BWCA Portage 264 (Swamp to Ashdick)

pretty tough portage for its length, muddy, tight turns, but very pretty in some spots. Don't avoid, well worth it.

I had heard stories about this portage for awhile. I knew it was muddy, but the rumors also said that a blowdown had erased a good chunk of this portage. On our way through though, it was evident that the blowdown had been cleared. However, this feels like a much more remote portage. It is brushy and overgrown. It also doesn't seem to get a ton of traffic. All in all though, it was easier than I thought it would be.

Camped our last night on Ashdick on the north end. Good fishing and solitude on Ashdick. Scouted the portage into swamp the previous night. Lots of moose tracks and droppings. This portage seems to receive little use as we were there in July and it showed little evidence of use. Steady uphill out of Ashdick to a peak, followed by a meandering level area, then down and up again before finally exiting at swamp. Overall not a terrible portage, although it was quite muddy and the idea of spooking a moose in all the thick stuff had us a bit spooked.

Pretty nice landings on both ends. Big climb coming out of Ashdick which then levels out to a long succession of mud holes for a majority of the trail. Most have boardwalks and/or boulders to aide the traverse. I didn't encounter any deep muck (2-4 inches on average) but the slickness that mud causes when stepping on a boulder etc. was more the issue and that, not a serious one. The last leg of the trail then drops down to Swamp.

As others have said this is a fun, long, and challenging portage. My 12 y/o's first trip to BWCA and she struggled a bit. Some real tense moments while balancing the canoe single portaging. Wet, muddy, slippery, ascending or descending always.

This is a fun one...based on the reviews, I planned this one to show my friends a tough portage and it did not dissapoint :) It is climbing or knee deep mud seemingly the whole way from Ashdick. Travis did this one with a pack and a MN II and came out with clean feet, I swear it on the BWCA. If you ever try this one, just think about that. Big props Travis!

To say it nicely, this portage sucks! I believe that it's approximately a half mile hike, where almost every step is in knee deep mud, even in a dry season. There are some boards in a few areas, but other than that, it is extremely difficult to traverse this narrow, muddy, path. Also, not to mention the large amount of mosquitoes that eat you the entire way. But with all of that said, we slayed some small and largemouth bass over in Ashdick Lake. As much as I hate to say it, we'll probably do this portage again next year.

This is not an easy portage! It climbs steeply above the northern shore of Ashdick Lake then levels out for a considerable distance before descending to to a shallow bay just around the corner from Monument portage at the western end of Swamp lake. The portage wouldn't be too bad without the added obstacles along the way (deadfalls, mud pits, narrow and mosquito-infested pathway). I don't believe this path sees very many travelers.