Saganaga Lake
From BWCAWiki
| Entry Point #55, #55A Saganaga Lake | |
| Method of Travel: | Paddle or motor. |
|---|---|
| Access: | From one of several boat landings at the end of the Gunflint Trail. The Cook County landing charges a parking fee, while the Forest Service landing on Gull Lake, which connects to Saganaga via the Seagull River, is free. |
| Additional: | 25 h.p. motor limit. Motors not allowed (use or possession) west of American Point. |
| For more information, please call the Gunflint Ranger Station in Grand Marais, Minnesota at (218)387-1750. | |
| Lake Information | |
| Acres: | 17,593 |
| Campsites: | 30+ |
| Connections: | Granite River/Border Route east, Canadian Crownlands and Quetico, Border Route west, Seagull Lake, other lakes |
| Connecting Portages | |
| West: | 5 rods from Third Bay to Swamp Lake |
| West: | 10 rods from Third Bay to Zephyr Lake |
| Northwest: | 130 rods from Cache Bay to Saganagons Lake |
| North: | ~600 rods to Saganagons Lake |
| Northeast: | from Northeast Arm to Northern Light Lake |
| East: | 60 rods from Curran Bay to Northern Light Lake |
| East: | 36 rods from Red Sucker Bay to Granite River towards Maraboeuf Lake |
| East: | 80 rods from James Bay to Morris Lake |
| Southeast: | 10 rods to Tenor Lake |
| Southeast: | paddle through to the Seagull River |
| South: | 40 rods to Roy Lake |
| Southwest: | 10 rods from Red Rock Bay to Red Rock Lake |
Saganaga Lake (pronounced "SAG-ah-nah-GA", often simply Sag) is a large entry point lake on the U.S.-Canada Border at the end of the Gunflint Trail. Saganaga is a complicated lake with numerous bays, islands, and points in all directions. Because of its size and location, Saganaga is a popular entry point. Saganaga Lake is the deepest (280 feet) as well as the third largest (17,593 acres) lake in the BWCAW.
Contents |
Geography
Saganaga can be divided into several distinct areas, each equivalent to a medium-sized lake in their own right.
Central Sag
This is arguably the "heart" of Saganaga Lake and tends to be the most visited. Filled with numerous islands from the relatively large Munker, Voyageurs, and Campers down to hundreds of tiny rocky islets. The majority of campsites on Saganaga are in this central region. Although the many islands may make navigation a challenge, they provide some degree of protection during high winds. The "possession corridor" runs from the Seagull River channel in the south straight up to the closed Canadian Customs station in the north, and is a frequently used motor and paddle route. Another common motor route, especially for outfitters making canoe drops, heads west from the Seagull River channel, between Munker and Long islands, to American Point.
Southwestern Sag
This area is composed mainly of Red Rock Bay, extending to the southwest toward Red Rock Lake. The cluster of Englishman-Long-Gold islands may be included in this area, as well as the bay extending south toward Roy Lake.
Western Sag
American Point, on the south shore of the lake, divides western Saganaga from the rest of the lake. This area extends southwest and includes the numbered bays (First, Second, Third), while Cache Bay opens up into the Quetico to the north. West of American Point motors are not allowed, either in the U.S. or Canada. This makes western Sag the only part of the lake that is paddle-only.
Big Sag
This northern area of Saganaga, primarily on the Canadian side of the border, is relatively devoid of islands and contains open reaches several miles wide. Avoid this area in high winds.
Canadian Northeast
The Northeast Arm of Saganaga extends well into the Crownlands and contains side-bays of its own. Some private property, mainly cabins, is found on the Canadian parts of the lake.
Eastern Sag
The region of Saganaga east of Horseshoe Island includes Conners Island, Saganaga Falls, and in Canada Red Sucker Bay and Curran Bay.
Routes and destinations
Saganaga is large enough to occupy beginners or those with only a few days for the entirety of their trip. The lake is at the junction of a number of longer routes through the Boundary Waters and Quetico, providing many trip options with additional portages.
Access to Canada
- The Crownland to the northeast into Northern Light Lake.
- Quetico Provincial Park to the northwest. Once west of American Point, cross the U.S.-Canada border and enter Cache Bay. From there one may paddle to Silver Falls and continue into the interior of the Quetico.
BWCAW routes
- The Border Route east: from the northeastern part of Saganaga Lake, portage south around Saganaga Falls and paddle up the Granite River towards Mareboeuf Lake.
- The Border Route west: from American Point in the northwest part of the lake, travel west through First Bay, Second Bay, and Third Bay. Portage north into Swamp Lake and then west across Monument Portage into Ottertrack Lake.
- Red Rock Lake is accessible via portage from Red Rock Bay in the southwest part of Saganaga. Continue southwesterly to Alpine Lake and from there connect to Seagull Lake, completing the Alpine Loop, or head west towards Ogishkemuncie Lake.
- The Seagull River flows into the southeast part of Saganaga. No portage is required, although the narrow channel and relatively heavy motor traffic requires attention. A winter portage is located to the west, avoiding the moving water and thin ice in the channel.
Fishing
Walleye, lake trout, northern pike, and smallmouth bass.
Natural History
Forests
Saganaga Lake, due to its size and complex geography, has a diverse range of forests. Much of the southern and southeastern shores have been burned by wild fires in the past 30 years, the most recent being the 1995 burn around the Seagull River channel, known as the Romance Lake Fire. Other notable fires include the Roy Lake Fire of 1976 and the fire which burned Spruce Island, a Canadian island near American Point, sometime in the early 1990's. Saganaga's many islands are somewhat protected from fire, and have some great examples of mature white pine-red pine forests. While some of these forests were damaged in the Fourth of July Blowdown in 1999, many mature trees remain.
Geology
The bedrock found throughout Saganaga, as well as Red Rock, Alpine, Seagull and Maraboeuf lakes, is Saganaga tonalite of Precambrian age. This rock is a type of granite, characterized by having less potassium feldspar than "ordinary" granites. This tonalite deposit is referred to as the Saganaga Batholith, meaning large magmatic intrusion. When the Saganaga Tonalite was first intruded as liquid hot magma, it was miles beneath the surface. Subsequent fault movement and erosion have exposed these rocks.
Hydrology
The major water inputs to Saganaga Lake include flows from Northern Light Lake, the Granite River-Pine River system, and the Seagull River. This water all flows over Silver Falls at the north end of Cache Bay, into the central Quetico via the Falls Chain, and eventually into Lac La Croix via the Maligne River.
