spending more time on the water and less on the road. Yes, I know it will not compare to a Q trip, but we’re just hungry to get out.

I don't know about Wisconsin but in the U.P of Michigan their is the Sylvania Wilderness area, it is in Ottawa National Forest, its right on the Wisconsin / Michigan border it has 34 lakes, 21,000 acres and is canoe only, and has some great fishing for smallies their are special fishing reg's and it has gin clear water you can see 20' down. It was also protected before the lumber companies could get their hands on it, so it has some of the oldest trees in this part of the country.
   If you are interested you can email me and I'll give up a couple of my fishing hotspots and lakes.

Northern Highland American Legion State Forest in the Boulder Junction area has a network of water side campsites that get very little use. There are lake and river sites and most are connected by waterways or in some cases portages.
And it's all free though a vehicle park sticker may be required. I'm only familiar with a few of the campsites and portages but they always looked nice and though I've wanted to put together a trip using some of them I never get around to it.

Thanks for the help. And the winner is (drum roll please) The Northern Highlands American Legion State Forest. I had heard about Sylvania and would like to go there some day as well, but not this trip. One of the deciding factors was a simple little fishing license. Going to NH-AL allows us to fish without buying non-resident licenses.

After some research we decided we will be driving up on a Wednesday afternoon and staying the first night in a drive in campground in my popup camper. This campground is located on one of the lakes and will allow us to load up and paddle away for 2 nights out in the state forest. I’m still trying to get it sunk into my head the differences between this and a Q trip. One is the cooler of beer we will be able to tote along. (OK, get it over. Call me a tourist now) Another is I would expect to see some residences and businesses along the shore of at least some of these lakes. A picnic table at the campsite will be an unusual touch as well. The portages are few and the longest is 1700 feet, but I am unsure at this point if we will even encounter any at all.

I’ll post a brief report sometime after the conclusion of the trip.

wrote on Jul 29^th, 2006 at 5:42pm:

I’m still trying to get it sunk into my head the differences between this and a Q trip. One is the cooler of beer we will be able to tote along. (OK, get it over. Call me a tourist now)

IF, it was PRACTICAL a lot of us would be hauling beer into the BW/Q ;) ;)
Having a ice cold beer with your fish dinner would be a real treat!!
I have a brother-in-law who spends a lot of time in the far east for business.
He told me awhile back that the Asians had developed a technique for putting alcohol into a "gelatin" capsule for freeze dried asian foods??
They also were working on a "freeze dried" beer??
He's never heard anymore about it, but if it could be worked out and was half-way decent, i could see "micro-brewing" your way across the BW/Q ;) ;)!!

I'm not even a big "drinker" but it's hard to beat a cold fresh brewed beer after a long day fishing and paddling ;D ;D!!

Hey Gimp,

Have you seen this?

  (You need to Login or Register

Might be helpful in your trip planning.

I'll be looking for a trip report when you get back.  That area is on my radar screen as well.

Good luck, and have a great trip.

Thanks. I did a search and ended up at the same site. Quite a wealth of info there. I'm looking forward to paddling across some of the same lakes I've snowmobiled across.

Have a good trip. I too will be looking forward to a report.

While your there give Frank Lake a try. Just southeast of Escanaba Lake it is undeveloped and has a 100 yrd. carry in. I caught some nice smallmouth there a few years back. Escanaba, Pallet, Nebish, and a few other nearby lakes are part of WDNR reasearch area and have special regulations, check in at the station at Escanaba Lake.
Sylvania is a nice area, a mini BWCA. No fees after Sept 14th I think, makes a fantastic late Oct. trip.

butthead

Gimp,

Probably too late with this...but the Chippewa Flowage is an interesting place. You can camp on the state owned shorelines and islands. You probably know about the lake...world record muskies...floating bogs....lots of walleyes and bass...lots of solitude too.

The Beaver

I'm a big fan of the Turtle-Flambeau flowage.  Nice (and free) campgrounds and the east side (go in at Murray's landing) is a voluntary no wake zone (which about 50% of the boaters I encounter pay attention to, but some is better than none).  Similar deal at the Willow Flowage, though it is smaller (and it tends to have a serious fluctuation in water levels--I've been there in the fall where it is basically a twisty river with wide sandy banks and lots of strange little bays where the deeper holes were).  Both are DNR owned land along the shores and islands.  The TFF has great wildlife (so does the Willow, but I see more at the TFF).  
I hear wolves three times on the TFF last September.
Enjoy the northern highlands and perhaps check out the Turtle or the Willow another time.

Another vote for Turtle-Flambeau. Many nice campsites and good fishin'

Mr. Gimp of '01,
Did you ever get to make that trip to the Northern Highland Am. Legion Forest.  I'm planning a trip up there for this June.  I would really be interested in what you thought of it, re: solitude, fishing, campsite info, etc.

knoozer,
He did file a   (You need to Login or Register of his trip there.

All I can say is northern wisconson is some pretty good muskie fishing. Big northerns too. If I was going there fishing would be top of my list.

Correct L.T.sully. Musky fishing in northern Wisconsin is first rate. They can even be found in small rivers only a couple feet deep. It's hard to describe the thrill of hooking a 4 foot torpedo in skinny water on a small river!