Voyageurs National Park

Nearly half of Voyageurs is water, four big interconnected lakes and hundreds of smaller ones scattered across ancient granite scraped bare by glaciers, and almost none of the interior can be reached on foot: you go by boat, and many visitors rent a houseboat and simply anchor in a different bay every night. The name comes from the French-Canadian voyageurs who paddled this route with fur canoes for a century and a half. The park is a certified dark sky place, one of very few, and it sits far enough north that the aurora appears regularly. In winter the lakes freeze hard enough for an ice road and a snowmobile route, and the park stays open.

What you actually see

• Houseboating - the classic way to see the park, anchoring in a new bay nightly.
• The night sky - certified dark skies and regular northern lights.
• Kettle Falls - the remote historic hotel reached only by water.
• Ellsworth Rock Gardens - a lakeside sculpture garden built by one man over twenty years.

When to go

June to September is the boating season, with the water warm enough to swim in late summer. Late August through winter is best for aurora, as June nights barely darken. Winter brings the ice road and snowmobile trails from roughly January to March, ice permitting.

Honest expectations

Without a boat you see very little of this park, and rentals and houseboats are expensive and book out for peak weeks. Mosquitoes and black flies in June and early July are severe. Weather changes fast on big open water and inexperienced boaters get caught out. The nearest town is a five-hour drive from Minneapolis.

Nearby

International Falls sits at the western gate; the Boundary Waters canoe area is east.