Isabella River, BWCAW?

Anybody know what the Isabella River is like?
Possible put-ins at entry points 84, 75 and 34.
If I put in at 84, it looks like I'd need to use the Snake River to get to Isabella. How's that?
If I put in at 75 it looks like I'd need to use the Little Isabella to get to Isabella. How's that?
If I put in at 34 it looks like I'd be on the Island River for a bit.
If you have experience in this area of the BW, any info would be helpful.
Also looking at nearby South Kawishiwi and, maybe, even combining both rivers in my route.

I only have done Isabella River from Bald Eagle to third portage east, in October. Nice paddle. I understand there are a lot of beaver fans towards east end. A loop including Isabella and Kawihiwi Rivers has been on my list. I thought I'd start on Lake One, go east on Kawishiwi, and back west on Isabella. 2 permits or bushwack (no longer maintained portage) Kawishiwi to Perent.

The Isabella river flows from Isabella into Bald Eagle but the current isn't too strong. My guess is the Snake River and Little Isabella river are very low this fall.

Saw a moose on the Isabella on the way to Bald eagle in 2021. Right before the portag into snake/BE.

I'm getting old and my hips and knees aren't what they used to be.
I'm looking for routes that cover a decent amount of ground without doing many, or long, portages.
I'm also thinking that, by spending a lot of the trip on rivers, it might appeal to people that ordinarily wouldn't be attracted to a Boundary Waters trip. Yes, there are people like that.
But this would be a club trip and I'd hate to get people to sign up and it turn into miles of lining boats through rocky shallows or pushing through miles of aquatic vegetation.

...this would be a club trip...

Click to expand...

I'm not sure how big your club is but bear in mind that that group size in the BW is limited. Last I knew it was 9 people / 4 watercraft max per group and 2 groups were not allowed to share a site. At the same time, only the group leaders are listed on the permit so, if there were more than 9, people could swap groups if the dynamic in the original wasn't to their liking...

As to your proposed route, I have no familiarity but Robert Beymer's Eastern Region BWCA guide details a similar route on pg 73. He doesn't indicate water levels, has 52 portages but most are less than 40 rods (220 yards / 200 meters) and only 8 exceed 80 rods (1/4 mile or 400 meters). He indicates that it's an 8 day trip but probably 10 would be nicer.

It might lend itself well to a group trip rather than a solo as the take-out is 2 1/2 miles from the put-in so a group could self-shuttle without an extended portage / hike at the end / beginning.

Looks like a great loop and fishing is supposed to be good on most of it. I overlapped just a bit of it on my trip and missed the pictographs on Fishdance. They're supposed to be worth the detour if you access the Kawishiwi River from Alice Lake.

Biggest downside I see is that there aren't many options to cut the route short if someone is struggling or making life difficult.

Best of luck & I'll watch for your TR

Isn't the whole loop - Isabella and Kawishiwi - 8 to 10 days? Isabella from ep36 to Bald Eagle is around 3 days.

I've done several BWCAW trips before, but it's been a while.
I'd check all the rules, of course. I wouldn't want a big group even if I could have one.
Making up my own route and figuring out how long it's going to take, is a trick.
I'm looking at Paddle Planner as a possible help there but someone was saying he thought the times it gave were pretty optimistic.
I had a nice route planned out that included Kawishiwi without including Isabella, then realized my entry point was a pretty nasty portage from the parking lot. I wouldn't want to eliminate portages completely, that wouldn't be a real BW experience, but I'd like to keep them under 100 rods. A couple short portages a day would be acceptable.
My biggest worry is figuring a stream into my route and finding it unnavigable with no portage trail.

You set your own rates at Paddle Planner. I use 2.5 mph for paddle, 1.5 mph for portage, double portage, and 3 minute loading/unloading. Ultimately I can do 10- 12 miles a day average.

There really aren't any long river/stream systems in the BWCA and most of them have more portages than a carefully planned lake route.

I agree. If you want no portages, follow the shore of one of the big lakes. Moose, LLC, or Sag.