Voyageurs National Park: A Park of Water
International Falls, Minnesota was our launch point in May to Voyageurs National Park where we stayed at Arnold’s Campground right on the border with Canada (there is a crossing here but we did not go). This park is unique in that most of its 218,000 acres and 655 miles of shorelines are waterways and forests only accessible by boat. In the late 1800s, it was also famous for one of North America’s largest industries, the fur trade, and supporting travel routes (mostly by birchbark canoe!). We were too early for summer boat tours, and too late for winter when it’s dominated by snow and you can travel by car, snowmobile, or snowshoes on the frozen lake ice roads. So we went to the Rainy Lake Visitor Center to see the exhibits and watch the park movie, do some basic hikes, and then on our way back to the campground we hiked on what are some of the snowshoe trails at Tilson Bay in the winter. The next day we drove out to the Ash River Visitor Center and hiked Blind Ash Bay Trail and Beaver Pond Overlook Trail.
