Rainy Lake Visitor Center
After a long and tiring day of mishaps and frustrations on the first Monday in the area, I decided to head to Voyageurs National Park Visitor Center in Rainy Lake. The Rainy Lake Visitor Center was the furthest away from my campsite near International Falls, MN. Tonto and I stopped into the visitor center for maps and information.
The ranger I spoke to told us to watch out for wolves on and around the trail. This was a sure fire way to freak me out. With realism and bravery in hand, Tonto and I hiked a portion of the only trail Tonto was allowed on in Voyageurs. The Rainy Lake Recreation Trail is a paved trail that offers accessibility. This doubles as a bike path that covers the length of the road entering the park.
Luckily, we didn’t see or hear any wolves and had a great time on trail.
I returned to the Rainy Lake Visitor Center for my tour on the water later during my time in Voyageurs. The Voyageur launched from the docks just outside the visitor center. It was beautiful. I will have more posted about that tour soon!
Ash River Visitor Center
The Ash River Visitor Center was 5 minutes from my campsite, so it was the visitor center and area of the park that I visited the most. There are several points to pull-off and look out or hike. I first visited on the same Monday I went to Rainy Lake Visitor Center, but returned several times.
There is even a dedicated/certified Dark Sky Area. This is where I came to take my night sky photos on the one clear and cloudless night I had. Read more about this in my Dark Sky post!
My favorite aspect of this visitor center area was the kayak launch. It made getting on and off the water easy, as well as provided a great place to see others launch kayaks and canoes. There was another large boat launch on the opposite side of the visitor center, and all the docks in the area are very well maintained.
Kabetogama Lake Visitor Center
At the tail end of my time in Voyageurs, I made the trip to the Kabetogama Lake Visitor Center. This was the smallest visitor center that I explored. The boat launch was the main feature here, but what I really loved was the grassy walk out into the water. You can see it in the photo below.
Lined with rocks and elevated from the water, the walk provides scenic views of Kabetogama Lake and the surrounding areas. The rangers at the visitor center gave detailed directions to some of their favorite hikes in and out of the national park lands. The local state park is a short drive away and has beautiful trails that better abut the water.
Information about Voyageurs National Park and its visitor centers can be found here.