Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota

Voyageurs National Park is a national park in Minnesota celebrating forested sites linked to the French-Canadian fur trade of the 17th century. The park was established on 8 April, 1975. Covering 218,054 acres (882 sq km), it offers a variety of recreational activities such as boating, kayaking and canoeing. Much of Voyageurs National Park is on Kabetogama Peninsula accessible only by boat.

Within Voyageurs National Park are four major bodies of water. The largest is Rainy Lake, at 60 miles (97 km) in length and covering 227,604 acres, with a 929-mile (1,495-km) shoreline. It is one of the lakes that straddle the US-Canadian border, others being Namakan Lake and Sand Point Lake, and other smaller lakes.

Grassy Bay, Voyageurs National Park
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Ed Lombard, National Park Service


The area of Voyageurs National Park bear traces of human habitation going back 10,000 years, since the Paleo-Indian Period. During the Archaic Period, between 8,000 BC and 100 BC, nomadic groups of hunters and gatherers moved through here.

The first European to arrive here was French Explorer Jacques de Noyon in 1688. The demand for beaver pelts brought fur traders who rapidly depleted the beaver population. At that time, the Native Americans living in this area included the Cree, Monsoni and Assiniboine tribes.

By the late 19th century, logging has replaced fur trading as the chief commercial enterprise of the area. There were saw mills at International Falls and Fort Frances that operated until 1937. In 1893 a gold rush was brought about by the discovery of gold-bearing quartz vein on an island in Rainy Lake. Within a year of the discovery, the settlement called Rainy Lake City has been created, with population of several hundred. It had a bank, a school house, restaurants, hotels, newspaper, hardware store, all created to support the need of prospectors. By 1898 the gold was depleted and by 1901, Rainy Lake City was but a memory.

Kettle Falls Dam Keeper's Cabin, Voyageurs National Park
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kettle_Falls_Dam_Keeper%27s_Cabin_NPS.jpg
National Park S2005-06-22

Visiting Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota

Unlike most other national parks in the US, Voyageurs National Park can only be accessed by boat. The nearest major city is International Falls, reached by US Highway 53. Within the national park are numerous resorts which offer boat transfers.

The Rainy Lake Visitor Center (Phone 218-286-5258) is open all year round. Opening hours range from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in the summer months to 10:00 am to 4:00 pm in winter. There are no entrance fees to enter the park.

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