Voyagers National Park

Voyagers National Park sits near International Falls, MN on the US and Canadian border and mainly consists of lakes and connectors.  The origins of this area date back to when the fur trade was active and French Canadian trappers and traders would travel these waterways to hunt for beaver and other pelts as well as use them to deliver their furs to middlemen who would sell them to markets in the eastern cities and to Europe.  These stalwart men who traveled here were called Voyagers.

The park has four major lakes which with other waterways cover 344 square miles.  Most of the land area in the park is accessible only by boat.

This photo, from Wikipedia open stock, shows park waters and some of the islands that dot the lakes. The immense size of this national park can best be appreciated from the air.

The Park Service runs tour boats to various locations on the lakes.  We took one to Kettle Falls, a hotel and restaurant about 2 hours by water from our campsite.Kettle Falls is and was a main stopping point for tourists and trappers.

Bald Eagles are common in this area.  This is one of the nests in their favored nesting tree a Black Spruce

Another example of an eagle's nest

The white bird is a white pelican and the darker birds are cormorants. The cormorants are a native bird which is a voracious feeder and the Park Service is studying them to determine the real impact they are having on the area.

Houseboats are common on the lakes. Since there are no size restrictions on either boat or motor some of the houseboats are really floating houses.  one issue with such craft is dealing with them in the winter as the lake freezes over for a few months each year.

Our tour boat went by some of the original building sites on islands. This one was built and occupied by a man who lived here year around.  His diary reflected his love of the solitary life and the quiet majesty of the winter months when he was trapped by snow and ice.

This green frog was an official greeter at the landing for Kettle Falls.

The Kettle Falls hotel was built in 1910 and served as lodging for trappers, loggers, traders who worked the northern areas. 

Kettle Falls Dam is used to regulate the flow of water from lake to lake helping balance the electricity generated further downstream.

In the middle of the this photo you can see the top of a beaver dam.  Beavers create marsh areas behind their dams which attract other wildlife.

This marker designates the border between the USA and Canada. Kettle Falls is the only area where you can look south from the USA and see into Canada.  The border through the Voyagers follows the early route taken by  French Canadian trappers (called voyagers and thus the park namesake) into the great lakes area.

This shows the effect a bear can have when searching for insects under the bark. 

An eagles nest unusual for its location in a birch tree. Black Spruce are the favored nesting location.

Our return trip from Kettle Falls encountered some rough water. While it does not show well in this picture the wave action was around 2' with plenty of white caps. A rough ride back to home port.

This canoe, about 16' long, is only half the length of one used by original voyagers. A voyager canoe would have 8-10 men, and a few hundred pounds of supplies (to be replaced with furs as the supplies were  used). Voyagers would be gone for many months, often a couple of years, spending winters on the islands while trapping and hunting in the spring summer and fall.  They might paddle a thousand miles before returning to eastern markets. these were tough people.

A fisherman makes way home after a day on the lakes.