Northern Minnesota

Voyageurs, Northern Lights & the Ice Box of the US!

We camped on Kabetogama Lake, on a cliff overlooking the lake, <1 mile from the Kabetogama Lake Visitor Center for Voyageurs NP, which put us between Ash River Visitor Center to the south and Rainy River Visitor Center to the north. We learned on arriving, that the area is one of the best in the US (out of Alaska) for seeing the Northern Lights! Mark caught a glimpse one night, but, given that today is the full moon, it was a but a glimmer.

Looking north over Kabetogama Lake at 10:30 PM…NOT city lights!

We stopped in International Falls, MN for a bit…the Icebox of the Nation, although 1 town each in Colorado and Wyoming also want to claim the title.

Riding the Giant Walleye at Kabetogama Lake

As for the main attraction…

Visits to 1 new National Park Site:

Voyageurs National Park (#260), spans 218,000 acres of lakes, forests, and streams in northern Minnesota. Voyageurs’ landscape of abundant rock and dense woods hugs the outer edges of the Canadian Shield and the northern boreal forest, one of the few places in North America where you can see and touch rocks half the age of the Earth. Interconnected lakes—Rainy, Kabetogama, Namakan, Sand Point, and dozens of smaller ones—were once routes for travel and trade. Established in 1975, the park is named after the French-Canadian Voyageurs who once navigated these abundant waters

We visited all three Visitor Centers, did a little hiking and took 3 boat tours that got us on Rainy, Kabetogama, and Namakan Lakes and Ash River. The fur trading history here is totally connected to Grand Portage, our previous stop, and the later history, of mining and logging and tourism, mimics what we been learning all around the Great Lakes.

Looking South into Canada at the Kettle Falls Dam
About looking South into Canada at the Kettle Falls Dam
Sloped Floor, to remember the results of MAJOR Frost Heaves, at Kettle Falls Hotel Bar
On the dock at Ash River Visitor Center
Cabin with water on 3 sides (on “solid” foundation) at historic I. W. Stevens Resort
One view from Cabin at historic I. W. Stevens Resort
Remnants of Vertical Mine Shaft on American Island in the Rainy Lake Gold Fields
Remnants of Lateral Mine Shaft in the Rainy Lake Gold Fields
Bark Canoe at Rainy Lake Visitor Center

Off for Minneapolis

Where we will be leaving Lizzy for 2+ weeks, for a whirlwind trip to the Northeast! (More on that, and the plans we’ve finally made into 2025, later.)

For more pictures, see (in-work) Adventure Album: Great Lakes Superior