How to Rent a Houseboat in Voyageurs National Park

Renting a houseboat in Voyageurs National Park is the closest thing we’ve found to having a national park all to ourselves. After picking up our boat from a local outfitter, we spent 6 days cruising through the park’s waters, exploring the park’s historic sites, and waking up on the water every morning.

This trip has gone down as one of our favorite trips ever. And although we personally came in with a lot of boating experience, having lived on a boat for 2.5 years and traveled around America’s Great Loop, these houseboats are genuinely beginner-friendly. They move at a walking pace, the waterway is well marked, and the pre-departure orientation covers everything you need to know.

Below, you’ll find useful tips to any questions you might have if it’s your first time renting a houseboat, as well as a day-by-day breakdown of everything we did on our houseboat. We also documented our houseboat experience on YouTube. Let’s get into it!

This post was put together in partnership with Ebels Houseboats. All views and opinions are authentically our own.

Why Rent a Houseboat in Voyageurs?

A houseboat is your lodging and your transportation all in one, and in a park like Voyageurs, which is 40% water, has no roads running through it, and only has one lodge within its borders, that combination is hard to beat.

It’s also one of the only ways to reach most of what makes this park special. The historic sites, the cliffs, and the interior shorelines are all water access only, and a houseboat puts you right in the middle of it instead of having to drive back to a hotel every night.

Houseboating through this park was such a unique experience for us and our friends Adam and Kathryn and Katie and Joe. Actually getting to wake up on the waters of a US National Park every morning with no one else in sight kind of blew our minds.

How to Rent a Houseboat in Voyageurs National Park

Below, we’ve outlined a step-by-step guide to everything you need to do to successfully plan a houseboating trip in Voyageurs National Park. Pay attention to the order, as you’re going to want to do some steps before others, like book your houseboat before your permit.

1. Decide when to visit Voyageurs

The full houseboat season runs from May 1st through October 31st. That being said, there are better and worse times to go during these dates. Mosquitoes can be brutal here, the worst time being June and July, and the busy season is July and August.

We recommend aiming for late August or September if you can. We went from July 5th to 10th, and definitely got a taste of the mosquitoes and weren’t able to get one houseboat spot due to competition from fellow houseboaters, but we still had a great time.

We’ve seen photos of the beautiful fall colors in Northern Minnesota and think fall would be a wonderful time to explore the park. You’d have fall colors, fewer crowds, and fewer mosquitoes. The downsides would be that you likely wouldn’t be swimming in the lakes as much with the cooler temperatures.

2. Find a local outfitter

There are four local outfitters who rent out houseboats around Voyageurs National Park, and they are not located in the same area of the park. The four houseboat outfitters are:

• Ebels Houseboats are located on the Ash River, between Kabeotgama and Namaken Lakes
• Voyagaire Lodge & Houseboats are located on Crane Lake
• Northernaire Houseboats are located on Rainy Lake
• Rainy Lake Houseboats are located on Rainy Lake

We rented our houseboat from Ebel’s Voyageur Houseboats and had an amazing experience from start to finish, so we can personally recommend them. They are conveniently located right by Namakan and Kabetogama Lakes, which is exactly where we wanted to focus our trip. We went with their Vista 51-Foot (3-bedroom) Houseboat, which was the perfect size for us and four of our friends.

While some of the lakes are connected bodies of water, not all of them are accessible by houseboat travel because of a dam. For example, you can rent a houseboat on Rainy Lake and explore Rainy Lake, but you can’t take that houseboat to the other 3 lakes in the park. If you rent a houseboat on any of the other lakes, you can travel between those lakes, but not to Rainy Lake.

You’ll want to keep in mind the destinations you want to visit in the park while choosing your houseboat outfitter. Most companies require a minimum stay, often 3 nights, so keep that in mind when booking.

3. Secure your permits

Every houseboat staying overnight in Voyageurs National Park between May 1st and October 31st needs an overnight permit from Recreation.gov. It costs $15 per houseboat per night, plus a $10 non-refundable reservation fee per transaction.

We recommend booking your houseboat first, then your permit. There’s no limit on the number of permits issued for any given night, so permits never sell out; the houseboats do. Permits and rentals for the following summer both open on November 15 at 9:00 a.m. CST. If you plan to visit during the busy season (July/August), you’ll want to do this on that date.

Our other big tip is to hold off on printing your permit until your dates are final. Your confirmation email isn’t the permit, but rather what you print from your Recreation.gov account. Once it’s printed, you can’t change or cancel it. Once on your houseboat, display it on the rear of your boat for park rangers to easily see it.

If you plan on fishing like us, you’ll also need a Minnesota fishing license, which costs $14 for 24 hours, $36 for 72 hours, and $43 for 7 days. These are the nonresident prices, if you’re a Minnesota resident they’ll be even lower.

4. Plan your itinerary and route

Our biggest tip for planning a successful houseboating itinerary is to ask your specific outfitter for help. As family businesses that have organized these trips for decades, they know what’s realistic for your boat, dates, and starting location. Heather from Ebel’s Voyageur Houseboats helped us determine the best houseboat for our group.

In addition to speaking with your outfitter, we recommend reading up about everything there is to do in Voyageurs National Park. We’ve written about the 11 BEST Things to Do at Voyageurs National Park, which you can take a look at to get a good sense of the main things to do and see in this park.

Our final recommendation is to leave yourself at least one rest day, where you don’t move your houseboat at all. This is what we did and we were really grateful for a day without having to look for a new campsite. By planning one zero mile day, it also gives a backup option in case you get a bad weather day and have to stay in place.

5. Pack for your Voyageurs Houseboat Trip

Once the date starts approaching, make sure to pack for your trip! Besides your typical clothing, toiletries, and tech, here are the items that most came in handy for us during our time on the houseboat.

• Citronella candles: We bought a two-pack of large ones from Costco and they were genuine gamechangers for sitting outside at night.
• Bug spray with DEET: Bug spray quickly became our #1 must-use item and is a non-negotiable. We knowingly planned our trip for the beginning of July, even though the bugs were horrendous.
• Sun shirts: The one clothing item you might not already have, and is a must for us, are UV sunshirts (men’s version here). There is no shade when you’re on the deck of a boat, so we kept these on most days to avoid having to put on sunscreen every few hours.
• Wide-brimmed hat: A wide-brimmed hat is another great way to protect your face, ears, and neck from the sun while on the boat.
• Sunscreen: Don’t forget a bottle of sunscreen as well as sunscreen lip balm to protect your lips too.
• Binoculars: A set of binoculars is a plus for spotting mooring rings as you approach a site, and for wildlife.
• Navionics Boating app: Make sure to download this app before you leave areas with signal. This was our most-used boating app while we lived on a boat. You can do the free one-week trial.
• Physical maps: Several physical maps are a great backup as well. You can pick up free ones at any park visitor center, or your outfitter probably has some. Ebel’s provided us with maps of the park, which we used every day.
• Board games, a craft, or a good book: All of these are great ways to pass the time on a lazy day.
• Fishing gear: If you want to fish during your trip, make sure to bring, or rent, fishing gear.

6. Arrive on time for Day 1

On pickup day, your outfitter will walk you through the whole boat. Ours ran a full hour and covered every question we had, then Tommy drove the boat out of the dock and into Sullivan Bay himself before hopping off and handing us the reins.

From there, keep your first leg short. We did about an hour and a half on day one, just enough to get a feel for how the boat handles before we moored for the night. Watch for your red and green markers and trust what you can see over any app.

Also make sure to keep the radio on. It’s your line back to base if anything comes up. Our radio was tuned to channel 1, which is Ebel’s own channel. At any point you can call back to base with a question or a problem and they’ll help right away. Nothing went wrong on our trip, but knowing help was a radio call away gave us real peace of mind.

Two other channels worth knowing: channel 16 is the Coast Guard and National Park Service, and channel 9 is good for weather forecasting if you don’t have Starlink onboard (we brought ours for business purposes).

Our 6-Day Houseboat Route with Ebel’s Voyageur Houseboats

In total, we were six people and one dog on the Vista 51-Foot (3-Bedroom) Houseboat from Ebel’s. This boat had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, plus a full galley, a huge salon, and an upper deck with a hot tub and a slide. We also had 3 air conditioners on board, which ran off an onboard generator.

Our boat came with 40 gallons of freshwater and plenty of fuel for the trip. All the faucets used filtered lake water, which meant we didn’t need to conserve while washing dishes, and we could take hot showers every single night. That was completely unexpected and amazing. Although we did feel clean, after six days on the boat we were definitely looking forward to a freshwater shower.

The front also had a ton of windows, which was incredible for views. It did get hot in the middle of the day from the greenhouse effect, but with the AC running it was very comfortable. That space ended up being our favorite spot on the boat: great for watching the rain, fully protected from mosquitoes, and just being present in this park.

Day 1: Pickup to Blind Indian Narrows, N2

We planned a short first cruise on purpose, to give us time to meet the Ebel’s team and get accustomed to the boat. We were a bit nervous moving the boat for the first time, but the entire Ebel’s team answered all of our questions and made us feel super confident. They also actually drove the houseboat out of the dock into Sullivan Bay (15 minutes) before hopping off and giving us the reigns.

Our first and only stop of the day was N2 (Namakan Lake, Site 2) near Blind Indian Narrows. We chose this one as it was the first open site on our way and close to our Day 2 plans. We broke in the slide, relaxed on the boat, and grilled sausages and peppers on the boat’s outdoor grill and had dinner on the roof, which was really enjoyable.

We also learned to get in and out of the boat as fast as humanly possible, because the mosquitoes were swarming. Every night we ran a five-minute kill session where we turned off all the lights except one spotlight and hunted down every mosquito on board so we could actually sleep.

Day 2: I.W. Stevens Resort, Hoist Bay, and Kettle Falls

This was our most action-packed day. We had breakfast on board, then took both of our small boats out to two historic sites, I.W. Stevens Resort and Hoist Bay, which we talk about in more depth in our Things to Do Article. Dinghying to both was a short, easy cruise from N2, and they’d be just as accessible from any campsite in the area.

Once we were back on the big boat, we cruised up to Snake Island N52, close to Kettle Falls. We moored here with strong winds off our starboard side, which made it more challenging. We actually had to take the dinghy out and push the rear of the boat to line us back up after getting blown off. It was tricky, but we took it slowly and it turned out fine.

Then we took our dinghies over to Kettle Falls, the most iconic location in the entire park: a historic hotel right on the US-Canada border and a cultural hotspot for Minnesotans. We played pool inside the Tiltin’ Hilton, enjoyed some drinks, including their famous “Pink Drink,” and took the short hike up to the falls, which is one of the few places in the lower 48 where you can look south into Canada!

After this, we hightailed it back to the boat ahead of evening thunderstorms and had an easy night inside. When the rain let up we fished off the back deck and caught our first fish of the trip, a northern pike and a walleye, both of which we tossed back. The sunset tonight was unreal!

Day 3: The Namakan Narrows & Grassy Bay Cliffs

Day 3 was hands-down our longest cruising day. After a delicious french toast breakfast made by our friends, we left Namakan Lake, headed into Sand Point Lake, and sailed up into Grassy Bay to see the largest vertical cliffs in the park. In total, we moved a total of 21 nautical miles, which took about 5.5 hours.

The most fun part of the day was going through the Namakan Narrows, a winding switchback between Namakan and Sand Point. There are Ojibwe petroglyphs at the entrance, but unfortunately we couldn’t make them out as they’re quite faded now. This was also the most crowded stretch of water we saw, with nearly ten other houseboats.

The Grassy Bay Cliffs were also really neat and huge. We’d planned to stay at Leach Bay, site S22, but it was taken when we arrived, so we ended up taking our houseboat right up next to the cliffs to enjoy the view before turning around to find a dispersed site.

We found this site on the maps Ebel’s gave us, which listed all the houseboat and dispersed sites. The main difference between a designated houseboat site and a dispersed site is that houseboat sites have rings to attach lines (rope) to secure the houseboat to land, whereas dispersed sites don’t have rings, so you tie up to trees or rocks. The other main difference is that there is a campfire ring with a metal grate at houseboat sites, and dispersed sites have a rock fire pit.

Mooring at this dispersed site was our easiest of the trip, thanks to a large, wide-open sandy beach. Once we were settled in, we set up the hot tub with string lights for the evening and enjoyed the sunset. We kept pinching ourselves because we couldn’t believe we were in a national park experiencing this!

Day 4: Rest Day

Day 4 was our chill-day. Once we got to Ebels N9, we just hungout at that spot until the following day. This was one of the prettiest campsites we saw, with great views of both the sunrise and the sunset. Plus, we had a protected sandy beach practically all to ourselves.

We took our floaties out, went down the slide a bunch, fished, read, and crafted all afternoon before building a campfire in the evening. This was a perfect slow day in Voyageurs.

Day 5: Fishing Day with Travis Carlson

We spent this day with Travis Carlson, a local expert fishing guide who picked us up from our houseboat at 1 PM and took us around various fishing spots for the next 4 hours!

He taught us the best way to catch walleye and we had a lot of success. Everybody in our group caught at least 2 fish! There were some slow stretches, but it was a really fun experience. We personally tossed all of our catches back, but you can take them home and cook them up if you prefer.

Although Travis hosted our group of 6, we were all impressed with his level of patience, ability to have all 6 of us fishing at the same time, and depth of knowledge of excellent fishing locations in Voyageurs. We definitely recommend looking up Travis Carlson if you’re interested in fishing at Voyageurs National Park. He without a doubt elevated our fishing experience!

Day 6: Early Cruise Back

On our final day, we had a 3-hour cruise back to the Ebel’s HQ, so we actually left at sunrise, around 5:00 am. The cruise was gorgeous and we used the time to pack our bags and eat breakfast underway, enjoying the last few hours of boating in Voyageurs. We ended up being the first boat back to the Ebel’s dock, so we didn’t have to wait in line for the Ebel’s crew to do their final checks before we left.

Watch our Houseboat Experience on YouTube

FAQs

How much does renting a houseboat cost?

Weekly rentals range from roughly $1,300 for a small houseboat to over $7,500 for the largest boats, with discounts in spring and fall. On top of that, budget for fuel, your $15/night permit, fishing licenses, and groceries. For our week on the Vista 51 from Ebel’s with six people and a dog, the total was around $7,200, or about $1,125 per person. We also budgeted money for groceries, firewood, and a pet fee.

Is renting a houseboat worth it?

For us, absolutely. It’s become one of our favorite trips we’ve ever done, and there’s nowhere else quite like it in the US. That said, there are various sizes of boats, and if you don’t feel comfortable on a houseboat at all, renting something smaller like a canoe is another great way to experience this park, especially up in the inland lakes area.

Can I rent a houseboat if I have no experience boating?

Absolutely, and these boats are built for it. Our orientation ran a full hour, and the outfitter drove the boat out of the dock and into open water before handing it over. They top out around 5.5 mph, so almost everything happens slowly enough to correct. We’d recommend keeping your first travel day short like we did, and following our rule: go as slow as you’d like to hit something.

Can I cruise into Canada on a houseboat?

Although Canada is right next door, no. When renting a houseboat, you aren’t allowed to enter Canadian territory, and you can’t cruise at night either.

How fast do houseboats go?

Ours maxed out at 5.5 mph, but realistically we were going at just 4.5 mph.

Can I bring my dog with me?

We were able to bring ours on our boat, but we’d check with your specific outfitter as policies can vary. You can also expect a pet fee. Then, once in the park, pets are allowed in certain areas, but not all. Check NPS’ pet page for more information.

How long can I houseboat for?

You can stay a maximum of 14 consecutive nights, and no more than 30 nights per calendar year.

Read Next:

11 BEST Things to Do at Voyageurs National Park

Related Articles

• Voyageurs National Park: Maps, Visitor Centers, & How to Get Around
• 11 BEST Things to Do at Voyageurs National Park