Voyageurs National Park — Attraction in Fort Frances

During the 1700's, teams of French fur traders that traveled these waterways were known as Voyageurs. They paddled and navigated birch bark canoes deep into Canada in order to trade supplies for furs with the tribes of the region. A substantial fraction of the border between the USA and Canada was defined based on this important trade route.

This historical backdrop is the setting for Voyageurs National Park, which I found to be a great adventure in one of the lesser-known sites in the Nat. Park Service. Roads access the visitor centers at the edges of the park, but in order to travel into the interior, one needs to travel by boat. This maze of waterways, peninsulas, and islands may seem daunting at first, but with good planning a very rewarding experience can be had.

For those wanting to experience the true French Voyageur experience, use a canoe or kayak to get around instead of a power boat. I found the backcountry camping to be one of the most rewarding adventures I have ever had in a park. I was able to load up my kayak with backpacking supplies for a few nights and travel deep into the interior of the Kabetogama Peninsula at the Shoepack lakes. This was a remote area, with great scenic trails through the Minnesota North Woods terrain. Along the way there, a beaver family has constructed a superb example of a dam, and the trail travels at the beaver pond's edge. Just make sure to be prepared before this type of journey, and paddle near the shores of the main waterways like Kabetogama Lake to stay away from lingering in the power...

Bottom tier of parks for us. Isle Roayle was SO much better. I wish we had spent more time there than here. But this park is free to enter, so you get what you pay for.

They canceled all the boat tours from Rainy Lake 4 days before we were supposed to go for boat maintenance. It is so frusterating when there are 9 months out of the year to make sure everything is operational and 90% of this park is water. Be careful, and make alternate plans in case. They only have 1 boat for all the tours at Rainy Lake. They point you to their website that has other commercial tour companies, but they are 5x the price and obviously sold out with only 4 days' notice.

Rainy Lake visitor center has a few good hikes/walks that are also good for when you are waiting for your tour to go out. The Ethnobotanical Garden is a 5-minute circle of local plants right at the dock, and the Olberholtzer Trail is a great 1.6mi trail along the marsh.

The Kabetogama area is kind of pointless unless you're using the boat launch, and 5 Ranger here even told us not to hike the Echo Bay trail and to go to the Ash River area instead. The visitor center and rangers are super nice small gift shop and exhibit area.

Ash River has a ton of great hiking, and the 5.5hr kettle falls boat tour.

In short, Ash River for hiking and Rainy Lake for boat tours, but have a...

We’ll this was an experience, I thought I really read enough about this park that it was worth the shot of visiting it which I did. The Ranger at the Ash-Kam-Na was very knowledgeable & told us about the boat excursions we had planned were good choices. The Robles came the next day when those trips were canceled because the tour boat hit a submerged rock & damaged the hull of the boat. This didn’t stop us. At the cabin we were staying in we found a boat captain to take us out to the Rock Garden & Kettle falls. I’d give the Rock Garden 3.5 ⭐️s because it was interesting how one person could create this venue & Kettle Falls 2.5 ⭐️s because they built a dam where the falls were to control the water level of the lake. LOL they let to much out therefore they tour boat hit the rock 🪨. Two things. If your not a boat captain don’t rent a boat to see these venues. If you decide to anyway you may not be coming back. I say this because we had a very experienced one of 20 years & at times it was a dicey 3 hour boat tour. If we would of been able to take the NPS tours the time would of been 5.5 hrs to the falls & 3 hrs to the rock garden on two different days. If your a fisherman go for it. I’m from Michigan & I’d never drive 900 miles to fish when we have plenty here. Would I go again...