Spring hiker reports and a BWAC survey / saw crew note widely varying conditions on the trail. Lowlands are very wet, uplands are covered with dry and crunchy pine needles.

Spring hikers indicate a flooded trail crossing adjacent to Pose Creek. The Diana Creek bridge has been repaired for safe crossing. The new beaver dam at that location is built across the trail resulting in localized flooding into the greenzone.

‍ ‍West of the greenzone, a significant water crossing awaits, with knee high water.

The beaver dam at Myth / Exploit creek crossing has high water below and crossing the top of the dam is now recommended.

Spring trail clearing crews have completed corridor and brushwork on the gateway and on trail’s west side from Path Lake to south of Mirror. Expect sporadic treefalls around the loop and brushy conditions around Superstition Lake.

BWAC recommends that all hikers download a current GPS track of the Powwow Trail and associated maps for offline use (Gaia GPS App) before attempting a thru-hike. McKenzie maps and the 2016 USFS map of the trail are inaccurate in many critical areas.

Always check the Trail guide for distances to the next water source. Don’t underestimate your time as hiking speeds can average less than 2 mph on the western and northern sections of the trail. Have 2 liters of carrying capacity. Best advice is to always drink up and gather new water at every accessible source.

1. Drainages before Isabella crossing

2. Secondary Isabella River crossing

3. Beaver ponds south of “The Wye”

4. Pelt Creek beaver pond

5. Fallen Arch Lake

6. Flapper Creek

7. Marathon Lake

8. Diana creek bridge / beaver dam

9. Beaver pond

10. Drainage

11. Campfire Lake

12. Quadga Lake via spur trail

13. Beaver dam

14. Myth / Exploit Lake Creek / beaver dam crossing

15. Superstition Lake

16. Superstition Creek

17. Rock Ledge waterfall

18. Mirror Lake

19. Beaver pond

20. Path Lake

21. Rock of Ages Lake

22. Stream

23. Lake Three

24. Stream in Lake Three greenzone

25. Lake Three / Horseshoe Lake portage

26. Horseshoe Lake shoreline

27. Beaver pond

28. North Wilder Lake

29. North Wilder canoe portage

30. Wilder Creek crossing

31. South Wilder Lake

32. Football Field drainage

33. Drainage

34. Pose Creek

35. Pose Lake via spur trail

36. 2 boulder Drainage

37. Beaver pond

38. The “Culvert”

As we receive reports of difficult sections of the trail we will report them here. If you hike the trail and encounter other locations, please contact us to let us know so we can add it to the list. The date of the report is listed here as well and we will try to clear these lists as crews work on those sections.

1. Flooded trail in first half mile

2. Flooding below beaver dam south of the wye

3. Beaver dam has flooded Lake Diana into the Greenzone

4. Beaver pond west of greenzone with 24” deep water

5. Beaver dam east of Exploit Lake (47.82006, -91.45489): Trail is flooded below the dam (hikers have crossed on the dam instead; watch for flagging both ways)

6. Superstition Greenzone to lakeshore: Very brushy conditions (watch for tree cuts, cairns, or multi-stemmed regrowth)

7. North end lake to 0.2 before Mirror Lake: sporadic brushy conditions, look for treecuts, cairns, and multi-stemmed brush.

8. Pose Creek beaver dam: trail crossing in valley is flooded. Look for flagged reroute further up the valley.

Dispersed camping is permitted anywhere on the trail if you follow the BWCAW Regulations for Hikers: camp 200 feet from the trail and water sources, no campfires during ice free season, no cutting or defacing vegetation

• [open] Isabella River canoe campsite

• [dispersed] Marathon Lake - no fires allowed in ring

• [dispersed] Diana Lake Greenzone

• [open] Campfire Lake campsite

• [open] Quadga Lake canoe campsite via spur trail

• [open] Superstition Lake campsite

• [open] Mirror Lake campsite

• [open] Path Lake campsite

• [open] Rock of Ages campsite

• [open] Lake Three canoe campsite

• [open] Horseshoe Lake canoe campsite

• [open] North Wilder campsite

• [open] South Wilder campsite

• [dispersed] “Football field” 1/2 mile east of S. Wilder

• [dispersed] Pose Creek area

• [open] Pose Lake Campsite