Voyageurs National Park is Minnesota’s only national park, sitting right on the Canadian border about 300 miles north of Minneapolis. What’s most unique about this park is that more than a third of it is water. In total, there are four big glacier-carved lakes, dozens of smaller ones, and hundreds of islands that all come together to form one spectacular landscape.
All this water also means that there’s no road running through it. That means no scenic drive, no driving loop, and no single entrance gate. How Voyageurs works is that you drive to one of four small towns along the edge, and from there you get on a boat tour, rent your own boat, or hire a water taxi.
We spent six days cruising Voyageurs by houseboat, plus going on a ranger-led boat tour, and it’s become one of our most unique National Park trips of all time! It’s also one of the trickier parks to plan, so we’ve made sure this Voyageurs Ultimate Guide covers everything you need to know: from how to get there and when to go to where to stay and what to do. Let’s dive in!
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About Voyageurs National Park
Voyageurs is one of the lesser-visited national parks in the US (only recieving about 206,326 visitors in 2025 compared to Zion’s 4,984,525). Our guess is that this has more to do with how hard this park is to get to, four to five hours north of Minneapolis, moreso than the quality of the park itself.
Another factor is the layout of this park, which can be resumed in one word: water. More than a third of Voyageurs is lake surface, so nearly every campsite, cliff, trail, and historic cabin can only be reached by boat. Although you don’t have to navigate a boat yourself if you don’t want to, this still serves as a barrier to potential visitors.
The name comes from the voyageurs, French-Canadian fur traders who paddled these waters through the 1700s and 1800s. Voyageur is simply French for traveler. They were following routes that Ojibwe people had used for thousands of years, and the last Ojibwe village on Rainy Lake stood until 1893. After the fur trade came a gold rush in the 1890s, then logging, and you can still visit what’s left of all three out on the water.
Today it’s known for houseboating, fishing, and some of the darkest night skies in the country. It’s also a certified International Dark Sky Park, Minnesota’s only one. Keep on reading for more information on how to get to Voyageurs, the best things to do once you’re there, and more!
How to Get to Voyageurs National Park
Voyageurs sits in the far north of Minnesota, roughly 300 miles (482 km) from Minneapolis and about 160 miles (258 km) from Duluth. Most people drive up to one of the park’s four gateway communities (International Falls, Kabetogama, Ash River, and Crane Lake) before taking a boat further into the park.
If you need to fly into Minnesota first, here are the closest airports and their respective driving distances from Rainy Lake Visitor Center, the most popular center in the park, near International Falls.
- Falls International Airport (INL): 20-minute drive away in International Falls, Minnesota
- Range Regional Airport (HIB): 2-hour drive away in Hibbing, Minnesota
- Duluth International Airport (DLH): 3-hour drive away in Duluth, Minnesota
- Hector International Airport (FAR): 4-hour 45-minute drive away in Fargo, North Dakota
- Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP): 5-hour drive away in Minneapolis, Minnesota
🚗 Renting a car? You can pick up your rental car from the airport, drive to Voyageurs, and return it on your way back home.
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Best Time to Visit Voyageurs National Park
Late August through September is our recommendation. This is when the mosquitoes finally ease off, the water is still warm, and all four visitor centers are open. June and July have the worst bugs, and July and August is the busy season, so we’d avoid these months if possible. Here’s a breakdown of each season in more detail:
- Spring (April–May): Skip April, as the lakes are still iced over (ice-out averages April 28 on Kabetogama, May 3 on Rainy) and the trails are muddy. May works for anglers thanks to the fishing opener, but only Rainy Lake Visitor Center is open until late May.
- Summer (June–August): Everything is running, but June and July have the worst bugs we’ve experienced anywhere. Late August is the sweet spot, and where we’d start considering a trip.
- Fall (September–October): Quiet water, fall color, almost no bugs, and great stargazing. Kabetogama and Ash River visitor centers close in late September. This is another great time to visit.
- Winter (November–March): A completely different park. Ice roads, snowmobiling, skiing, and ice fishing, with the best aurora odds of the year. Only Rainy Lake and Kabetogama are open, though, and temperatures can dip as low as -30°F.
How to Get Around Voyageurs National Park
Okay, you made it to the park, but now how do you actually get into it? Although all 4 visitor centers are accessible by car, you have to hop on a boat to reach any of the islands, old resort cabins, or campgrounds (where the park gets good). Here are your options for moving around Voyageurs.
- Ranger-led boat tours: These boat tours are the single best thing you can do with one day in Voyageurs. For $50-$85 per adult, you can ride on a boat for anywhere from 2.5 to 6.5 hours while a ranger narrates everything you’re seeing. We did the Grand Tour of Rainy Lake, which is the most popular, and can’t recommend it enough!
- Water taxis: Authorized operators can also drop you at a trailhead, a campsite, or a historic site and pick you up later. This is the best way to quickly get you into the interior of the park without having to navigate yourself or pay for a full tour. You can find a list of commercial water taxis on this NPS page.
- Small boat rentals: Canoe, kayak, and even motorboat rentals are also available. If you’re paddling, a ranger advised us to hug the shoreline as the main channel gets used by motorboats and seaplanes. You can find a list of outfitters on this NPS page.
- Houseboats: You can also rent a houseboat from a local outfitter, complete an orientation, and then cruise from site to site for however many days you’ve booked like we did!
5 Best Things to Do in Voyageurs National Park
If we had to boil down the top five things to do in Voyageurs National Park, it would be the activities below. A ranger-led boat tour is our #1 must-do, and there are several of them leaving from different gateway communities that take you deeper into the park.
- Take a ranger-led boat tour. If you only have one day, this is the day. We did the Grand Tour of Rainy Lake, but there are several tours that leave from the different visitor centers, taking you to various points of interest in the park. You can reserve these tours at Recreation.gov.
- Visit the Kettle Falls Hotel. This historic hotel is right on the border with Canada, and is known for a tilted barroom floor that makes for a funny game of pool. You can boat here yourself, or hop on a ranger-led boat tour.
- Rent a houseboat. This is what we did and we can’t recommend it enough if it’s in your budget! Imagine having your lodging and transportation all in one, exploring the park at your own pace, and watching the sun go down from your boat every night.
- Stop at the historic day use sites. Besides Kettle Falls, I.W. Stevens and Hoist Bay on Namakan were our favorite surprise of the whole trip. Explore as many of these as you can! Ellsworth Rock Gardens is a popular spot too.
- Go fishing. Fishing is the reason a huge number of people come to Voyageurs, which species like Walleye, Northern Pike, and Smallmouth Bass calling these waters home. We fished off the back of the houseboat as well as with Travis Carlson, a local guide.
⭐ The full list! All 11 of our recommendations, plus where each one is and how to reach it, are in our guide to the Best Things to Do in Voyageurs National Park.
Where to Stay in Voyageurs National Park
Below, we’ve outlined the different ways to stay inside of Voyageurs National Park. Camping is going to be the most affordable option, starting as low as $20/night in the low season, and renting a houseboat on the high end, starting at $500/night and going up from there.
Camping in Voyageurs
Camping in Voyageurs is one of the most affordable ways to stay in this incredible park. Besides 2 campgrounds along the Kab-Ash Trail, most campsites in Voyageurs require you to cross the water to get to them. There are a total of 157 frontcountry campgrounds along the shores of Rainy, Kabetogama, Namakan, Sand Point, and Crane lakes which cost as low as $20/night. Reserve on Recreation.gov.
Rent a Houseboat in Voyageurs
If you decide to rent a houseboat like we did, your lodging and transportation is settled! Houseboat rentals from local outfitters cost between $500 and $2,000 per night, on average, but if you go with a big group you can cut individual costs down quite a bit.
This is our preferred method for visiting Voyageurs as you can travel through the park on your houseboat, take a smaller boat (called a dinghy) to explore any of the day-use sites, and then sleep at any of the 90 designated houseboat sites in the evening. Read more about how to plan this experience in this article.
Stay at the Kettle Falls Hotel
This historic hotel right by the Canadian border is the only official lodging inside the park, reachable exclusively by boat. A double room costs around $110/night, which you can book on their website.
Stay Outside of the Park
You can also look for hotels or VRBO stays outside of the park in Voyageurs’ gateway communities. International Falls has the most variety and it’s close to Rainy Lake, but Kabetogama, Ash River, and Crane Lake are options too.
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Where to Eat Near Voyageurs National Park
There’s almost nowhere to eat inside the park, so plan on stocking up before you head out and treating meals as a before-and-after thing. The only real option is the bar at the Kettle Falls Hotel, which serves classic bar food and closes at sunset. In and around International Falls you have more options, which we list below as well as pin on our map of the park.
- Chocolate Moose is a local institution and a solid American-style diner to stop at before or after a long drive.
- Coffee Landing Cafe is the coffee stop in International Falls, and a good one to hit on your way out to Rainy Lake Visitor Center.
- The Thunderbird is a fine dining spot in a hotel overlooking Rainy Lake. This is probably the nicest meal in the area, and the view is on point.
- Cantilever Distilling Company is a distillery with a tasting room, good for a low-key evening after a day on the water.
- Flint House is a delicious casual restaurant across the border in Ontario so you’ll need to bring your passport, and factor in the border crossing both ways.
🛒 Prefer grocery shopping? International Falls has a Super One Foods, which is the closest full grocery store to the park. If you’re provisioning for a houseboat week and want to buy in bulk, the nearest Costco is in Duluth, about three hours south, so plan it into your drive up rather than as a separate trip.
How Much Does it Cost to Visit Voyageurs?
Although there’s no entrance fee to the park per-se, you have to pay if you want to cross the water in any way. And as there are many different ways to cross the water, budgets for this park can vary widely. Below we’ve broken down the main costs to give you an idea.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Park Entrance | Free |
| Ranger Boat Tour | $50-85/adult |
| Water taxi | Depends on your trip, call an outfitter for a quote |
| Canoe or kayak rentals | $30-60/day |
| Small boat rentals | Half-day from $95, full-day from $165 plus fuel |
| Houseboat rental | $1,300-6,000/week |
| Houseboat Permit | $15/night + $10 reservation fee |
| Camping Permit | $10-32/night + $10 reservation fee |
| Group Camping Permit | $60/night + $10 reservation fee |
| Kettle Falls Hotel | ~$110/night |
| Minnesota fishing license | $43 for a nonresident 7-day pass (fewer days available) |
Various Trip Length Costs
In practice, here’s how those numbers add up. A single day in the park is the cheapest trip you can take, at just $50 to $85 per person for the ranger boat tour, and nothing else is required.
A 2-night camping trip for two requires a site permit, the reservation fee, a water taxi out and back, and licenses if you plan to fish, landing somewhere closer to $150 to $250 total.
Rent your own boat instead of taking the taxi and that same weekend runs closer to $300 to $400, since you’re paying a day rate plus marina fuel—although you gain the freedom to go wherever you want, whenever you want.
A houseboat week is the big one at $1,500 to $6,500 all in, but it replaces your lodging, your transportation, and most of your restaurant spending for the trip. Split across a large group like we did, the per-person number lands closer to the other options than you’d expect.
How Many Days in Voyageurs National Park?
This all depends on your budget and trip goals, but you can spend anywhere from 1 to 7 days in this national park. Below, we’ve broken down how much you could fit into different trip lengths.
- 1 Day: With one day, you can Visit Rainy Lake Visitor Center, walk the Oberholtzer Trail, and take a ranger boat tour.
- 2 Days: If you have two days, add a second gateway to the above plan. Do the boat tour on day one, then a Kettle Falls day tour or a rented boat on Kabetogama on day two.
- 3-4 Days: With a long weekend of 3-4 days, that gives you enough time to hit multiple visitor centers, get out on the water properly, hike a few trails, and go camping.
- 5+ Days: If you have 5+ days, the best way to spend your time is by renting a houseboat. You can really explore a solid chunk of the park at your own pace. This is what we did for six days which you can read about here.
What to Pack for Voyageurs National Park
Packing for Voyageurs is different from packing for most national parks, because instead of packing for trails, you’re packing for water. Here are some things to bring with you that you might not first think of. If you want a camping-specific packing list, hop over to our Camping in Voyageurs article.
- GPS – Since cell service is spotty, we like to carry our Garmin InReach Mini 2 with us for safety and peace of mind.
- Heavy-Duty Bug Repellant – The bugs in Voyageurs can be brutal, especially in the summer. Make sure to bring heavy-duty bug spray and use it. Citronella candles can help at camp or on your boat too.
- Head Bug Net – If you’re really worried about bugs while walking around, you can also pack a head bug net to keep them from biting your face, neck, and ears.
- Sunscreen – No matter the time of year, sunscreen is essential to protect your skin.
- Sun Hats – A wide-brimmed hat is going to bet your best friend in this park in the summer.
- UV Shirts – We love wearing sun shirts so that we don’t have to reapply sunscreen on our shoulders and arms all day.
- Paper Maps – Physical maps are a must if you plan on navigating by boat. Pick up some at a Visitor Center or purchase specialized ones in advance.
- Layers – As nights can get chilly here, pack plenty of layers, even in the summer.
- Swimsuit – You are surrounded by water after all! Bring a swimsuit so you can jump in.
- Games & Books – The best way to spend your time in the park if you are hit with any bad weather days. Elliot read The Voyageurs Highway during our trip, which was about the original Voyageurs and set in this area.
Voyageurs National Park Map
How to use this map: We have saved the locations from this guide on this map. You can save this map to your Google Maps by pressing the star icon. In your Google Maps, click the menu icon and then Saved Maps, where this map will appear.
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