Voyageurs National Park - A Watery Wonderland

We have a goal: to take our kids to all of the U.S. National Parks. We have been chipping away at this since they were little, and we’re about two-thirds of the way there. The U.S. has 61 national parks and many, many national monuments, historic sites, etc. Those are all super cool too, but we want to visit all of the national parks, and anything else we see along the way is a bonus. We love hiking, camping and even road trips together, and having a goal like this definitely drives us to travel more than we otherwise would. I think that travel with kids is one of those things that it is easy to put off “until they’re older”, and then when they get older, they’re involved in so many things that it is difficult to pull them away. Plus, life just gets faster and busier all of the time. Setting a goal has made us make time to travel together, and I think that it makes us closer as a family – sometimes literally!

Voyageurs National Park is one of the closest parks to where we live, but it took us forever to get here. Before the girls were born Jake and I went to the Boundary Waters every year and loved it. The Boundary Waters are right next to Voyageurs NP, but we never made it over there. When the girls were finally old enough, we took them to the Boundary Waters a couple times and they absolutely loved it too. What was stopping us from going to Voyageurs? Well, a few things. One is that Voyageurs is pretty much all big water. We tend to stick to smaller lakes and rivers when we go to the Boundary Waters because the waves on big lakes can get high enough to make canoeing miserable, or even dangerous. The other is that you have to reserve your campsites ahead of time and every site is only available by water. This means that if the weather is crappy, you still have to travel to the site that you reserved. The Boundary Waters is first-come first-served, that is one of the things that we like about it – it is always an adventure. Another (funnier) reason that we didn’t get there for a long time was that M. refused to go. She saw the pictures of the campsites and was seriously offended that they were more developed than she wanted. Developed as in: picnic tables and tent pads. We had told her that it was going to be like the Boundary Waters, and the higher level of comfort didn’t fit with her expectations. She loves the whole experience of the Boundary Waters, sleeping on stones and all.

Since no one was excited about the canoeing/tent camping opportunities in Voyageurs we took it a completely different direction. We rented a houseboat with some friends. This was a first for us, but it was a blast. Voyageurs is a water-based park. There are no drive-to campsites – all are only accessible via water. We have some good friends that have mixed feelings about camping. The dad and kids love it, the mom, not so much. This was a great opportunity for limited discomfort on her end (the mosquitos were still horrendous) and spending time in the great outdoors for the rest of them. Best of all we all got to spend some time together enjoying spectacular scenery!

Relaxing on the front deck and enjoying the beautiful weather and setting.

The drive up there was an adventure. We were still pretty new at the Tesla/charging thing, but we really wanted the challenge of bringing it all the way up there. We stopped and super-charged at Duluth but otherwise had made arrangements at the houseboat marina to charge while we were out. (We had to plug into a 110 outlet, but we had enough charge to get to Duluth where we could supercharge; so that was lucky!). We also wanted to make sure that the girls completed their Junior Ranger book and got their badges. We went up a little early so we could get that done before meeting our friends at the houseboat rental place. They have gotten so fast at those books at this point that it was easy to get done and be on our way again. We have made that a rule – they have to complete their Junior Ranger books and take the pledge at each park for it to count.

We chose Voyagaire Houseboats after reading a lot of reviews and were really happy with them. They have an optional service where they will deliver supplies to your houseboat, and while we never utilized it, it was a blast listening to other people’s orders. One of the boats ordered a gallon of vodka! Who needs that much vodka?! The amazing thing is that I assume they brought quite a bit with them which means they ran out. We decided that we would try and avoid getting in that boat’s way if we ran across them. Voyagaire’s runs trivia nights too which are super fun; each houseboat is a team and you play against each other over the radio. One night we won – everyone on our boat is rather competitive; I think they could hear us cheering across the lake.

I would say that service is where Voyagaire really excels. When you pull up, they have your boat ready and start unloading your bags and hauling them to the boat immediately. They have ice and firewood available and are generally very accommodating. You can return any firewood that you don’t use too, so you might as well get plenty. They are really organized which I appreciated and do a good job of making sure that you are comfortable. They captain the boats in and out of the marina for you; no stress about navigating around the other boats! The charts that they provide are easy to understand; they tell you what to watch out for and go through the whole process of how to navigate.

There are a surprising number of sandy beaches that are great for swimming in Voyageurs. Also - notice the color of the water? That’s the same color as the hot tub water.

Boarding time is between one and three pm. When we got there, we were told that there was good news and bad news. The bad news was that the houseboat that we had reserved had been driven into rocks the previous day. The good news was that we got a free upgrade – a rooftop hot tub. We were pretty pumped. We hadn’t wanted to spend the extra money to get the hot tub, but we certainly weren’t going to turn one down. That said, the kids used it the majority of the time. It was kind of funny. We cruised along through gorgeous scenery, taking turns driving the boat, spotting the next buoy and preparing meals while the kids hung out on the roof in the hot tub. Also, it never really got that hot from the built-in tub heater. We tried filling it up from the hot water tank, but it still never attained what I would consider hot. The tub gets filled with lake water, so it is dark brown from the tannins in the water; it doesn’t bother me, but some people might not be too crazy about that.

Overall the houseboat was really comfortable; the boat was older, but certainly served our needs. There were eight of us, and that was about perfect. I don’t think it could have accommodated any more. The friends we went with brought a cot for one of their kids that we set up at night. It worked out. We spent three nights/four days which was about the right amount of time too. On the last night the holding tank filled up completely which was quite inconvenient and rather surprising. Each adult only took one shower while we were out, and other than that it was pretty much dishwater and toilets. If going out for a longer trip, it is certainly worth considering. If you had to come back to get your tank pumped out so that you could continue on, that would pretty much suck; these boats are not speedy. Update: I contacted Voyagaire regarding this issue and it sounds like it was probably user error. We may not have used enough water to flush the toilet. This is their response:

“Really odd, was it full or was there a plug in the toilette many times folks don’t run enough water when flushing and they plug causing them to back up...very unpleasant. At any rate it would be VERY odd to fill even in a week. In the unlikely event they fill we do have capacity to pump on the water. This year we ran 536 trips and did not have to pump one time on water.”

Another thing to be aware of: they refer to one of the bedrooms on the boat as a “penthouse”. That is a fancy name for a box about three feet high accessed by a hatch. It does have lots of windows, but the front one was blocked by the hot tub. Jake and I slept up there at night and the kids commandeered it during the day for card games. We were OK with it, but it was very cramped.

Moored from the back. Using and mooring the houseboat was pretty straightforward.

As far as cooking on a houseboat – prepare as much as you can ahead of time. This means less time in the kitchen and less clean-up! We assigned meal responsibilities before we left, and it worked out really well.

This was my half of the menu:

Grilled Shrimp and Avocado Street Tacos – Lunch – This recipe actually called for chicken, but I substituted shrimp. I needed to cook the shrimp, but otherwise had everything ready. I used two pounds of shrimp, and that wasn’t nearly enough. Four growing kids can eat a lot! That is probably the main thing that I would have changed about the trip – I should have brought more shrimp.

Sizzling Beef with Scallions and Black Bean Sauce – Supper - Again, I had everything prepped and ready to go except for the actual cooking. The stovetop didn’t get as hot as mine does at home, but it worked out pretty well. This is a very flavorful recipe that my whole family loves. It’s from Jamie Oliver’s book Jamie’s Food Revolution. I dehydrate it for camping meals as well.

Apple Cheddar Quiche with Ham and Sage – Breakfast - This is one of our favorite meals. I have so many apples that I am always looking for savory ways to use them. This time we had it for breakfast, but we have often used it as a dinner dish as well. I had the crust made and frozen and the custard all mixed up so that I just had to dump it in and bake it.

Strawberry Scones – Breakfast - I had these made, cut and frozen, but not baked. Unfortunately, I left them in too long and burned then. Oops. Everyone was a good sport about it though. Lesson learned – ovens are different. This is a lesson I have learned lots of times but seem to never retain. The recipe that I use is for Strawberry Rhubarb scones, but I never feel like the rhubarb gets cooked enough in that amount of time, so I just omit it. I have also used this recipe successfully with raspberries or blackberries substituted in for the strawberries.

The navigation within the park is pretty straightforward. There are red and green buoys and markers that you stay between on the main route. The friends we were with brought a pair of binoculars which were invaluable for spotting the buoys. Sometimes we weren’t sure that we were on the right track, but with the binoculars we were always able to scan and find the next marker. There are a lot of rocks hidden right under the water, so it is important to know that you are in the right place. We stayed on the east side of the park the entire time: Crane Lake, Sand Point Lake and Namakan Lake. Three nights doesn’t give you a lot of time to go in very far. We were right on the Canadian border a lot of the time, you can’t help but cross it a little sometimes, much to the kids’ entertainment: “We’re eating lunch in Canada! Oh. Not anymore.”

During the day when we were underway, we didn’t have a bug problem, but in the evening the lakes fairly hummed with mosquitos. We weren’t very successful at keeping them out either and spent a lot of time hunting them down and swatting them. July might not be the best month to be there as far as bugs go either, and just like the Boundary Waters, I am sure that the bug populations fluctuate a lot. There have been times in the Boundary Waters that the flies have been so bad that we could hardly be outside of our tent when we were on shore, and other times they were nonexistent. We tried having a campfire and s’mores on shore the first night but were almost carried away, so we gave up on outside evening time.

We braved the mosquitos for a few sunset pictures. See the big box we’re standing next to? That’s the “penthouse”.

There are several historical areas to visit within the park that are really neat. We visited the Kettle Falls Hotel which has a severely sloped floor in the bar area that they kept when they restored the hotel. It was kind of crazy because you don’t see that many people out on the lake, but you walk into the bar of this hotel and it is packed. Weird. There are some nice common areas within the hotel that have some interesting old photographs and historical memorabilia like the old hotel register.

Hoist Bay was a neat stop too. There was a nice dock to pull up to and those of us who enjoy fishing were able to practice their sport which resulted in an addition to dinner that night! Historically Hoist Bay was a log transportation area. Logs were hoisted out of the water and onto rail cars. There are also some cabins that are from the days when it was a resort. The park service was working on some restoration of the cabins when we were there, but they were still completely open to walk through. The creepiest part of the site is the fallout shelter. I think that it was originally a root cellar, but it looks like a place you could find bodies. I was creeped out at least, and I like underground spaces. Shiver. There is also a huge icehouse on the property. I love it when you can wander in and out of these old buildings imagining what it must have been like to live there in the winter.

The Ice House at Hoist bay. I love walking around and through these old buildings.

The pictures of the inside didn’t turn out, but trust me - it’s creepy.

Blueberry picking - just like I.W. Stevens used to do.

The I.W. Stevens Resort is another historical stop that you can make. There are picnic tables, a privy, fire ring and an accessible dock. It would be a great place for a picnic. I love the history here. I.W. Stevens was originally from Norway and bought the island when he was 47 (1932) and started a resort there 5 years later. The resort was open for 22 years. After closing the resort, Stevens, now 74, lived off the land, growing his own vegetables, hauling ice and water from the lake, and picking blueberries. He stayed out there year-round until he was 94! He died in 1990 at the age of 104 - definitely a tough old guy! Most of the buildings were unlocked and it was completely deserted when we were there. It was so amazing to stand in the house, look out at the incredible view, and think about this guy spending the winters alone out here. It would be beautiful, but lonely and harsh. I truly admire people like that. I don’t think that I have the strength of mind; I need people more than that.

A steep drop-off, but a beautiful place to spend the night.

Besides historical areas there are other stops that you can make for picnicking, blueberry picking, swimming etc. as well as sites to tie up to for the night. Houseboats are allowed to tie up to pretty much anywhere but can’t spend the night on the open water. We tied up to the Leach Bay site (S22) for our third night out and found a whole bunch of blueberries. M. is always excellent at blueberry picking, she actually saves them for other people or for adding to pancakes. The rest of us like to eat as we go too much! Leach Bay has a nice rock drop-off and the kids went swimming. However, Leach Bay lived up to its (phonetic) name and we had to detach some leeches. I always feel bad sprinkling salt on leeches – it looks like it causes them so much pain. I don’t feel bad enough to not do it though. The kids were freaked out and stopped swimming right next to shore. The houseboat had a waterslide which they used a lot, but it went off the back of the boat, so they could stay in deeper water away from leech territory.

All houseboat sites have fire rings and picnic tables.

The scenery throughout the trip was spectacular.

Boats need to be returned by 9 am on your departure day. They have a nice system set up. You radio them when you get through King Williams Narrows and onto Crane Lake. Then they send someone out to captain the boat back to the marina. We had to wait a bit since there were several other boats being returned that day, but it still didn’t take very long. Once you reach the marina, they help you unload, you settle the bill in the office (pay for the gas you used, etc.) and you’re on your way!

General Schedule:

Day 1 – Boarded between 1-3 pm, Traveled through King William Narrows – out of Crane Lake and into Sand Point Lake, Stayed at Houseboat site on Sand Point Lake

Day 2 – Traveled up through Namakan Narrows – out of Sand Point Lake and across Namakan Lake to Kettle Falls Historic District and Dam, Got to Kettle Falls Hotel by 1 pm, Stayed at N60 – Voyageurs Narrows – Namakan Lake

Day 3 – Visited Hoist Bay and I.W. Stevens Resort, Stayed at Houseboat Site S22 – Leach Bay – Sand Point Lake

Day 4 – Left site by about 7 am, packed up on the way, back to Voyagaire’s docks by 9:30 am

Overall it was a wonderful trip and one that I think would be enjoyable for a wide variety of people. It is a great opportunity for those who are not “rugged outdoors” people to experience the wild beauty of Voyageurs in relative comfort.

Tired kids at the end of a fun trip with friends. A quiet ride home. What could be better?