Meander Lake

Campground Review

This campground is a magical escape without crowds or any sign of the modern world. You will most likely have the whole place to yourself, with your choice of the three campsites. The boundary waters are one of the few places in the United States that you can go to be without any man-made sounds - no nearby cities, no planes flying above. Just the wildness.

The camping is free. Just park at the dirt road and walk in to the sites. There is one outhouse up by the parking area. Each site comes with a picnic table and fire pit. Make sure to bring your own water, and pack out your trash.

This campground is particularly great for swimming, kayaking, and canoeing in the summer months. The lake is so comfortably warm that in the morning the water is warmer than the air temperature. In July and August there are wild blueberries everywhere - fun to gather them and delicious to eat! For fishing info and a map, refer to this document.

Product Review

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products to review for some of my camping trips. On this trip, we tested out two meals from Mountain House. (See my review of other meal options in my Horse Flats campground review). On this trip we had the Pasta Primavera and Italian Pepper Steak. These meals are the tastiest camp food - so delicious!

Pros

• super great taste. DELICIOUS. The more recipes I try, the more I am convinced that this brand makes amazing tasting meals
• quick to make. These meals are ready in 10 minutes or less, some are ready as soon as you add water. After a long day of climbing or hiking, or when you're waking up in the morning, it's so nice to have food ready so quickly
• easy to make. Just add water (boiling, usually). This also means that all we need to pack is a Jetboil, which is so much more convenient than packing a stove, pots, cooking oil, ingredients, cutting boards, etc.
• lightweight, and you can choose among packaging options for more compactness

Cons

• there are no vegan options, and very few vegetarian options. The Pasta Primavera is one of the two vegetarian options.
• I find the serving amounts to be unhelpful in their current format, because the calories per serving are so low. For example, with the Italian Pepper Steak, the pouch says "2.5 services", but there are only 180 calories per serving. If this were your sole meal item for dinner, I'd say that's more like 1 serving, especially if you're consuming these meals after a day of vigorous outdoor activity.

All in all, I'd say these meals are awesome for short trips or backcountry camping, when you want to pack minimally. And if you aren't trying to stick to a budget, then these meals are also great for longer trips / car camping if you just want delicious, easy, quick food without having to cook everything yourself

This campsite location is perfect for a weekend backcountry camping experience along the Echo Trail north and west of Ely. It would also be a good place to spend the night before launching off onto a BWCA river trip on the Indian Sioux River or the Moose River, both of which have entry points nearby. The Forest Service refers to the three campsites here as "backcountry sites," meaning they are rustic and dont have the amenities of Forest Service group campgrounds like Jeanette Lake and Fenske Lake further along the Echo Trail, but also have the advantage of being a bit less primitive and a bit more accessible than canoe-in only sites within the BWCA. There is no permit required nor campground registration needed, so staying here is on a first come first served basis. be advised though, that the sites provide only a fire grill, picnic table, and tent site, and are a pretty good hike in from the parking area, from which you will have to carry all your gear. However, it is worth the effort as you will likely be the only one, or one of few campers, at the lake, which is pristine and beautiful. A disastrous forest fire swept the north and west sides of the lake in 1970, followed by major wind storms and tree loss in the late 1980's and early 1900's, however the forest has slowly and surely recovered and the shores are beautiful once again.