How to Go Camping in Voyageurs National Park

Voyageurs National Park is amazing. It’s in Northern Minnesota, almost in Canada, and it’s all water-based. Camping in Voyageurs National Park is a very unique experience. You are required to get to your campsites by water. Canoe, boat, kayak, etc.

While that may deter you – maybe you’ve never been canoeing before – it should not. It should make you more excited to go camping in Voyageurs National Park. It’s likely something you’ve never done before. I never had!

My husband and I had an incredible time canoe camping at Voyageurs, and I want everyone to have this experience.

I will go through everything you need to know about camping in Voyageurs National Park.

Jump to Camping in Voyageurs National Park:

sunrise in voyageurs national park

Isn’t Voyageurs National Park beautiful?

About Voyageurs National Park

Voyageurs became a National Park in 1975, and it is the only NP in Minnesota. It is one of the most unique National Parks because exploration of it must be done by watercraft – boat, kayak, etc.

Voyageurs NP is open all year, and admission is free. If you visit in Spring, Summer, or Fall you can rent a canoe, kayak, house boat, or fishing boat. If you visit in the Winter, you’ll have to either snowshoe or use a snowmobile.

There are 3 visitors centers: Ash River, Kabetogama Lake, and Rainy Lake.

And there are 4 major lakes: Rainy Lake, Kabetogama Lake, Namakan Lake, and Sand Point Lake.

It has recently gained the bragging rights of becoming a designated Dark Sky Park.

Camping in Voyageurs National Park Overview

Camping in Voyageurs National Park is so wonderful. The sites are super spread out or on their own islands, so you get complete privacy. Nowhere in Voyageurs is like a campground with generators and side-by-side campsites. Where else can you pay 20-ish bucks a night to rent out a private island??

FYI, there is spotty or nonexistent cell service in this park.

Frontcountry Camping

Voyageurs has 137 frontcountry campsites.

Frontcountry basically means you don’t have to hike/backpack to the sites.

Frontcountry campsites are located on island and shores of the park’s lakes. You’ll have to canoe, kayak, or take a boat to these.

The park does not rent out watercraft. You can rent one at a local business.

Backcountry Camping

Again, you need to travel by water to get to these campsites. But these sites also require hiking/backpacking as well.

Backcountry Campsites are located on the interior lakes of the park’s Kabetogama Peninsula.

These sites are more remote and secluded. The lakes here are smaller and calmer inland waters.

You can also use the park’s backcountry canoes, more about this on the NP site.

Primitive Camping

This is your basic backcountry camping that doesn’t require any watercraft. Voyageurs has 2 hike-in campsites along the Kab-Ash trail.

I’m going to briefly talk about these sites. At a park based on the water, I highly recommend the other campsites instead. The primitive sites only have a tent site and a fire ring – no privy or bear locker. Pack out your trash and bring a way to hang your odorous items or a bear canister.

The 2 sites, distances from nearest trailheads:

  • Red Pine (H1): 3.2 mile hike from trailhead along Ash River Trail Road
  • Blueberry Ridge (H2): 1.7 miles hike from the klabAsh / Beaver Pond Overlook trailhead along the Meadwood Road

Boat Launches

You can access the water in 4 different places: Rainy Lake Visitors Center, Kabetogama Lake Visitors Center, Ash River Visitors Center, and the Crane Lake Ranger Station.

Important: If you are planning on canoe or kayak camping, I highly recommend using my How to Canoe Camp in Voyageurs National Park post. It is a step-by-step guide on how to do it. This post is a general camping in Voyageurs National Park post; that one is a detailed canoe camping guide. Especially awesome for people who aren’t experienced canoers.

Also, read 10 Tips for Visiting Voyageurs National Park.

When to Visit Voyageurs National Park

Voyageurs is mostly a spring/fall/summertime destination; it can get very cold in the winter. If you visit mid-summer, you may have to battle mosquitoes and flies, but you’ll have warmer weather and can hopefully swim! If you visit spring/fall, you’ll be bug-free but cooler.

We went mid-September, and it was perfect. There were plenty of campsites available, it wasn’t too chilly, it was perfect campfire weather, the leaves were starting to change, and we saw almost zero bugs. I never even lit our citronella candle.

Voyageurs National Park campsite

A view of our campsite

How to Get to Voyageurs National Park

Visitors Centers in this park can be over an hour from one another. Don’t just type Voyageurs NP into your GPS; make sure you’re heading to the right place.

Voyageurs is 2-ish hours from Duluth, 5-ish hours from Minneapolis/St. Paul on I-35 and Highway 5, and 4-ish hours from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

You can park your car overnight at the visitors centers/boat launches.

How to Choose and Book Campsites in Voyageurs NP

Ok, this part feels complicated. Some of the campsites are 20+ miles from the nearest boat launch. So you need to be diligent when booking your campsites to be sure you can actually make it to them.

If you’re renting a motorboat, you can reach the farther out campsites. If you’re canoe camping, you’ll want to stay a bit closer to boat launches.

Figure out your itinerary/what dates you’re going to camp in the park.

Also, think about whether you want to stay at the same campsite the whole time or boat to a different campsite for each night. I recommend moving campsites. It’s kind of cool to experience a different island/site, and it gives you something to do during the day.

Deciding on the Best Campsites

Every frontcountry campsite has a pit toilet, picnic table, fire pit, bear lockers, and dirt tent areas. Some are large campsites with multiple tent spots and some are small campsites with just 2 tent spots.

Backcountry sites have vault toilets, but you need to bring a way to keep your odorous items away from bears – either a bear canister or by hanging the items.

Here is a campsite map if you want to see them all at once.

Campsites must be booked ahead of time on recreation.gov.

Search Voyageurs National Park, enter your dates, and click Voyageurs National Park Camping Permits. On the right, click Build Itinerary and then enter the number of guests.

This will bring up all the campsites and dates. You’re looking for A = Available.

As I discussed before, there are multiple lakes and multiple visitors centers in the park. The best place to get canoe rentals is from Voyageurs Outfitters. If you are renting from Voyageurs Outfitters, the best place to get campsites is on Rainy Lake, because this drop off spot is the closest to the Outfitters. If you have your own canoe, disregard this and book at any lake. If you’re renting a motorboat, you can also disregard this.

Click the Group tab to organize the sites so that you can scroll and easily see all the Rainy Lake campsites. Click each name of the campsites on the left, and it will show more info on the campsites. It will pull up the max number of people, what each site offers, a small photo, and, most importantly, how far it is from the nearest visitors center.

Picking and Reserving Your sites

Don’t stress too much about which ones have the best views – I honestly can’t imagine there’s a bad campsite in the park. Use the map on the right side of the recreation.gov page to see if the campsite is near other campsites, on its own island, etc.

We stayed at Channel View (R100) and Lyle Mine Island (R93). I recommend both of them.

Scroll through the available campsites and pick the ones you want. When you click the A, it will select that as part of your trip build. You can click extra days on that same campsite or click the nights you want for other campsites.

Click Book Now once you have made your choices. (YAY)

It is $20-28 per night + $10 reservation fee during the regular season. You will need a recreation.gov account if you don’t already have one.

What to Pack for Camping in Voyageurs National Park

Once you boat to your campsite, you can’t just pick up forgotten supplies, so please remember everything.

I have a backpackers packing list that I always reference when packing for camping trips.

Recommendations: Pick up and pack firewood. Bring a swimsuit, extra layers, bug spray (in the summer), fire starters, and extra water or a water filter. Triple check everything before you go. Don’t forget a lighter or matches.

If you’re worried about things getting wet while boating/canoeing, you could put your gear in rubbermaid bins or garbage bags. We put our gear more toward the ends of the canoe, and nothing got super wet.

Sunset at Voyageurs National Park, pink skies reflecting on water

A beautiful sunset from our private island

Things to Do while Camping in Voyageurs National Park

  • Boating – boat around the lakes. Explore.
  • Fishing – learn all about that from the NP website.
  • Hiking – there are tons of trails in this park, accessed by land or water. This is a great way to spend some time even more immersed in nature.
  • Wildlife Viewing – Bear, fox, birds… keep your eyes peeled for animals. We saw a bald eagle while we were canoeing, and it was epic.
  • You might be a lucky duck and get to witness The Northern Lights.

Leave No Trace Principles

Always, always, always follow Leave No Trace Principles. Pack out EVERYTHING, camp on the designated tent pads, minimize campfire impacts, respect wildlife, and more.

Leave it better than you found it.

Don’t Forget to Print Your Permits

5 days before your trip through the day of your trip, log in to your recreation.gov account, open your trip details, and print the permits for each campsite. Take the printed permits with you on the trip; there will be a little dry box on the bear locker to place your permits.

You don’t have to go to a visitors center when you arrive if you’ve printed your permits ahead of time. You can just start paddling.

Drive-Up Camping near Voyageurs

Gah, have I really not convinced you that camping in Voyageurs National Park is AMAZING?

One more try – Seclusion! And peace! And your own private island!

Ok, if you really need to drive up to your campsite, you can camp at a campground near Voyageurs. I can’t exactly endorse this choice, but I suppose camping is always better than not camping 🙂 Here are your options:

Why Should You Go Camping in Voyageurs National Park?

Solitude. Relaxation. An escape from our crazy busy lives.

There are so many reasons to go camping in Voyageurs National Park, and I hope you have the best experience at this unique, beautiful park.

If you’ve been, please comment below and tell me about it! If you’re planning a trip, share this post with a friend!

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