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Kawishiwi Lake is a lovely campground in a birch stand on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. It provides an excellent campsite for people entering or exiting the BWCAW via the Kawishiwi Lake Entry Point. The BWCAW boundary is the shore of the lake, so motors are not allowed on the lake and if you plan on putting a canoe in the water at all, you will need a day use permit available at a kiosk at the access point. ACTIVITIES Camping: Please use facilities provided such as fire rings, tent pads, and latrines. Pack out all waste, do not burn paper or other garbage. Water from lakes must be treated, boiled, or filtered before use. Noise limits enforced, respect your fellow campers. Fishing Recreational Vehicles: Sites are pull-in and not specifically designed for RVs; however, all five of the sites at Kawishiwi Lake are longer than 21 feet and may accommodate an RV. Swimming: Unlike many northcountry lakes with shores of rocks and boulders, the shore of Kawishiwi at the campground is a gradual slope which provides swimming opportunities. There is no designated swimming area or lifeguards, and swimming is at your own risk.
From MN 61 in Tofte:
Drive north on Co 2 (Sawbill Trail) about 18 miles.
Turn left on Co 3, which may be labeled as Co 33.
After 8 miles, at the county border (not labeled), Cook County 3 will become Lake County 7. Follow Co 7 an additional 2 miles.
Turn right from Co 7 onto FR 354.
Kawishiwi Lake Rustic Campground is at the end of FR 354.
Beautiful, well kept campground. Private quiet sites in a serene setting. The campground host was available and maintained sites and bathrooms daily.
August, 2023: After altogether driving 305 miles (491 km) from the Minneapolis area, we arrived at Kawishiwi River Campground in the Superior National Forest (south-east of Ely, MN) where my friend had reserved campsite #1 for two nights [47.81582°, -91.73029°]. The campsite—which was the only one available the week before—turned out to be quite nice and certainly looked better than the park-provided image. As a bonus, it was an electric campsite and my friend could use one of her many crazy devices, which names and purposes I was not even trying to fathom. And as a double bonus, we had to pay only half of the required fee (i.e., $15.50 per night) due to her Golden Lifetime Senior Pass. In the morning the camp manager, Dan, stopped by in his golf cart to say “hello” and collect the $8.00 for the wood we had grabbed from his campsite upon arrival. The next day we spent close to one hour talking to him and Ellen, the campground host from Florida. They were extremely helpful and congenial people, who enjoyed their jobs.
Once we drove to the bridge between the Birch River and Birch Lake, brought chairs and spent a few hours just enjoying the view. We met a very nice gentleman, who just arrived and was about to go fishing. While chatting with him, I noticed plenty of birds of prey hovering above—and then I realized (and he confirmed) they were Bald Eagles! Later we saw several of them flying and sitting on tree branches on the other side of the river. It was the first time in my life I saw so many eagles in such a short time!
One of the campsites featured a sizable rock and a huge tree stump. It turned out that just recently this visibly huge tree fell over a camper, while its occupants were there. It was a miracle nobody was killed or injured!
Since we were still looking for a nice campsite for the upcoming week, including the Labour Day long weekend, we approached Dan, who suggested that we check out Birch Lake Campground--we did and spent many days camping there.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience to stay on that campground!
Nice campground. We stayed at site 26. We tent camped. Site is a back in with electricity. Lots of room in the "driveway" for an RV. Living space is a few steps below that. Tent space is large, though it has a small slope. Our tipi fit and it has a 14' diameter. We put the pop-up over the picnic table. Again, there is a small slope. Lots of rocks made putting up the canopy with differing leg lengths, but still very doable. Great fire grate. Bunch of steps leading down to the waters edge. Bench at waters edge for great views of the river while drinking a "cup of morning joe". Campground has a boat dock and a swimming area. Some of the cleanest bathrooms of any FS campground that we've ever seen. All-in-all we'll be back.
We stayed here for 5 nights in site #26 and it was beautiful. We had 32 steps from our site down to the BEST bench in the shore to drink a cup of coffee. The bathrooms were amazingly clean and well stocked. We used the boat launch and the swim beach, both were great!
Stayed at site #16 (non-electric, first-come/first-serve). There's a small set of stairs leading to the tent pad and fire-pit, which gives a little separation from the road. The site had a couple of good places for hammocks and room for a couple of tents.
You can see/hear your neighbors, but overall the campground was pretty quiet.
Shout-out to the camp hosts: Probably one of the cleanest vault toilets I've ever seen!
We'd definitely go back!
