Traveling south on the Flambeau Trail, travelers reached Big Turtle Lake, now Echo Lake, and Little Turtle Lake, now called either Grand Portage Lake or Tank Lake, at what is now Mercer, where Echo Lake offered a choice depending on the purpose of the journey. One route continued south along an ancient Native American and voyageur path, with a portage from Echo Lake to Grand Portage Lake, then across to Mercer Lake, followed by a four mile portage to the Manitowish River. Another route continued on the Turtle River. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, loggers used this route as a water highway to float pine logs downriver past Lake of the Falls to the lumber towns of Park Falls, Chippewa Falls, and Eau Claire, and onward to the Mississippi River. From there, travelers using these waterways could reach the Gulf of Mexico, New Orleans, and the Atlantic Ocean, and this water highway became a major transportation link that opened the region to international trade early in its history.