Have a Last Blast of Summer Vacation to Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota

Aug 4, 2025

Today we’re traveling to Minnesota to explore another great installment in the National Parks tour bucket list: Voyageurs National Park! This certified International Dark Sky Park is one of the best places to see the Northern Lights, a hot spot for wildlife spotting, and prime real estate for camping and other outdoorsy adventures. It’s also world-renowned for its pristine waters, making it the best spot to visit for kayaking, canoeing, and paddleboarding enthusiasts. Whether you’re enjoying an end of summer vacation romp or prepping for your first autumnal camping trip of the season, we know you’re going to have the time of your life at Voyageurs National Park!

Several visitor’s centers are located throughout the park area for your convenience: Rainy Lake Visitor Center, Kabetogama Visitor Center, and Ash River Visitor Center. Each center serves as a gateway to a different region, staffed with local rangers, exhibits, knowledgeable guides, and presentations to educate you on the best trails, local wildlife, and activities available to you in that region of the park for maximum enjoyment.

The best time to visit is in August for the Perseid meteor shower, and in September and October, when the 218,000 acres of local trees and plants are at their fall foliage finest. Generally speaking, though, there’s a really high chance of spotting a shooting star or two! It’s also the perfect place to catch the Milky Way, and a rare experience to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) in person! You might even notice a satellite or two, and even the International Space Station during your visit as it glides overhead.

According to advice from the National Parks Service, here are some of the best spots on Voyageurs to view the gorgeous skyline:

The Meadwood Road Day Use Area near Ash River Visitor Center Road
Upper Parking Lot at Rainy Lake Visitor Center
Kettle Falls Dam Overlook
Various campsite docks along the shoreline
Clearings along the hiking trails

The park also offers Ranger-led official boat tours of Voyageurs at the “Stars Over Rainy Lake” Cruise for a stargazing and Northern Lights spotting segment. Tour groups generally run 5 days a week during the Summer season, weather permitting. Bring your camera with you or a night-mode capable smartphone to capture some of the best night sky photos you’ll have the privilege of snapping!

Wildlife photographers will rejoice, because this is the park for you! You might spot black bear, painted turtles, red squirrels, snowshoe hares, bobcats, coyotes, otters, porcupines, moose, wolves,bats, bald eagles, and more! The forests and plant life here are part of a transitional area between boreal forest and a temperate deciduous forest; there are more than 50 different tree and shrub species, more than 40 fern and moss species, 200 plus grasses, and plentiful wildflowers! There are more than 400 different types of wildflowers here, with native options including lady’s slipper, bunchberry, red columbine, twinflower, and marsh marigold. The park has an abundant wildflower population, but reminds visitors they’re for observing and not for picking to help preserve and conserve habitats. There are abundant species of fungi and mushrooms, which thrive in the park thanks to its many lakes and ponds, too

If you’re interested in foraging, this is the perfect place to do it! Voyageurs is in the minority as one of the few National Parks that allows visitors to forage up to one gallon of wild rice, blueberries, raspberries and/or chokecherries, as well as those dedicated to hunting wild mushrooms and seasonal fruit. (Be sure to only select items which you’ve been trained to verify as safe, or consult a local photography illustrated guide to be sure!)

Explore the Rainy Lake Ethnobotanical Garden, a painstakingly maintained restoration project aimed at cultivating local, native plants and reducing any invasive plants near the Rainy Lake Visitor Center. Stroll through the Ellsworth Rock Gardens, created by self-taught artist Jack Ellsworth, blending the natural environment with fine arts and natural elements.

Visit Anderson Bay and marvel at the exposed white granite cliffs jutting out 80 feet high and into the water, and enjoy spectacular views of the bay as well as Rainy Lake. Marvel at the stunning sheer granite cliffs of Grassy Bay which rise 125 feet above the surface of Sand Point Lake, and reach high into the sky for one of the tallest points within the park.

Take a hike through 50 plus miles of hiking trails on any of the 16 different options ranging from easy to moderate in difficulty.You can hike them on your own with a map, or join in any of the ranger-led activities to learn more about the area and get a unique perspective of the park’s cultural and natural histories.

Enjoy kayaking, boating, fishing, paddleboarding, canoeing and more along the various lakes including Rainy Lake, a freshwater lake along the Minnesota and Canada border with a third of the lake’s area located inside Voyageurs National Park; Namakan Lake, half of which is located within the limits of Voyageurs National Park; Sand Point Lake which is on the border of Minnesota and Ontario, and half of which is situated within the Voyaguers National Park; Kabetogama Lake which is entirely nestled in the National Park limits and has an impressive 78 miles of shoreline and 200 islands. There are also 26 smaller inland lakes, which when combined with the aforementioned contribute to a third of the park’s total area!

If you’re tired of the typical tourist hotel, you’ll be delighted to know this is a top notch spot for camping. Select any of the Frontcountry Campsites, which include water access, private and public boat launches, picnic tables, bear lockers, outdoor privies, and fire rings, as well as two primitive camp site options located along the Kab-Ash Hiking Trail; these are accessible by land. If RV camping is more your style, there are premium, preferred, and standard level campsites which will be RV friendly.