Voyageurs National Park Hiking: 10 Best Family Trails

If you and your family find yourself in northern Minnesota, consider visiting Voyageurs National Park in International Falls, Minnesota, near the Canadian border. It’s a different kind of waterpark experience for the kids — with 218,054 acres of land and water, more than a third of it contributes to Minnesota’s nickname: Land of 10,000 Lakes. 

Though the park is a natural wetland (aka a boater’s paradise), you can still find miles of unfurled trails among Voyageurs’ four large and 26 interior lakes. 

It’s one of the least-visited national parks, so it’s possible to find a fairly empty trail. Let’s face it, if you’ve been to more-crowded national parks like Smoky Mountain National Park (which welcomed over 14 million visitors in 2021), less crowding can seem like a downright relief in this water-based park. 

We kept families in mind in our assessment, focusing on easy and moderate trails in our kid-friendly review of the best of the best in Voyageurs National Park hiking.

10 Best Trails in Voyageurs National Park for Families

As one of the least-visited national parks, you’ll see a southern boreal and northern boreal forests, and on hikes, you’ll see the following natural formations: 

• Rock ridges
• Cliffs
• Wetlands
• Streams
• Lakes
• Forested areas

Kids will be likely be more excited to see: 

• Black bears
• Moose
• Beaver
• Gray wolf
• Songbirds and woodpeckers
• Eagles
• Osprey
• Vultures
• Hawks
• Owls
• Shorebirds
• Waterfowl
• Reptiles, like snapping turtles

Voyageurs, which commemorates a historical fur trade route used to open the “Great Northwest,” has three visitor centers: Kabetogama Lake, Ash River and Rainy Lake, which offers boat tours, and ranger-led programs which may also include ranger-led hikes.

Rainy Lake is the only visitor center open year-round. These are great jumping-off points to find a hike that’s right for your family.

1. Blind Ash Bay Trail 

You and your family can access the Blind Ash Bay Trail, a popular birding, hiking and walking trail, year-round. The beautiful hike through a boreal forest offers views of spectacular scenery and wild berries in the right season — wild blueberries and raspberries — yum!

The Blind Ash Bay Trail starts uphill and wends through the forest to a spot that overlooks  Kabetogama Lake in a lollipop shape. If your kids enjoy rock climbing, it’s an ideal hike. It might take more time to walk through the beautiful scenery, especially if they stop every few minutes to scramble across a rock or from picking berries.

2. Oberholtzer Trail

The Oberholtzer Trail gives your family a taste of deciduous and conifer forests (including spruce, pine and aspen), as well as marshy lake views. The trail hugs a marshland extending west from Black Bay. 

You’ll encounter a set of steep wooden steps and rugged terrain, complete with exposed rocks and roots. Note that the trail breaks off into several offshoots, but you can skip the first loop if you prefer.

3. Beaver Pond Overlook Trail 

This quick in-and-out trail offers a short hike uphill, through aspen and forested areas to rocky views above one of several active beaver ponds in the park. 

Your kids will  never forget their first view of a beaver. These large rodents, with their thick fur, webbed feet, flat tails and large teeth and carefully crafted homes, typically stay out of view under their beaver dams, but you may still catch a view of them floating on top of the water.

Don’t forget your binoculars to search for birds and other large wildlife, particularly in the early morning or evening.

4. Kabetogama Lake Overlook Trail

The highly accessible Kabetogama Lake Overlook Trail winds through a pine forest to a  stunning view of Kabetogama Lake, framed by trees.

Listen for a loon or watch for a bald eagle swooping the sky as you lounge on the bench at the peak of the trail. If you hike at sunset, you may glimpse a beautiful view of the red and orange sun reflecting off the water.

5. Sullivan Bay Trail

Your family will be hiking along an old forest road through a coniferous and deciduous forest. You’ll end up with a gorgeous view of Sullivan Bay. Consider grabbing some hotdogs and marshmallows before you go, because you can enjoy dinner at a picnic table using a fire ring.

You’ll see exposed volcanic rock, so if you have a kid who’s a rock enthusiast, you can “wow” them with the news that they can see rock that’s two billion years old. In fact, you can take a great photo of your kids on a nice, flat rock that looks out over the bay.

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6. Echo Bay Trail

The Echo Bay Trail circular trail shows the transition between deciduous and boreal forests, with wetlands and dense forest.

Watch for birds like woodpeckers on this trail and keep an eye out for beavers. Note that some people report even better views on the other side of this trail from a boat, canoe or kayak. 

7. Forest Overlook Trail

Yippee! Here’s a short trail for kids with even shorter attention spans.

Despite the fact that it’s easy, you can still glimpse what the area looks like at different elevations. Take a picnic lunch and dine at the picnic tables and grills by the parking area.

8. Rainy Lake Recreation Trail

The Rainy Lake Recreation Trail, a paved trail, rolls past the park road, the woods and rocky outcroppings. Consider taking your bikes on this trail as well, especially if you have older kids who need to squash some energy. 

The trail runs its way through forest, lake and marshland areas, but note that it’s longer than some of the trails on our list. It’s not a great trail if you’re looking for a 10- or 15-minute walk. 

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9. Black Bay Beaver Pond Trail

Okay, so this one requires some water access, but in a park as saturated by water as this one, how can we resist? 

We can’t, especially because once you reach the trailhead, you get instant access to beavers — the beaver pond is only a short walk from the trailhead.

But the caveat (and this goes for the rest of Voyageurs): Watch for bugs during the summer. Load up with bug spray and bring long pants as well.

10. Mukooda Trail

We also couldn’t resist reviewing this trail, especially when you see deciduous and coniferous forests and rocky ridges carved by glaciers from thousands of years ago. 

The narrow trail separates Sand Point Lake and the straight-from-a-glacier Mukooda Lake. You’ll see signs of wildlife as you wander through this unique and remote part of the park. 

You’ll even see an area frequented by Minnesota Prohibition (1920-1933) era gangsters. Maybe you can encourage your kids to keep an eye out for dirty cash through this rugged, sinful outpost.

Other Voyageurs Highlights

When you’re at Voyageurs, your kids may not want to be dragged along on a trail. Admit it, you’re already hearing, “My feet huuuuurt!” and from your 10-year-old: “I wanna ride in the stroller like the baby!” 

Let’s look at a few other options, including Kettle Falls and Ellsworth Rock Gardens.

Kettle Falls

Don’t miss this falls, flanked by the Kettle Falls Hotel’s vibrant red roof, which a guy named Robert Williams bought in 1918 for $1,000 and four barrels of whiskey. Trappers, lumberjacks, fishermen, traders and others originally patronized the hotel.

Back in the day, it was a “Hay Fever Victims Sanctuary,” where sufferers supposedly found relief from advertisements that claimed “not a sneeze on the border.” 

How to Get There

You can find the falls and the hotel on the eastern edge of the Kabetogama Peninsula, at 9899 Mead Wood Rd, Orr, Minnesota.

Ellsworth Rock Gardens

Check out the “Showplace of Lake Kabetogama,” the showpiece of Jack Ellsworth, the garden’s creator and a self-taught artist, on the north shore of Kabetogama Lake.

It features a: 

• Complex, terraced garden 
• Prominent rock outcrop
• 62 terraced flower beds 
• 3,000 lilies and other flower varieties
• 200 abstract rock sculptures 
• Stone gateways
• Stairways
• Stepping stones
• Simple bridges
• Grass paths 
• Rock tablets

Which Voyageurs National Park Trail Works Best for Families?

“Voyageurs” means “traveler” in French (it hails from the fur traders) so you must take a hike while you’re there.

Voyageurs isn’t one of the most impressive national parks from the road, so you have to get out of the car to really experience the beautiful views and appreciate the entire park, which offers miles of trails. 

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Any of the Voyageurs national park trails we’ve outlined offer great options for kids and families. Depending on your kids’ ages and abilities, we’ve listed options for every level. 

You can also get creative, such as cross-country skiing your way through the park, hiking at night to look for the Northern lights and the aurora borealis, going crazy with a houseboat map or taking your speedboat to other boat access ramps.