Voyageurs National Park

Today was all about the water.

Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota is a water-based park on the Canadian border, known for its boreal forest, lakes, and history of French-Canadian fur traders (voyageurs). It offers year-round activities like boating, fishing, and hiking in summer, and snowmobiling, ice fishing, and Northern Lights viewing in winter.

Most of the park is only accessible by water. We booked a 6 hour tour with Bill who owns Border Guide Service. He has lived here all his life and spent 10 years as a park ranger at Voyageurs. His grandfather settled here in the early 1900s and he spent his life on the lake.

It would take a lifetime to learn these waters. They are huge. There are 4 BIG lakes plus the waterways that connect them and more beside that. It's hard to tell where one lake ends and another begins.

It was a beautiful day and we traveled over 65 miles by water, criss-crossing the lake as Bill told us stories of the area. He also brought along his dog, Irish. Our turn around point was Kettle Falls.

Before Kettle Falls, we stopped for 30 minutes at Ellsworth Rock Gardens, a unique, terraced garden on a rock outcrop on Lake Kabetogama (`cab-uh-`toe-gah-muh, or just Kab as the locals say) in Voyageurs National Park, created by self-taught artist Jack Ellsworth from the 1940s to 1960s. He built 62 flower beds with thousands of lilies and other flowers, accented by over 200 abstract rock sculptures, making it a popular destination accessible only by boat. The National Park Service now maintains the site, with docks, restrooms, and picnic areas. We spent 30 minutes climbing around what is left of the gardens before the mosquitoes chased us back to the boat!

If we had rented a boat an toured the lake, we would have had absolutely beautiful scenery, but with no history. Bill's take was somewhat jaded he is not a fan of the National Park Service and their decisions), however, with most NPS tours, you hear a guide tell you stories that have been handed down. In Bill's case, he is the historian. Bill talked about the origins of the lakes, the Voyagers, the indians, and the trades that populated the lake. Beyond that, the tour is about the history of the lak over the past 100 years. And he lived most of what he talked about. He personally knew people and the events of the lake.

As we were cruising the lake we spotted a large bald eagle (one of several we saw), struggling at the edge of a small rock island. We thought he had caught too big a fish to be able to fly. As we came quietly around the island we startled him and he lost his grip on his prey. Turned out to be a loon. The eagle hopped up onto the rock and shook the water out of his wings. The loon swam away to it's mate who had been nearby watching the attack and calling out. Miraculously, it seemed to be okay! The eagle flew off across the lake.

Kettle Falls in Northwest St. Louis County, MN, refers to a historic district in Voyageurs National Park, accessible only by boat, known for the Kettle Falls Hotel (built in 1913) and the falls where Namakan Lake drains into Rainy Lake. It's a remote, historic site with a unique tilted bar in the hotel, a small dam, and a history of voyageurs, miners, and tourists. It is located on the US-Canada border where Canada is to the south.! It is only reachable by boat or air, deep in the wilderness of Voyageurs National Park. It is probably the most remote place I have ever been to. With the maze of islands it is also easy to get lost.

The hotel is quite run down, which is completely understandable, given the only way to get there is by boat over 2 hours from anywhere! But it was very cool to see. We had lunch on the porch and took in the overlook above the dam. It was strange to be looking south into Canada!

We enjoyed the day on the water, but the sun and heat did tire us out!

I am glad we came to see the park. It was beautiful. There are people that come here every year, like we go to Dale Hollow. I'm not a fan of all the biting bugs!Read more