What's on in Voyageurs National Park, United States through the year

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Opening

  Rainy & Kabetogama ice roads

  15 Jan – 10 Mar · usuallyIce season

  Once the ice is checked at a foot thick, the park plows two lake-ice roads — seven miles from Rainy Lake Visitor Center and nine from Ash River to Kabetogama — open to cars under 7,000 lbs at 30 mph. They usually run mid-January to mid-March; the park's weekly ice report is the only reliable word on this week. Source ↗

Still on: Fall freeze-up (15 Nov – 14 Jan (usually))

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Rainy & Kabetogama ice roads (15 Jan – 10 Mar (usually))

Busy — Spring break in United States

• Season

  Spring ice-out shoulder

  11 Mar – 5 May · usuallyOff-season shutdownClosures

  The ice roads close well before the lakes are open to boats — Kabetogama's ice-out averages 28 April, Rainy Lake's 3 May — so for six or seven weeks the park is reachable only from the handful of shore trailheads. Houseboats and tour boats don't launch again until the ice is fully off the water. Source ↗

Still on: Rainy & Kabetogama ice roads (15 Jan – 10 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Spring ice-out shoulder (11 Mar – 5 May (usually))

Busy — one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Spring ice-out shoulder (11 Mar – 5 May (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Summer boat tours

  15 Jun – 7 Sep · usuallySummer season opensBook early

  Ranger-led tour boats to the Kettle Falls Hotel, the Little American mine island and an old fish camp run from mid-June in a park reached mostly by water; tickets go on sale on Recreation.gov in spring, and popular runs sell out. Source ↗

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Summer boat tours (15 Jun – 7 Sep (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Voyageurs Star Party

  11–12 SepDark-sky seasonCrowded

  The park's free night-sky festival with Voyageurs Conservancy pairs telescopes, talks, music and paddling at the Rainy Lake and Kabetogama visitor centres; it has moved from mid-August to Labor Day and mid-September, so check the year. Source ↗

Still on: Summer boat tours (15 Jun – 7 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Voyageurs Star Party, Summer break in United States

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Summer boat tours (15 Jun – 7 Sep (usually)), Voyageurs Star Party (11–12 Sep)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Busy — Thanksgiving break in United States

• Hazard

  Fall freeze-up

  15 Nov – 14 Jan · usually

  Kabetogama Lake freezes over around 28 November and Rainy Lake around 9 December on average, but the weeks either side of that are neither solid enough to walk on nor open enough to boat. The park issues its sharpest ice warnings of the year for this stretch, and most lake services are shut until the ice road opens. Source ↗

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Fall freeze-up (15 Nov – 14 Jan (usually))