Minnesota – Voyageur’s National Park

about voyageur’s national park

• This remote national park is in northern Minnesota and rides the border with Canada
• True to form for a state nicknamed The Land of 10,000 Lakes, Voyageur’s encompasses a sprawling 218,055 acres, with almost half of that taken up by water
• The majority of visitors come for the water fun – fishing, canoeing, kayaking, swimming and boating, but there are also a few historical sites and hiking
• Getting onto the water is recommended, either via your own boat, through a rental outfitter or by taking a ranger-led boat tour from a visitor center
• All 3 visitor centers and some hiking trails can be accessed via car but all of the camping sites and the majority of the interesting sights within the park require a boat to access
• There are 4 major lakes (Rainy Lake, Kabetogama Lake, Namakan Lake and Sand Point Lake) but these are not your standard well-demarcated lakes. The inlets, bays, channels, smaller lakes, large islands and peninsulas all form a vast mix within the park and in many places, blend together or connect through channels

Where to start

what to do

1. Boating
   • Everything from a houseboat to a kayak can be used to access camp sites and points of interest
   • Boats and gear can be rented from many outfitters who service the park.
   • Houseboats are required to have a permit to stay overnight. These can be purchased starting November 15 for the following season. Take note of this date and plan ahead.
   • As mentioned above, there are ranger-led boat tours. Some are in canoes, others are motorized boats that visit points of interest in the park
2. Hiking
   • There are a variety of hiking trails – some are on mainland and some must be accessed via boat. They range from 1 mile loops to multi-day trips.
   • Birding and wildlife viewing (if you’re stealthy) can be done while hiking
   • For those people interested in geology, the park offers information on some of the exposed rock formations along certain trails
3. Fishing – get a Minnesota fishing license and read the rules for fishing in the park
4. History
   • Harry Oveson Fish Camp – a day use area. Harry Oveson was a commercial fisherman on Rainy Lake. His camp and ice house were preserved by the park as an example of early commercial fishing. There is a picnic table and you can view the Ice House.
   • Casareto Cabin – privately built in 1934, it was later sold to the park and restored as a representation of classic family summer cabins built prior to the national park forming
   • I.W. Stevens Resort – historic buildings preserved on Stevens Island. The history involves a lumbar barren and later a summer resort
   • Hoist Bay – first established for lumber companies, during a time when logs had to be floated to train stations. Later it was a summer resort. A boathouse, ice house and root cellar are still present today and can be explored
5. Kettle Falls
   • Kettle Falls Hotel offers the only accommodations inside the park – it has hotel rooms as well as small villas
   • It has a colorful history that spans over 100 years and includes gold miners, lumberjacks, rumors of a brothel and bootlegging liquor during Prohibition. Stocked with antiques, it offers photos and information of its history
   • You can still get a drink at The Lumberjack Saloon, with its sloping floor and marks left from lumberjack boots
   • Accessible by boat only – you can ride your own, take a boat tour from one of the visitor centers or Kettle Falls offers a ferry service
   • It also offers a wide variety of services including boat rentals, fishing licenses and gear, a trading post, dock, a dining room, ice and gas
6. Points of Interest
   • Anderson Bay – famous rocky cliffs in the park. Can be viewed from a boat or is also a day use area with a hiking trail to the top
   • Grassy Bay Cliffs – at 125 feet, they are one of the highest areas in the park. Access by boat only, or snowmobile in the winter.
   • Ellsworth Rock Gardens – built over 20 years by one individual, these are terraced rock walls with additional artwork made from rocks. One of the most visited spots in the park.

Due to the pandemic, our travel plans were tentative and mobile for a long time. Not until approximately 3 months before the trip did I start booking and making non-refundable deposits. By that time, all of the houseboats which operate within the park boundaries were already reserved, which nearly brought a small tear to my eye. I really wanted to spend the night on the water on a boat.

To improvise, we visited the Lake Kabetogama Visitor Center to get our national park passports stamped and learn about the park and then rented a pontoon boat on Crane Lake for the day. I had originally read that Crane Lake is the most southern portion of Voyageur’s but an outfitter said you have to go north out of Crane Lake to enter Voyageur waters. I am still unclear on this.

Due to an unexpected thunderstorm that chased us off the water in the morning, we didn’t motor north as planned, but spent the day exploring the miles of Crane Lake instead. If you look at Voyageur’s National Park on a map, Crane Lake is the equivalent of a big toe. However, it was huge and vast and had a million deserted inlets to explore. We spent an entire afternoon boating, fishing and swimming and never saw another boat outside the marina.

Good Things To Know:

• Read my diary entry about Voyageur’s National Park here
• Many people enjoy Voyageur’s National Park by renting a boat, often a houseboat. You must do this early because by the time I started calling 3 months before our trip, all of the boats were booked. This was during the pandemic however, so maybe that was how the entire state of Minnesota decided to social distance
• Same for any airBnB’s or vacation rentals near the park – hammer out your plans and book early. We were looking for a place that slept 8 and had to stay approx an hour from the park because everything else was booked.
• This park is unique in that it’s comprised of several lakes, which are serviced by many commercial businesses located just outside the park– there are lodges, canoe rentals, kayak rentals, camping supply places, houseboat companies etc. The National Park website is a really good resource for a directory.
• I’m sad we didn’t get to see the Kettle Falls Hotel. It’s a historic building deep in the heart of Voyageur’s National Park and accessible only by boat. If you’re staying in one of their rooms or villas, you can request their shuttle service (for a fee). Voyageur’s National Park also offers tours to Kettle Falls Hotel but these were suspended when we visited due to the pandemic (hence the reason we didn’t make it).
• We rented a pontoon boat at Anderson’s Canoe Outfitters. I know canoe is in the name but they have branched out into other boats apparently and I suppose Anderson’s Canoe & Pontoon & Other Boat Outfitters was just too much for the sign. I would highly recommend them. They were very kind and professional and didn’t seem even slightly nervous when giving us the keys to a new pontoon boat.
• If you have kids, take kid life jackets. Most boat rentals have the standard orange life vests but a good quality jacket that fits your kid will be far more comfortable to play in
• Obviously it depends on what your family enjoys doing, but I think a houseboat would have been amazing and I am still crushed we couldn’t get one. Cruising around pristine wilderness with a kitchen and bathroom? Shooting off a sliding board or diving off the back? Tying up at a campsite overnight and waking up to a quiet pristine lake? Exploring dozens of islands? Yes, yes, yes and yes. Sign me up. If you do this, I want to hear about it but be careful not to rub it in. My wounds are still raw.
• If you have kids, do the Junior Ranger program at a visitor’s center. They do an activity booklet and then get sworn in by a ranger and earn a badge
• Get your passport stamped! If you’re not familiar with the program, every place run by the national park service (includes national seashores, battlefields, monuments etc) offers a stamp, with the location and date. You buy a national park passport and over the years, continue to add stamps as you visit locations. It’s rather addictive.