By John Keefover of Keefography
BWCAW BACKPACKING THE SIOUX-HUSTLER TRAIL
3 DAY TRIP IN THE BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA WILDERNESS ALONG THE CHALLENGING, BUT VERY REWARDING, SIOUX-HUSTLER TRAIL.
The Sioux-Hustler Trail is a lollipop loop around 30 miles in length in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness located 39 miles Northwest of Ely, Minnesota along the Echo Trail. We hiked it in 3 days, 2 nights. It’s doable, but I would suggest 4 days. It would make things much easier, and there are plenty of gorgeous campsites to choose from that would make it worth the extra night. The biggest takeaways of the trail would be: Very challenging, but rewarding. 7 beaver dam crossings. Lots of ups & downs. Carpets of lush moss covering the forest. Every rock surface was slippery in the wet conditions. Tons of downed trees to hurdle over, duck under, or go around. Amazing lakeside campsites with plentiful water sources. Solitude.
Unlike the Eagle Mountain Trail I covered in the last blog, the Sioux-Hustler is much more remote, and difficult. There is no signage with the exception of the occasional rock cairns and numerous beaver dams covering the trail can make navigation quite difficult. There are 7 major beaver dams that have rerouted the trail. Two of them are on the stem of the lollipop loop so you cross those twice and then have 3 others along the loop itself. You hike on the beaver dams themselves to get across the flooded sections and then find the trail again.
I highly recommend downloading an offline GPS file on your phone as well as bringing a paper map & compass. The best map for this trail is the Fisher 16 map. The McKenzie map has the trail broken up on 3 maps being right on the corners on them so it’s not as efficient. The Avenza App has a Boundary Waters Canoe Area map pack for the whole BWCA that costs $20. It was great but there were many times where our location was way off the marked trail on the GPS map. It’s a good reference but don’t rely on it completely. We double checked our paper map a couple of times throughout the hike.
Being in the BWCAW you need a permit for both day-use and overnight hikes if backpacking between May and September. If going outside of those months in the a self-filled day-use permit is all you need. Day-use permits can be filled out at the trailhead and are free. Overnight hiking & paddling trips need to be reserved through https://www.recreation.gov/ and cost $6 for the permit itself, and then $16 per adult or $8 for youth. Starting in 2022 the United States Forest Service reduced the number of entry point permits for the BWCAW citing natural resource damage, crowding and congestion. It’s important to Leave No Trace and protect this wilderness for generations to come!
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SIOUX-HUSTLER TRAIL
DAY 1: TRAILHEAD TO EMERALD LAKE SOUTHERN CAMPSITE
On our way up to the trailhead the fall colors were getting better and better the further north we went. It’s pretty early for them too on September 17th when we went in. Typically around late September is around the peak time. The forecast was calling for more rain on top of the lot we’ve already gotten in the last couple of days. The sky was clearing up now though when we drove up during sunrise. It was very foggy but the rising sun started to burn it off. The dirt road of the Echo Trail was beautiful on this stretch. I’ve never been on this side of it coming from Orr, MN. The road followed along with rivers, creeks and lakes on each side until we got to the trailhead. There were no other cars there. The forecast might’ve kept people away. Not us though!
Trailhead signage for the Sioux-Hustler
We hit the trail and made our way up the long stem of this lollipop loop trail. Reported mileage varies with every source but it’s around 6 miles to the junction to start the loop. Seemingly right away we came to our first beaver dam obstacle and found our way over it and back to the trail. There were two big trees next to each other on shore that the beavers were really gnawing on to add to their dam.
Beavers putting in work on the trees all along the trail.
Shortly after that first beaver dam was a small beaver pond. There was no wind at the time and the water was calm, reflecting the passing clouds.
Reflective beaver pond.
The trail then goes through a very overgrown section. The brush was thick and wet. It had been raining for days and the early morning dew clung to us as we passed by. I highly recommend trekking poles for this hike. There are many advantages to using them and for this section they were my brush guards moving the vegetation out of my way. Eventually we climbed out of the brush onto a ridge and got a little view of the surrounding landscape with rolling hills around.
John on top of a rocky outcrop overlook.
From there the trail follows the Little Indian Sioux River passing through a section with rapids and a little waterfall. With the rain the water level was a little higher than we’ve seen in trip reports while researching the trail. I’m not happy with the shot I got of it so you’ll just have to go see it for yourself in person! This area was covered with moss everywhere. It was also pretty muddy along the river as well. We did see some skeletal remains right on trail here too. Unsure what they are. Let me know in the comments below if you know what it is!
Veering away from the river another beaver dam has altered the trail. There’s not much of note after that besides the portages to Shell Lake & Lower Pauness Lake right before the loop junction. After the portage we we took a right onto the loop opting to hike counter-clockwise. There are more campsites options this way so you can feel out how far you want to go and decide where to stay much easier.
This part of the lollipop felt much different than the stem of the trail. It followed along rocky ridges for a long time. Rock cairns occasionally marked the path so you don’t get lost. It reminded me a lot of my trip to Isle Royale National Park that you can read about here where I hiked across the island on the Greenstone Ridge. The moss was thick on the side of the trail and trail itself was often like a sidewalk being on a rock face. The rain really made things slick though. We were constantly watching our footing to be sure we wouldn’t slip.
The trail tread through the moss on a ridge was like a sidewalk. Rock cairns mark the trail.
We got to Shell Lake and saw canoe campers set up on Con Island from the portage between Heritage Lake & Shell Lake. We had to cross the little stream between the two here to get to the other side but it was easy enough to rock hop over.
Con Island as seen from the portage between Shell Lake (pictured here) & Heritage Lake behind where this was taken. There were some canoe campers set up on the island which looked like a prime spot!
The trail got pretty rugged though the Northern tip of Shell Lake. It was very rocky and a steep climb compared to what the rest of the hike was like so far. We decided to take a break at the campsite here near the portage between Shell & Lynx Lake. The spur to the site was not maintained and wasn’t much of a site. Glad we didn’t stay there but it was nice to stop and check it out. Didn’t look like much for tent pads at all. Good hammock spots though! Off the shore here there was a neat little island with a bunch of giant rocks. Im sure it makes for a nice landmark to the canoeists paddling through.
A rock island on Shell Lake as seen from the hike-in campsite on the North-Eastern part of the lake.
Back on the trail it passes right by Lynx Lake with some nice views to the North. We were also running into more and more downed trees. Seemed like there was lots of recent blowdown. This was a theme for the rest of the trip. Soon we came to our third and final beaver dam of day 1 on Shohola Creek where the lollipop veers to the north. This was another one where you just walk right across it. Thankfully we weren’t very far away from the campsite because we were hurting by now. We hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep the night before since we left so early in the morning and we’re feeling the miles at around 15m through rugged terrain.
Finally we got to the site on Emerald Lake. It was a really nice site actually with a cool rocky shoreline. There was really only one good tent pad but it was big enough for both of us to cram our tents next to each other. It was also pretty protected by healthy trees which was good because there’s quite the storm forecasted for tonight with possible tornado and hail.
Before the storm hit we made dinner and just relaxed. At one point the clouds cleared just enough for the sun to pop out briefly. I had my eye on a very special looking tree and the light shined on it perfectly for just a moment before being swallowed up by the clouds again. I got the shot though and it’s one of my favorites from the trip!
A beautiful tree clinging to a rocky outcrop over the water at our campsite.
Now it was starting to get dark. The storm seemed to be very behind schedule if it was even going to hit us at all. We gave up the front row seats on the rocks overlooking the lake and retreated to our tents. We’ll hunker down and ride it out from there. Might even just sleep through it with how tired we are. We’ll see!
Storm clouds beginning to roll in towards our campsite.
DAY 2: EMERALD LAKE SOUTHERN CAMPSITE TO DEVIL’S CASCADE CAMPSITE
The powerful storm that was forecasted ended up fizzling out by the time it got to us. There was just a couple moments of heavy rain around 11 PM and 1 AM. Didn’t even seem like it was that windy out either though we were tucked away in a grove of healthy trees which provided a nice bit of shelter. Even though the storm wasn’t bad I still didn’t sleep great. Kept waking up constantly throughout the night tossing & turning. Got more sleep than I did the night before at least so there’s that. We slept in until around 8 and then took our time breaking down camp and eating breakfast. It was around 10:30 when we got back on trail.
It was so humid out with around 90% humidity. Even though the sun wasn’t out and it was relatively cool in the lower 60’s we were both just sweating. I also had a ton of condensation on the inside of my single wall tent, the Zpacks Plex Solo. Gave it a good wipe down with my buff to soak up as much water as I could. At least there was a good breeze today so that helped cool us down a little bit while hiking by an exposed section. Soon we came to the 4th beaver dam crossing on a creek in between Weeny Lake and Hustler Lake. It was the biggest one yet too. We walked right across the top of it to find the submerged trail on the other side.
The trail originally went right through here. Now you walk on top of the beaver dam on the left there.
Once we got through the flooded beaver dam area we stopped at the Northern tip of Hustler Lake. Nice spot there but there aren’t really any good flat spots for a tent. Plenty of good trees to hang hammocks from though. The latrine here has no privacy either. You can actually see it from the main trail! Luckily we haven’t seen anyone on the trails at all yet! We took a quick snack break at the site and continued on.
So many downed trees through here. Especially right at a little stream crossing. Had to climb all over, under and around and then immediately hop across some rocks to the other side of a river that fed from Hustler Lake and into Posse Lake. This part of the trail has had the most moose droppings as well. The landscape definitely feels like moose territory. It once again reminds me of Isle Royale.
John rock hopping across a stream after we climbed over those down trees in the background.
By now the trail was starting to kick our butts again. It’s not as hard as yesterday was but there were so many up & downs, down trees, and mud slowing us down a bit. Even though there’s no high elevation there’s still around 3,000 ft of total elevation gain throughout the whole trail. Once we got to Pagent Lake we took a much needed break at the lone campsite there. The trail and the campsite was completely covered in a carpet of moss and freshly sprouting mushrooms from the recent rains. There were what looked like 3 decent tent pads here and great campfire spot facing the lake. Across the other side were some cool rocky cliffs as well. Would definitely recommend staying here if it works out for your trip. Probably my favorite campsite we’ve came across so far.
Pagent Lake campsite with the classic Boundary Waters fire grate.
Just a few more miles until we reach our destination campsite at Devils Cascade. First we have to cross Heritage Creek which I’ve read can get a little dicey. We’ll see when we get there soon! Sure enough it was pretty high water in the creek with all the rain. A beaver dam was at the top of creek but it was still deep. A bunch of downed trees and rocks piled up downstream helped us across pretty easily actually though! It was also one of my favorite spots on the trail too! The pond feeding into the creek was completely still except for the occasional fish breaking the surface and rippling the water. We stopped here for a little bit taking pictures and videos of the scene.
Not long after that we came across our first sign of bear activity with a big fresh pile of scat full of berries right on the trail. There was another pile of scat not long after that, and then another one. Also some wolf scat with fur and what looked like bones in it. Moose scat became frequent as well. So many more along the way of all three. I guess this section of trail is pretty much a straight line for the most part so it must be a wildlife highway. The path of least resistance.
The trail then heads into a marshy area with yet another beaver dam crossing. This would be the 5th dam crossing we’ve had so far and there’s at least two more to go since there were 2 on the stem of the trail. The beavers created another really photogenic location though with still waters reflecting now a blue sky with fluffy clouds. We stopped again for another breather before we continued on.
Reflective beaver pond.
Doesn’t look like we have very far to go now to camp. Maybe around 3 miles. The home stretch felt like the hardest part through overgrown brush, lots of slippery rocks and downed trees. Finally we made it to camp. The Devil’s Cascade site was very open and on top of a large rock face overlooking the Little Indian Sioux River with a set of rapids leading into the river valley downstream. It’s pretty far down a steep hill to get water from the river. Taking the portages down to the water would be easier but a little longer. There was a cool hidden waterfall tucked away on the river where we went though! Should’ve brought my camera down with me, because I definitely wasn’t going back down there again! The campsite itself is pretty big and we were the only ones there. We haven’t seen anyone else on trail at all which has been really nice. We set up our tents and were very thankful for flat ground and no roots unlike last nights campsite on Emerald Lake.
Our tents set up at Devil’s Cascade campsite.
We hung out at camp making dinner and small talk. I had set my camera up on the tripod out on the rock face and was waiting for the sun to set right across the river from us. Unfortunately thick clouds moved in before sunset and they blocked out the light and any color we might’ve got in the sky. Of course the clouds started to clear up after sunset! I still got a decent picture of what it looked like though.
Sunset from the rocky outcrop at Devil’s Cascade overlooking the Little Indian Sioux River.
Now that it was getting dark we went to go lay down in our tents. At 9 PM it becomes true darkness and I’m going to walk the nearby portage to Lower Paunness Lake. The portage ends right at the northern tip of the lake and has what I believe to be a southwestern facing view over the lake that would be perfect for the Milky Way! John decided to chill out in the tent still and try to go to sleep. It’s nice having the white noise of the cascade in the background. That will help me sleep tonight, but first I’m going to go shoot some Astrophotography! I took the short hike downhill to the lake along the portage that connects Lower Paunness and the Little Indian Sioux River we’re camping on. Even in the dark with just my headlamp I could tell this was a pretty portage. The sound of the river got louder as it came closer to a series of rapids. Sure enough the portage ended at a rocky little beach and I could already see the Milky Way soaring overhead with my naked eye. I set up my camera until I dialed in a shot using some rocks in the foreground with the Milky Way reflecting in the perfectly still waters. It was a fantastic way to end the night and made the whole trip worth it alone to me.
The Milky Way over Lower Paunness Lake from the portage into the Little Indian Sioux River.
I was also able to scout out that location for sunrise potentially in the morning as well. Across the river where I was shooting there’s a huge rock wall that’s the opposite direction of the sunrise. It might get some nice golden light on it shortly after sunrise when the sun rises above the treeline of the lake. We’ll see! Heck we’ll see if I even wake up for sunrise. John was still awak when I got back and I excitedly told him about the Milky Way shot and sunrise possibly but he wasn’t so sure if he’d be getting up either right away. I’m going to try to get some sleep and maybe I’ll walk down there again in the morning. Good night.
DAY 3: DEVIL’S CASCADE CAMPSITE - TRAILHEAD
We both slept in until around 8 AM. We definitely needed that sleep. I still decided to go down the portage for some photography while the light was still nice and golden. I’m glad I did! The lake was still calm and it was nice to see what it actually looked like in the sunlight compared to pitch black last night shooting the Milky Way. Little wispy clouds were drifting in the sky and reflecting in the Boundary Waters lake. It was a very peaceful scene and a great way to start the day.
Back at camp we made breakfast and packed up all of our gear. Everything was completely soaked. It didn’t rain last night but there was heavy layer of dew coating everything. I was even having difficulties with condensation on my camera lenses back at the portage spot. We took our time packing up before we headed out for the last stretch back down the stem of the lollipop loop. Finishing up the loop part of the trail there were no new beaver dams so there are a total of 7 beaver dam crossings total. We got to the first one back on the stem again soon into our hike out. It helped already going through here but the navigation still gets a little confusing. The dams are the trickiest parts and when we kept an eye on our electronic GPS. We noted our time alone out here when we came across fresh footprints in the mud. It was the first sign of recent human activity on the trail we’ve seen. There was also a new set of moose tracks deep in the mud as well. I think that’ll be the end of the trip report. We’ve done the rest of the trail already on the stem so nothing new to comment on. Thanks for reading and hope this helps inspire you to get outside and maybe hike this challenging, but rewarding trail!
A carpet of lush moss covers the forest floor along the Sioux-Hustler Trail.
Keefography is reader supported. If you enjoy this free content please consider making a CONTRIBUTION, buying my 2023 PHOTOGRAPHY CALENDAR, purchasing PRINTS, and following along on Social Media at Instagram, Facebook, & YouTube. Your support is greatly appreciated to help cover travel costs, permits, gear acquisitions, and time commitments needed to get outside and share these adventures with you all. Thanks!
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