Visit Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota and you can combine your love of history with your love of paddling. Voyageurs National Park Ranger Eric Grunwald and a fellow ranger friend did just that on Rainy Lake.

Paddling on Rainy Lake, Voyageurs National Park / More Than Just Parks

Featured In The National Parks Traveler

Paddling Into The Past On Rainy Lake

It was a calm and warm mid-September day when my friend Jeff and I put our canoe in the water at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center boat ramp. Jeff is a park ranger at Grand Canyon National Park, and I was excited to show him the sites of some of the most interesting historic events that took place on Rainy Lake inside what is now Voyageurs National Park. As we paddled away from the boat ramp, the North Woods were in all their splendor. A loon dived under the water no more than 50 yards away, and an eagle soared overhead. The very first hint of fall color shined on a few of the scattered aspens on the lakeshore.

We made quick time on the calm waters of Black Bay and before we know it, we were at the dock marking the site of Rainy Lake City. Today, the city is no more than the grassy trace of an old city street. Though there are two buildings on the site, these buildings do not date from Rainy Lake City, but from a later time in northern Minnesota history. As we docked the canoe and headed into the forest, there seemed to be more going on in Rainy Lake City than met the eye. We talked the trace of what had been one of the town’s streets, and I told Jeff a little bit about the town’s history.

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