Poplar Lake is Located about 30 miles north of Grand Marais up the Gunflint Trail just outside of the BWCA. This lake is 764 acres in size, approximately 73 feet deep at its deepest point, and has water clarity as deep as 1o feet. In the winter Poplar Lake is the start and endpoint for the Gunflint Mail Run, a competitive dog sled race with up to 30 teams on the first weekend of January.
Poplar Lake also has 3 Entry Points (EP) into the BWCA. EP 47: Lizz and Swamp Lakes, EP 48: Meeds Lake, and EP 49: Skipper and Portage Lakes. If you check out the Exploring the North Shores Beginner’s Guide they give you all of the information you need for these three entry points.
When fishing, anglers can expect to catch a variety of fish including Lake Trout, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, and Yellow Perch. This lake has one public boat launch located on the farthest side of the lake off of Old Gunflint Trail. The boat launch is a concrete trailer launch with a dock and plenty of parking spaces. Paddlers heading into the BWCA also use this as a launch point.
Getting There:
From Downtown Grand Marais until you hit the Gunflint Trail. Continue on the Gunflint Trail for about 31 miles until you hit the Old Gunflint Trail and turn left. Continue on Old Gunflint for half a mile and turn left onto usfs 1335 and continue for half a mile where you will hit a fork in the road. To the left is parking and to the right is the lake.