Above Photo: Kabetogama Lake

When I think of national parks in the United States of America, I don’t usually think of northern Minnesota. But, as I prepared for this summer’s Midwest Extravaganza, I set my sights on Voyageurs National Park, established in 1975, about a five-hour drive from Minneapolis/St. Paul. Less than 300,000 people per year visit this national park.

Voyageurs is in the Border Waters between northern Minnesota and northwestern Ontario, Canada. It is made up of the interconnecting waterways of Kabetogama, Namakan, Rainy and Sand Point Lakes.

With 218,000 acres, over 38 percent of which is water, access to the islands and over 240 camping spots is all by watercraft. Houseboats and pontoon boats are common sights. The park has over 500 islands and 655 miles of shoreline.

The park is named for the Voyageurs, French Canadian canoemen who traveled in birch bark canoes from the Great Lakes to what is now the interior of the western United States and Canada. They were the truck drivers of their time, transporting goods between Montreal and the Canadian Northwest. They could carry two 90-pound bales of beaver pelts on their back while portaging their boats. They were quite a hearty lot, most between the ages of 15 and 25; analysis of their skeletons revealed they had the bodies of Olympic athletes.

I stayed on Rainy Lake in International Falls, a pulp and paper town dating back over 100 years, overlooking mills across the Rainy River to Fort Frances on the Canadian side. It’s a smelly little town that has little going on, except it did change its name from Koochiching, so there’s that. It also claims to be the coldest spot in America’s Ice Box; to prove it they erected a big thermometer in town, but the below zero temps promptly broke it.

I lucked out on a full hook up camping site. I initially intended to stay at a first-come, first-served dry camping park near one of the Visitors’ Centers (Woodenfrog, for future reference), but when I arrived in the Midwest I was smacked down by exceptionally hot and humid weather. I knew I would need electricity.

The area caters to boaters, but not so much to RVers. I called the venerable RV Park in the area, Arnold’s, which was of course full, and they referred me to Rainy Lake Vacation, a brand new RV park in International Falls.

Waterside RV sites came with a boat slip, and the park was run by a lovely young couple with three adorable children, who loved on the puppies. I also met Geri and Ed, staying for the season. Geri grew up in the area, and she and Ed played tour guides, showing me around International Falls and the nearby Port of Ranier.

Voyageurs has three Visitors’ Centers, and I stopped in at two – Rainy Lake and Kabetogama. (For the uninitiated, it’s pronounced “cab-it-oh-GO-ma,” not the half dozen other ways I pronounced it before I arrived!)

Kabetogama Lake is edged by the Canadian Shield, a gigantic dome of volcanic bedrock that forms the core of the continent. Kabetogama has 25,000 acres of water. Walleye and bass are very popular, although no commercial fishing is allowed in the park anymore. That (delicious!) walleye I ate in town at the Elks is probably from Canada.

From Kabetogama I took a 5.5 hour, ranger-led, round-trip cruise to Kettle Falls ($40), deep in the heart of Voyageurs National Park. Kettle Falls lies between Namakan Lake and Rainy Lake. It was home first to prehistoric native people, then the Ojibwe Indians, then 14th century explorers, then Voyageurs, followed by a gold rush, a logging boom, and commercial fishing.

The historic Kettle Falls Hotel (1912) has been called a “Jewel in the Wilderness,” accessible only by boat and float plane. It is rumored that the famous Madam, Nellie Bly, helped finance the construction in 1910. The hotel was sold to Robert Williams in 1918 for $1,000 and four barrels of whiskey.

The hotel has also been called “the Tiltin’ Hilton,” because its foundation was built on clay soil, which accumulated water and became mushy over time. The foundation sank, creating a sloping floor on the entire bottom level of the hotel. While the park service shored up and/or replaced most of it, they left the floor in the bar, which looks like a tortoise shell with a pool table on top of it.

A dam at Kettle Falls was used in Hamm’s Beer commercials. (“From the land of sky blue waters …”)

My other boat tour, The Grand Tour ($30), departed from the Rainy Lake Visitors’ Center

and included viewing a commercial fishing camp from the water,

and an excursion on Little American island, where the 1893 gold rush began. (Not surprisingly, the majority of the Rainy Lake gold fields are located along a fault zone.)

Both lakes gave plenty of opportunities to see loons and Bald Eagles. The return of the Bald Eagle to the area has been a real success story. They have over 38 mating pairs in the park right now.

A National Parks Pass is not required at Voyageurs; there is no admission charge. It can be hot and humid in the daytime, but the nights in late July cooled down nicely. It wasn’t very buggy at all. If you don’t have access to a boat, I highly recommend the tours given by the park. They were a great value, informative, and afforded stunning scenery.