Voyageurs National Park is located in northern Minnesota – waaaay up north on the border with Canada. A place of “water, islands, and horizons,” Voyageurs covers 218,000 acres, but the majority of that is either water or land only accessible via water. In the winter, the park’s four lakes freeze over and are popular snowmobile routes, and in most years (aka winters not as crazily warm as this one), there are even designated ice roads for cars to drive on.

Unlike other National Parks, Voyageurs has no entry fee and the park has multiple entrance points by either land or water. There are three Visitors Centers, but in the off-season, even the main one at Rainy Lake is only open on weekends. Voyageurs was actually recently ranked as the 11th LEAST visited National Park in the country, and that goes for all seasons. Taking that into account, it’s no surprise that we felt like we had the entire park to ourselves during our recent winter visit!

Where to stay when visiting Voyageurs

There is only one in-park lodging available, and that’s only open during the summer. There are seasonal resorts all around the edge of the park, and of course camping is always an option. However, the closest city to the park that has hotels is International Falls, Minnesota. We stayed about 10 minutes away from International Falls in the small town of Ranier, which has a boutique hotel called Cantilever – which is ALSO a distillery! Oh, and did I mention it has a rooftop hot tub and sauna? It’s a great place to come back to after a day hiking in the park, and we ate dinner there both nights (try the poutine!). The drinks are delicious and reasonable priced, and it’s pretty nice to be able to indulge in a few and then just walk up the spiral staircase to your room.

Hiking in Voyageurs

Because this is primarily a water-based park, there aren’t a TON of hikes – but that’s perfect for a short weekend. We first checked out the Oberholzer Trail right behind the Rainy Lake Visitor Center. It’s about a 1.5 mile loop that meanders through a forest and abuts a wetland. We did bring snowshoes with us in the car, but decided not to use them at all during the trip. They would have been helpful on perhaps 25% of all the trails, but they were also absolutely fine to walk on in just boots.

On our way back to the hotel from the Visitor Center, we stopped at the Tilson Creek Bogwalk. Walk on the boardwalk through marshland for really unique scenery (or at least unlike what we usually see in central Wisconsin). Apparently during the spring, the bog “burps” as the temperatures warm and things start coming to life. That would be fun to see!

On our second day, we drove 40 minutes from our hotel to the Ash River Visitor Center. Closed in the off-season, the building is an old lodge that looks like would be really cozy. We took a short path behind the Visitor’s Center down to the water, where the iconic Voyageurs National Park sign is situated on the rocks. From there, we walked a short ways across the frozen lake to a small island and explored around a bit, before heading back to the car to park in the Upper Ash River Visitor’s Center parking lot – where the Blind Ash Bay Trail begins.

Blind Ash Bay is a beautiful, 2.9-mile out-and-back trail that has a lollipop loop halfway through. The narrow, winding trail takes you through the boreal forest of the Minnesota Northwoods with two distinct overlooks of Kabetogama Lake. We were the only hikers on the entire trail (can confirm this because the trailhead parking lot hadn’t been plowed since the recent snow and we were the only car there!), and it was incredibly peaceful. Halfway through the hike we realized that the silence was not only from the absence of other people, but also the absence of wind. Everything was absolutely still amongst the tall pine trees, the trail sheltered from the winds of the lake. Blind Ash Bay is a must-hike for any visitors to Voyageurs and can take anywhere from 1-3 hours to complete depending on how often you stop to admire your surroundings!

Also in the Ash River area is the Beaver Pond Overlook Trail, a short uphill walk from a pull-off on the side of the road that (true to its name) overlooks a beaver pond. We didn’t see any beavers, but the view from above the pine trees was pretty.

Voyageurs in winter … worth it?

We have to, because of my husband’s job as a summer camp director, visit National Parks in their off seasons. The busiest we’ve seen is Zion in early October, and I can’t even imagine that during the summer peak. I very much enjoy the absence of crowds in these places – no fighting for parking spots or having to contend with a bunch of inexperienced hikers on the trails. Visiting Voyageurs, already one of the least visited parks, in the off season meant it felt like we had the entire place to ourselves. It was a very peaceful weekend getaway and a definite must-do for outdoor and nature enthusiasts.