Voyageurs is a midwest national park known for its many lakes, its night skies, its wetlands and forests. It sits at the border of Minnesota and Canada, and you’ll want to make sure to get out on water when you visit.
Voyageurs National Park gets its name from the French word for traveler, voyageur. This area was an important segment of the fur trade route that occurred from the end of the 1600s to the mid-1800s. While Native Americans began living in this area over 10,000 years ago, the voyageurs were the first Europeans to explore the Northwest Territory.
In addition to the history of the fur trade, the park also holds evidence of homesteaders, logging, mining and commercial fishing. Voyageurs became a national park in 1975.
A few of the best things to do in Voyageurs National Park include canoeing, camping, taking a ranger-led boat tour and visiting the historic Kettle Falls Inn. This Voyageurs itinerary includes 2 nights of canoe backpacking, a stay at the historic hotel, and a boat tour. This itinerary will allow you to see a few different aspects of the park in just a few days.
This guide is based on my experience visiting Voyageurs in 2023.
Tips and Things To Know about Visiting Voyageurs National Park
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Voyageurs is primarily a water-based park. While there are a few trails and visitor centers you can visit from the mainland, I highly recommend allowing enough time to explore this park on the water!
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The mosquitoes (and ticks) can be really bad in Voyageurs, especially in June and July. Come prepared with bug nets and insect repellent, and it’s best to plan your trip for August or early September.
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Voyageurs National Park is free to visit!
When to Visit Voyageurs National Park
Voyageurs National Park is open year-round. However, visiting in the winter is a much different experience. Rainy Lake freezes in the winter and you can explore via snowmobile, cross country skiing or snowshoeing. You’ll also have a better chance of seeing the Northern Lights in the winter!
If you’re like me and interested in enjoying hiking and the water with no snow, you’ll want to visit in the summer or fall. But honestly, the mosquitoes were practically unbearable during my June visit, so I recommend visiting in August or September. October also looks like a beautiful time to enjoy some fall foliage. However, a lot of activities in the park are only offered through September.
How to get to Voyageurs National Park
Voyageurs National Park is located in Northern Minnesota about 4 and a half hours north of Minneapolis. The closest airport to Voyageurs is International Falls. However, it’s a small airport with few flights. Another airport to consider is Duluth, which is located about 2 and a half hours away.
Voyageurs is a great park to combine with a Minnesota North Shore road trip, a visit to Isle Royale National Park or a few days in Duluth.
The Best Things To Do in Voyageurs National Park
Here is a quick list of the best things to do on your trip to Voyageurs National Park! Below, I also share my itinerary that includes exactly what I did and a lot of logistics to consider for camping, backpacking and more.
- Take a ranger-led boat tour! I recommend the Grand Tour, which is 2.5 hours and includes history, wildlife and more.
- Go on a hike! One trail that you can do without taking a boat is the Blind Ash Bay Trail, which is in the Ash River area of the park.
- Spend a night or two at the historic Kettle Falls Hotel (it can only be reached from a boat). You can also take a day trip here.
- Rent a houseboat to explore the park and camp along the shore. You can rent a houseboat from a local operator and then reserve a permit through recreation.gov. I’d love to do this on a future trip!
- Go backpacking in the interior of the park. For some campsites, you’ll need to use a canoe to reach them.
- Visit one or more of the 4 visitor centers inside the park: Rainy Lake, Crane Lake, Ash River and Kabetogama Lake.
- Explore the nearby town of International Falls. I loved Coffee Landing Cafe!
A Epic Voyageurs National Park Itinerary (3 - 4 Days)
Days One - Two
If you’re looking for a unique adventure, spend a night or two backpacking into some of the interior lakes inside the park. This adventure involves hiring a water taxi, and for some campsites, it includes taking a canoe to reach your campsite. It’s a bit complicated to arrange, so I’ll break it down step by step.
Many of the backpacking trips can be done in one night, but two nights (or more) is nice to really immerse yourself in nature.
Fun Fact: The national park service leaves canoes inside the park that you can reserve and unlock via a code. This is what made me really want to embark on this adventure!
How to Backpack and Canoe Camp in Voyageurs National Park
Before booking your campsite in Voyageurs, keep in mind that all campsites require a boat to reach them in the summer months. They also all require a reservation.
- Research your campsite options on the national park website and make a reservation in recreation.gov
- Take note of where you’ll need to leave from to reach your hike and campsite. Personally, I took a water taxi from the Ash River Visitor Center, which is a good place to leave for any of the sites in the Cruiser Lake Trail System.
- Hire a water taxi! For this, you’ll want to refer to the list of operators on the Voyageurs National Park website. I found an operator available and ended up arranging everything over text message. We paid in cash on our return trip back to the mainland. It felt sketchy compared to what I’m used to in our national parks, but it worked out well.
- Make sure to print your permit before your trip. If you’re booking a campsite that includes a canoe, you’ll need to bring a life jacket and make sure you have the combination code to unlock the canoe (don’t rely on having any service).
- Enjoy the journey!
Where to Backpack and Canoe Camp in Voyageurs National Park
Voyageurs has 5 different campsites that require a canoe to reach. There are also several other campsites that do not include a canoe, but still involve taking a water taxi and backpacking on the interior island.
Personally, I chose to backpack to the Shoepack Lakes and it was such a beautiful area. The Shoepack Lakes actually includes two different campsites reserved together, so you have 2 lakes entirely to yourself.
To backpack to Shoepack Lakes, you’ll start with a 1.7-mile hike (after being dropped off by the water taxi). The hike was mostly flat, but a bit overgrown.
Soon, you’ll reach Little Shoepack Lake and the first canoe. Your first option is to take this canoe to the campsite on Little Shoepack Lake. However, for an even prettier and more remote experience, take the canoe to the end of the lake and walk the short path through the woods to reach Shoepack Lake, where there will be a second canoe. This lake is much larger and there are some lovely views from the campsite.
The best part of this experience was exploring the lakes via the canoes. We saw beaver dams, lily pads and enjoyed the water and the forest.
Tip: This park is home to bears and most campsites have a bear pole to hang your food. Bring a rope to hang your food in case a bear pole is not present.
We also spent a night at Quarter Line Lake, which is only about a half mile from the water taxi pick up point. At this lake, we got to admire a beaver swimming and working on a dam! Plus, there is a canoe at the lake that you can use to explore the water.
Day Three
One day two (or three if you’d like to spend longer camping in the backcountry!), hike back to the water taxi and make your way back to the mainland. For another unique experience in Voyageurs, book a night at the Kettle Falls Hotel.
The Kettle Falls Hotel can only be reached via the water and sits on the Minnesota/ Canadian border. This historic hotel was built around 1910. It was first used to house construction workers building the nearby dam, but soon became a beloved tourist attraction. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
One of the things that the hotel is most known for is the ‘Tiltin’ Hilton, a bar that has a slanted floor. During a stay at the Kettle Falls Hotel, you can have a drink at the bar, see the dam, rent kayaks, canoes or a boat, and more.
The hotel has shared bathrooms and basic furnishings. To maintain the historic setting, the hotel also does not have air conditioning, WiFi in the rooms, minifridges or TVs. It’s a nice place to disconnect and will feel luxurious after sleeping in the backcountry.
You’ll need to make sure you make it back from camping in time to take the boat to the hotel. We were picked up by our water taxi at 9AM, and the boat left for the Kettle Falls Hotel around 11AM. This gave us enough time to repack some of our things at our car and spend a little time at the Ash River Visitor Center in between our boat journeys.
Day Four
Make your way back to the mainland after a night at the Kettle Falls Hotel. The shuttle leaves with hotel guests around 10 or 10:30AM.
On your third (or fourth) day of exploring Voyageurs, make your way to another area of the park to take a ranger-led boat tour. Most of the tours leave from the Rainy Lake Visitor Center, which is an hour away from the Ash River Visitor Center (where you’ll get off your boat from Kettle Falls Hotel).
I took the Grand Tour of the park and really enjoyed it. The tour is 2.5 hours and includes a stop on Little America Island, where a small gold rush took place. Along with the island stop, the tour took us around the lake and we learned all about the history of the park.
The tour was also great for wildlife - we saw 5 bald eagles! If you just have one day to explore Voyageurs, a boat tour is what I would recommend! It was the perfect way to get out on the water and learn about the park.
Tip: Make sure you reserve your boat tour in advance on recreation.gov.
Final Thoughts
I hope this guide helps you plan an epic trip to Voyageurs National Park! From the wildlife to the remote lakes, this unique midwest park makes for an adventurous summer trip. Voyageurs makes for an epic summer getaway in Minnesota.
For more Midwest travel guides, check out these blogs:
- The Perfect Isle Royale Itinerary
- How to Spend 3 Days on the MN North Shore
- The Perfect Weekend Trip to Duluth
- How to Spend One Day in Theodore Roosevelt National Park
- The Perfect Michigan U.P. Itinerary
- How to Take a Perfect Day Trip to Mackinac Island
- How to Spend 3 Days in Madison, Wisconsin
- The Best Outdoor Adventures in St Cloud
- The Best Hikes in Indiana
- The Best Things To Do in Hocking Hills, OH
- The Best Things To Do in Cuyahoga Valley, OH
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