Voyageurs National Park (Episode 60)

Guest: Kate Severson, Program Manager for Interpretation, Outreach, and Partnership

Grab your life jacket and your sense of adventure! In this episode, we head to Northern Minnesota to explore Voyageurs National Park, a landscape defined by its interconnected waterways, ancient geology, and the spirit of the French-Canadian fur traders who gave the park its name.

Host Missy Rentz sits down with Kate Severson to discuss the park’s unique 50-year history and why this "difficult to get to" destination is a must-visit for any national park enthusiast. We dive into the grueling daily life of the historical Voyageurs (who paddled up to 18 hours a day!), the delicate balance of wetland conservation, and the legacy of the artists and conservationists who fought to protect this wilderness.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The History of the Voyageurs: Why these "commercial truckers of the 1700s" had to be short, strong, and incredibly resilient.
• Indigenous Roots: How the knowledge and technology of the Ojibwe and Anishinaabe people made the fur trade possible.
• Conservation in Action: What "floating islands" of invasive cattails are and how the park uses fire and machinery to restore native marshes.
• Planning Your Visit: The difference between front country and backcountry camping (hint: they both require a boat!) and how to experience the park in the winter via its famous Ice Road.
• Hidden Gems: From the Ellsworth Rock Gardens to the photography of June Fujita.

Transcript

Missy Rentz 0:01

We are headed to one of our northern national parks, a frequent passageway for fur traders in the mid 18 hundreds. If you wanna grab a campsite here, you'd better bring your boat. Join us as we explore Voyagers National Park. I'm your host, Missy Rentz, and this is the Parks podcast. In this episode, I'm so excited to welcome Kate Seaverson. Kate is the program manager for Interpretation, outreach and Partnership at Voyageurs National Park. Kate, welcome to the Parks podcast.

Kate Severson 0:36

Thanks for having me, Missy. I'm really excited to talk about the park today.

Missy Rentz 0:40

So we start with some park stats just to let everybody know what we're talking about. I'll go through those real quick. Voyager's National Park is located in International Falls, Minnesota. It was created on April 8th, 1975 when Gerald Ford was president of the United States. It's the 36th National Park and it's 218,055 acres in 2024. There were 199,030 visitors to the park, and some fun facts. The park is made up of four large lakes, 26 small lakes, and 655 miles of shoreline. There's evidence of humans being there 10,000 years ago, and it was a major route for the fur traders who are called Voyageurs. There are 270 secluded campsites that you can get to via boat and it's home to 50 species of mam mammals. A hundred species of birds, 10 species of amphibians, four reptiles, 54 fish. This is such a unique park.

Kate Severson 1:46

It is. And we are a difficult park to get to. So I think some people, if they're checking off their bucket list of all 63 national parks we're one of the lasts that they get to, but we have a lot of unique sites to visit. We have a lot of history, a lot of culture, and a lot of beautiful Northwood scenery that are amongst all the lakes up here, Minnesota.

Missy Rentz 2:08

It's so diverse and it is unique. Let's start with why is it important that Voyageurs is part of the National Park Service?

Kate Severson 2:16

That is a great question. There's a lot of things that make Voyageurs National Park very unique. And I would say, we can get into a lot of the history of the park and why it became a park. And this past year 2025 was our 50th anniversary. So the park was established April 8th, 1975. Like you mentioned even though it's, and I like to bring this up, it took longer for us to become a park really than we've been a park. It was first mentioned or first proposed in 1891 by Minnesota leaders. So in 1891, they were like, Hey, this area is important, and we're a bit concerned about some of the logging and mining and other development that might be changing the landscape, changing the, the quality of the water here, changing the forests. And that was when the idea first came up. And then it was another 80 years before Congress authorized the park in 1971 and then another four years after that, before it could be officially established when we had enough land. This past year has just been a celebration of how far we've come really.

Missy Rentz 3:26

Yeah. And you are, 'cause there is there's history, there's conservation, and it's conservation with water, conservation with land, conservation with animals. It really is a very important park in Minnesota and in the, in America. And. The history. Let's talk a little bit about the history of the park and who was there because it's, a lot of our Native Americans, there were fur traders. So maybe share a little bit about that history and how it got here, why it's here.

Kate Severson 3:54

Oh yeah. So even before the Voyageurs, those French Canadian fur traders arrived, there were indigenous peoples, indigenous communities, the Cree, the Assiniboine the Sioux Ojibwe, or Anishinaabe. The Ojibwe and the Anishinaabe were the most recent in the area, and it's honestly thanks to them that the Voyageurs were able to travel here. They used their technology, the birch bark canoe. They depended on these folks for trade and for food. And it's really the knowledge that the Ojibwe and other indigenous folks had of the land and how to travel on the land. That meant that the Voyageurs could come here and establish the fur trade routes.

Missy Rentz 4:39

Was that an important area because that's basically as far west as people could go by water?

Kate Severson 4:47

So the fur trade went even further west. But this as far as lake Athabasca, and so you could go even further beyond here by water. But, the Voyageurs and the traders would often rendezvous in Grand Portage in Minnesota. And Grand Portage is another national, it's part of the National Park system. It's a national monument on like the north eastern corner of Minnesota. And that was a place that was. Good to meet because that's where the Great Lakes were converged with these water routes and seasonally with the thaw and then before the next ice layer, came in, this was a place where they can meet to trade those goods. Then here is in Voyageurs, it's an important area as well. 'cause there was another outpost, another trading fort near here too. That was pretty significant.

Missy Rentz 5:46

I've just started digging into kind of that fur trade because of the whole, all the expeditions and the development of the west and all of that stuff. And I just really find that lifestyle and how it was done in the relationships with the native Americans, how that relationship worked to build this economy,

Kate Severson 6:05

Oh. It was multicultural. You can't just say, oh, it was just the French Canadians. It was the French Canadians and multiple different indigenous communities. Multiple languages were being used, multiple cult, multiple cultural practices were being shared. Food clothing. All of those sort of things just become interwoven in the fur trade societies and, it is, it's really interesting to dive into the history there. But yeah, so if you wanna know more about the Voyageurs themselves,

Missy Rentz 6:38

yes, I do.

Kate Severson 6:40

the interesting group one of my favorite comparisons is when people compare them to like modern day commercial truck drivers. Because they're traveling immense distances across the country, transporting goods. But I would say a lot of the similarities end there. There's some really big key differences between modern truckers and the Voyageurs. One being that Voyageurs traveled as a company of men. They're in a group, they depend, they work as a team and they paddle and they depend on the other Voyageurs in their canoe to get where they're going. And another big difference is the physicality of the work. Voyageurs would often work and paddle for up to 16, even 18 hours a day.

Missy Rentz 7:29

Wow.

Kate Severson 7:30

And they would have small breaks, small pipettes, small pipe breaks here and there. But for the most part, they're paddling and paddling most of the day. And when they aren't paddling, they're often carrying things across what are called portages. And these are the parts of land where, if they would have to carry canoes and carry all those goods because there would either be rapids or there would be no even connecting water between those spots. And so they would carry around 180 pounds.

Missy Rentz 8:01

My gosh.

Kate Severson 8:02

Not to mention the canoe. They would carry these items like hop from one lake to another lake with all those items. So it was a very physical job and they were tough. The other thing I like to mention is they were on the shorter side being vertically challenged myself, I to be like, oh, not all the voyages were these tall men. They were a little shorter so that they could fit into the canoes.

Missy Rentz 8:24

Of course,

Kate Severson 8:25

Yeah, they were very strong in resilience and I was, oh, and then the third big difference between truckers and them was they were traveling by water. Voyageurs didn't have a paved road. They got from place to place in their canoes and.

Missy Rentz 8:40

And okay, like I, when I think of a canoe, I think of, what I'm gonna get at, the sporting goods store where it's this plastic canoe, two people fit in it, maybe a third little person like child or my pet or something. Is that what I think of with these canoes? What are these canoes like?

Kate Severson 8:57

No, the canoes that were used around here in the park would've been around 20 to 25 feet long. So they would fit, about eight to 10 men. And the canoes were made from birch bark. So that birch bark canoe on the outs the birch bark would line the outside and then the frame was cedar. And like spruce resin would fill the gaps in the seams between the. Pieces of bark. And this was something that they learned and often they would have Ojibwe craftsman create the canoes for them. And so they were pretty, relatively light and fast, and they worked in transporting a lot of the trading goods like the blankets and metal like sewing needles and knives and things. And those things would be transported and be traded for the fur. Typically, beaver pelts. So I was thinking about it, I think in my mind initially I was like, oh, at least one way of the journey. They were not carrying too much, but no, both legs of the journey, they have to carry the goods there and then carry the goods back out so they don't ever really have a lighter load typically. Yeah it's a interesting time period and it started, late 16 hundreds and went into. The 1800, late 18 hundreds, so about 200 years.

Missy Rentz 10:19

and they would tra would they travel, would it just be a canoe or was it like a fleet of people

Kate Severson 10:24

was usually multiple canoes a bigger group going through. And it would depend too because a lot of the Voyageurs traveled from Montreal and from Montreal out and through the Great Lakes. They would have even larger canoes. And then they would canoe all the way to Grand Portage. And that's that rendezvous point where there'd be an exchange,

Missy Rentz 10:46

Yeah.

Kate Severson 10:47

Of goods.

Missy Rentz 10:48

And was it a was it a competitive environment? Like there, were there lots of fur traders competing against each other? Or was it this like brotherhood kind of thing?

Kate Severson 11:00

The way I've there was some competition between the groups. I don't know, on the, I haven't heard much on the individual at level, but between the groups, there definitely were I'm gonna pronounce this wrong but there were the Hi. I'm gonna have to look this up later. Hi. Nuts. Who wintered out in the western portion and they would be competitive. What with the what was called the Montreal Pork Eaters who were seen as a little bit softer. And so the Montreal folks would be Bri Montreal Voyageurs would be bringing goods into grand Portage, and they'd meet up with the. The Voyageurs who wintered out in the wilderness basically. And so there was some competition there, but it does sound like it was friendly for the most part.

Missy Rentz 11:46

So there's not like contentiousness in like getting to your destinations.

Kate Severson 11:50

be a bit rowdy for sure when they'd get together. But no, I think for the most part you'd work with your team of. Fellow Voyageurs get where you're going safely. Because it wasn't a safe job either. There was, bad storms and weather and rapids that sometimes you didn't want a portage, so you decide to shoot the rapids and that could be a risky choice.

Missy Rentz 12:13

Yes. Wanna shoot the rapids either with 150 pounds. I would want to, with 150 pounds portages would be challenging.

Kate Severson 12:20

challenging. Yes. Yep. No it was overall pretty collab. Oh. There was competition between different companies. So the trade companies, like the Northwest Trade company and the Hudson Bay Company. There was commercial competition.

Missy Rentz 12:35

Of course. So in about we, I mentioned that about 40% of Voyageurs is water. And so there's a lot of natural conservation around the water there, and we talk a lot about wetlands and in other, even in other parks, there's a lot about wetlands, but I'm gonna be honest, I don't really know what a wetland is. What defines a wetland

Kate Severson 12:58

So you mentioned earlier how much shoreline there is at Voyageurs and wetlands are usually found on those edge are found on those edges of aquatic areas and terrestrial. So between water and land. And they are defined by this water saturation of their soil and their ability to support plants that thrive in that kind of soil. And there are two types of wetlands that are found in Voyageurs- marshes and bogs. Marshes are the most prevalent and most commonly seen. And they have like soft herbaceous plants like reeds and segs and cattail grassy type plants. And another type of wetland, not as common is a bog. Bogs have that soft, spongy peat like soil of partially decayed plant matter. And there's so much diversity in the plants that are found in animals. But the plants are amazing in these ecosystems. There's even carnivorous plants. I don't know if you've,

Missy Rentz 13:59

No, never, ever.

Kate Severson 14:01

yes. Don't worry. They just eat small little things. Not like a giant venous fly

Missy Rentz 14:07

Right.

Kate Severson 14:07

but there are native carnivorous plants in some of these wetlands. The two that I have heard of are ewes and pitcher plants,

Missy Rentz 14:16

And what do they eat? Do they eat insects or what?

Kate Severson 14:18

Yes, insects pitcher plants are the ones, it's shaped like a pitcher in a way, and it draws in insects and they slide in and the plant is evolved to decompose the insect it's prey and use it for nutrients. It's really neat.

Missy Rentz 14:35

Oh, that's really cool. That's very cool. And those are mostly found in bog areas.

Kate Severson 14:40

Yes. Yeah. And which aren't as common in Voyers. The marshes are really what you'll see here. But. And I, I do wanna talk about this, some of our conservation work that we've been doing restoration work really here at the park. When I first started, there were a couple meetings I was in with natural resource folks and they were talking about, oh, how are we going to contain the cattail? Fogs and or cattail mats. And I was like, what do you mean? They're like, oh, we saw one, it escaped and it's floating out in, this black bay area. And I was like, what do you mean? And it was basically a floating island of hybridized cattails. And they had broken loose from the shoreline. 'cause this is how they'll propagate. They had broken loose from the shoreline where they had grown and they were floating out into the middle of the bay, which was creating a hazard for boaters. And it was really a nuisance for a lot of the people recreating in the park. And so they were trying to figure out how to bring it back to where it had broken off from, stake it down, and then eradicate it. Because these invasive hybrid cattails are really aggressive,

Missy Rentz 15:52

So they're invasive. They're not native.

Kate Severson 15:54

No they aren't. We do have native cattails but they aren't as aggressive and they don't form those dense mats and they don't choke out the shorelines as badly as the hybridized invasive cattails. So we've been doing a lot of work to try to cut those back. Ever since 2015, there's been the wetland restoration project here at the park, and our biologists not only are combating them, but they're trying to. Find the best ways to do this, and it's really taken multiple different types of techniques. They'll use prescribed burns, which I was like, how do you burn something that's on water? But they wait until winter until the. Cattails are mostly dried out, and then they're able to set them on fire. And that helps get rid of them. They also have machinery that chew it up and spits it out on shore. And so they're trying a bunch of different techniques and finding out what is most effective. And it's really important that they do this because that way a lot of those native, reads and ses that I was talking about earlier, they're able to grow back.

Missy Rentz 17:00

Yeah. I, and in several episodes we've gotten into invasive species and I don't think, I knew even by the name, that they're not wanted, but I don't think I realized how much time and effort goes towards. Eradicating invasive species and in a situation like this, is there anything that park goers can do or anything people can be aware of on visits to help with this?

Kate Severson 17:26

Yeah. For the cattails and plants and other aquatic invasive species, some of the smaller animals like zebra mussels and those sort of nuisance they're more than nuisance, but those sort of things, yes. We have certain rules in place when park visitors come about cleaning and draining and drying their boats. So if they are going to be in the park for multiple days and they go from one. Large lakes such as rainy, and then they go over to cap Toma Lake. They need to really make sure they're not bringing any invasive species from one to the other. So their boats and their equipment, if they're like wading in the water, even needs to be dried at least for three days, needs to dry out completely. So they're not transporting those species between the different aquatic environments or if they're coming from somewhere else in the state too. And those waterways.

Missy Rentz 18:17

And I think in some parts of the country, I can't remember, you'll tell me if Minnesota does. There are like places where if you're a boat, you stop and get check inspected before you go into the waters and that, so that's probably what one of the reasons why.

Kate Severson 18:30

Exactly. That's, we partner with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and they have staff that are at the boat launches and check, and they talk to people, where are you coming from? What you know? Have you made sure to make sure you're not carrying any of those invasive species with you into our lakes here? So they, they do a really great job. And it takes all of us, 'cause even just one, one little. Thing that you think is small can have that ripple effect and spread out. And the waters are all connected too. So it's very hard to contain any invasive species.

Missy Rentz 19:01

Yeah. Wow. And Voyageurs, it's more than just water. And I wanna touch on that 'cause sometimes you just can't go on the water. Like when I was visiting, so in, in the early 1900s, people would use it for like summer cabins and just to escape the city. And so when the park was created, there were a lot of structures within the boundaries. Of the park and you guys have that, and you have a lot of historic preservation going on as well.

Kate Severson 19:29

Yes. Yeah, we have a lot of historic structures within the park. And I think, everyone ca came out here and they built for their own reasons. But one thing I see a lot is art and inspiration and relaxation are some of the main reasons people come out here. They're coming to be inspired, they're coming to relax, and sometimes it has to do with even their health. One of the early conservationists who's well known in this area Ober Holzer. Also known as Ober. He was he experienced heart damage caused by rheumatic, caused by fever. And he was told he could even die within a year. So he had that whole, you only live once mindset. And he came out to Rainy Lake and he paddled around here and it's when he really discovered a love for the wilderness. And he said his health improved with every stroke of the paddle. And he, his. Home is actually located just outside the park on Mallard Island, but he was an initial really passionate and eloquent speaker and advocate for this area and protecting it as a wilderness. And in 1930 he helped really, usher in, important legislation related to the protection of this area. It was called the Ship Dead Newton Nolan Act of 1930. And it really set, it was, a historic, federal law because it was one of the first to really protect and conserve wilderness areas and it prevented logging from happening near shore. And it's prevented dams from being built in the park because there was a lot of industry that was looking to build dams that would've raised water, the water by almost like 80 feet. And that would've destroyed habitat would've destroyed shorelines. And so he did a lot to protect the park area before it was even a park. But yeah, sorry, I strayed off from the

Missy Rentz 21:25

No, I love hearing about it.

Kate Severson 21:26

One of my other favorite folks to talk about is June Fujita. He was a photographer a Japanese American photographer in Chicago. And he pho photographed some really historic events in Chicago for different journals at the time, different newspapers one being the, I'm gonna get the dates wrong. But one was the Valentine's Day massacre. So it was like a gang activity that happened in Chicago. And I think one of the taglines for a book about him is he was called The Man Who Shot Al Cap, Al Capone as in photo photographed him,

Missy Rentz 22:06

Okay. Oh, that's so funny. I love that.

Kate Severson 22:11

But to me, his job sounded a bit stressful and he had a summer home out here in Voyageurs National Park and that home is still preserved. And he was passionate about his motorboats, so he would motor about all across the lakes. And he also wrote poetry that was inspired by his time spent out here. So a lot of people come out here, I think. Like I said, to relax, to experience nature and be inspired for their art. Last year we had an artist in residence Marco Beiser, and he composed a sym orchestra piece. He composed an orchestra piece. Based on his time out in the park paddling and camping. I need to listen to it still. I don't know if it's available online. I'm like, I wonder if he captured the buzz of the mosquitoes.

Missy Rentz 22:59

Yes, because they're, they are for real.

Kate Severson 23:02

Yes, they are. I think. And then another place in the park called the Ellsworth Rock Gardens. There was a man named Jack Ellsworth who came out and it is thought that he might've come out too because of health issues. And he came out and created a sculpture garden that is still available for people to come and see. Unfortunately, that is one of the places that you need to. Take a boat to get to. But yeah, it's worth checking out as well.

Missy Rentz 23:32

When I was first coming to Voyageurs and I was researching and I was talking to people, a lot of it was about boating and camping. And as I started to dig more and on my own visit. Seeing all of, there's hiking options and there's, great history to see. So it's a lot more than just take a boat to go camp on a campsite. It's a lot more than that.

Kate Severson 23:59

Yes it is. There are trails that are accessible from each of our visitor centers. We have four visitor centers now you mentioned that the park is in International falls. I would say it's much more spread out than that. So Rainy Lake Visitor Center is the closest access point to the park from International Falls, but we also have about a 20 minute drive from international Falls is cap tomo. There's a visitor center there as well with trails around it and state forest land that's worth checking out. And then. I know I'm not supposed to pick favorites, but my favorite visitor center is Ash River Visitor Center, which is in a historic lodge and has that real log, cabin type feel. And there's some really nice viewpoints from there that you can go down to the water and look out and get that essential this is Voyager's National Park feel. And then our newest visitor center, which we just opened up last year, was the Crane Lake one. And so if you were to travel from Rainy Lake Visitor center all the way to Crane Lake and drive that, it's an hour, 45 hour, 50 minutes to make that full drive. So we're very spread out across our 200,000 acres.

Missy Rentz 25:10

As we get into how do you visit a park? This is a great transition 'cause it is a park that when I first was looking to go I was almost confused like, where do I go? Because it is very spread out. Are there different things you get at different areas of the park?

Kate Severson 25:27

Absolutely. Yep. Like I said, Ash River has that very historic feel and there are some longer trails near there. So if you're looking for a more rigorous hike, that's where I would recommend going. If you're looking for something maybe a little easier, shorter, or kid friendly even you might wanna go to the rainy lake visitor center. There are some shorter loop trails that you can do in an hour or less around there. And then if you're looking to do some fishing, and Rainy Lake Visitor Center. Both have some good fishing spots

Missy Rentz 26:00

and you've mentioned that now, but what do you recommend is the best approach for planning? Somebody says, I'm going to Voyageurs. What's their best approach? What do you recommend they do?

Kate Severson 26:11

So if you're coming to Voyageurs, it's highly likely you're going to be driving a little ways. A lot of people fly into Minneapolis and it's about a five hour drive from Minneapolis St. Paul up to International Falls. We're right on the Canadian border, and so you're gonna be driving, you're gonna be making this trip, and if you're investing in making the trip out here, you should also invest time in planning and really thinking through what you wanna get out of the park. We have a lot of beautiful campsites, and if you can, I would recommend camping. It's really how you can experience one of the most beautiful things you can see in the park, which is the night sky. So if you're able to spend the night out here, that is a great experience. I'd also really recommend getting a ticket for one of our boat tours. We are 40% water. And one of the best way best ways to explore and really get deep into the park is to go out on the water. And our boat tours have guides, rangers that give talks about what you're seeing and about different histories that are connected to the route that you're on. So those are some of the things I would recommend planning on doing if you come out.

Missy Rentz 27:22

And I think that's huge because when you are planning a visit, if you are not already a boater, to be able to have someone that takes, if you are a boater, it's nice to have someone who tells you what you're seeing, but you can really experience the water without knowing how to boat. Somebody will hold your hand and do

Kate Severson 27:43

Yes. Yes. And there's a like two and a half hour boat tours, or you can even go as long as six and a half hours.

Missy Rentz 27:50

Yeah. But you do need to plan because you need to make sure that they're happening when you're visiting and the schedules and all of that sort of stuff is really key. Okay. When we talked about the cambi, but I do wanna talk about lodging 'cause somebody decides they're coming, they're starting to do their research and the lodging. And first, what are, there's camping, are there other options for lodging? If you're not a camper.

Kate Severson 28:14

So the park only has one option for lodging within the park, and that's the historic kettle falls. And that can be a little bit tricky for some people because again, you have to get there by water. And the hotel does offer a water taxi. But if you're looking for something a little easier, a little bit more land-based, there are multiple resorts here that offer lodging not just in International falls, but Rainier and Cap Toma and around Ash River.

Missy Rentz 28:44

Okay, so that's good to know that there's some options for people. And when it comes to camping, I wanna go through, because it's listed as front country, back country, and primitive. Can you tell us what each of those are?

Kate Severson 28:57

So I feel like the word front country can be a little deceiving because when I first read that, I thought, oh, I can take my car. I can drive up and I

Missy Rentz 29:05

Me too.

Kate Severson 29:05

tent. But it is not accurate. All of those front country sites need to be accessed by water or. In the middle of winter, you could potentially hike out to them across the frozen lake. So you need to keep that in mind. There are water taxis that can take you out there. Again, a lot of local, commercial, private tour guides will take you out to your campsite if you wanna do that. And I really like our previous superintendent always called them some of the most scenic and the best campsites in the National Park Service. 'cause every single campsite has a water view.

Missy Rentz 29:38

I bet. I can't imagine. I bet it would be stunning.

Kate Severson 29:41

Worth the effort to get there or paddle out there. You can also rent news or kayaks and take a trip out there that way.

Missy Rentz 29:48

Yeah. But it, to do that, like I have a van now and van life, but when I was tent camping, I was not a compact packer when it came to it. I had a lot of stuff and that I had to have my fairy lights and my good mattress, everything. That was intimidating to me. But there are ways out there. Let's talk about the difference between back country and primitive.

Kate Severson 30:12

Okay. Yep. So the backcountry ones are also, you need to get into the interior of the park, the backcountry ones you have to hike into, and they are located on our Interior lakes. I will say if you are planning a backcountry camping trip, it is a lot of planning and it's worth it for sure. 'cause you get to these areas that feel remote, they feel like wilderness and they're quiet and you have beautiful views. But it is a lot of work to make sure you have that carefully planned out. I know in many of your. Podcast episodes, you talk about, the seven principles of leave no trace. And that is what you really need to be careful going back there because I like to compare those interior lakes and those back country camp sites to really fragile ecosystems. Almost like Alpine Tundra because you're going into an area that's very sensitive and even one little thing can cause a ripple effect of harm throughout those environments. But. Beautiful, gorgeous areas. Everyone I talk to who goes back there is I need to go back. It's it's just such a fulfilling experience to be there. And then the primitive sites you mentioned those are our only camp sites that are accessible from land. You have to hike to them. They're off of a trail called the Cab Ash Trail and the Cab Ash Trail connects Cab Toma to Ash River, which is Cab Ash. And it's a bit of a hike in. So if you're looking to again, get that kind of remote experience and really maybe not bring your ferry lights to hang up in your tent 'cause you're gonna be carrying it all. That's the experience for you.

Missy Rentz 31:49

Yes. Okay. And then how do you get around the park? Because it is long. And if you wanna see a lot of things, do you have to drive to it to see it? Is there, like what's the best approach people can. Plan on taking.

Kate Severson 32:03

You're gonna need to plan on driving, or again, you're gonna need to plan on accessing the water in some way and traveling it the way the Voyager has traveled it, paddling or these days we have motors. Something along those lines to get from one part of the park to the other. Or alternatively, you can wait till this time of year. I think in the next week or two, probably mid-January we're going to be opening up our ice road. That's a good way to travel through the park as well. So you can drive your vehicle out onto the ice road and out

Missy Rentz 32:33

so amazing to see

Kate Severson 32:35

Yes. And it does make some people nervous. Yes. Once the road has been opened, our staff, they check the ice thickness to make sure it's an acceptable depth, that you need 14 inches of good ice to travel on. And that's a really unique way to experience the park.

Missy Rentz 32:53

Oh, that's really cool. Okay, let's talk about things to do. So far. We've talked about hiking and boating. What else can people do when they visit Voyageurs?

Kate Severson 33:02

Fishing is really popular and so a lot of people come out here, they'll hire a fishing guide and they'll go out and they'll catch things like walleye are popular and croppy I had Croppy last year. It's really good if you fry it up and have what you call it, shore lunch. Yeah fishing's, really popular birdwatching. We have a huge diversity of songbirds that come through either migrating or living here. And then the other thing folks are coming out to see a lot more is our night sky. We're a certified international dark sky park, and we have multiple night sky programs throughout the year. We even have. A few coming up in February, which you're like, oh my goodness, bundling up in Northern Minnesota and February sounds tricky, but personally I like the winter. Best for viewing stars because I'm not a night owl and it's hard for me to stay up in the summer till 10, 11 o'clock at night to when it gets dark versus this time of year, you just need to wait till, you just need to wait till seven or eight o'clock and you can see those dark skies. And because we're a certified international dark sky, that means we have less light pollution and more visibility of. Those different celestial things like planets and the Milky Way, and even the Northern Lights if

Missy Rentz 34:13

I was gonna say, and then you have, you would probably more frequently than most in the US have Northern Lights.

Kate Severson 34:19

Yep. And we get asked all the time, oh, when can I come out and see them? And it's really hard to predict. 'cause it depends on weather, both depends on the local weather that day, if it's cloudy or not. And then also depends on the weather, on the sun. Because Northern Lights are created by those solar particles traveling through our atmosphere. And that's what puts on that display. So it's really hard to predict when is the best time.

Missy Rentz 34:42

If someone is like in the region and wants to know the status of the Northern Lights, is there a is, does the website show it? Is there a way they can tell?

Kate Severson 34:51

So we don't have it on our website, but there are multiple apps that will give you a prediction and they're usually about three to four days out for predicting your chances of seeing the Northern Lights and the really good apps will even tell you the likelihood of cloud cover blocking your view.

Missy Rentz 35:06

Yeah. Okay. And then I just wanna touch base on, because it is winter and in Minnesota, it will be winter for a while. And sometimes I think especially if you're new to parks, you don't think about doing winter activities. What can people do this time of year in the park? You guys aren't closed. You're not closed down for winter. What can people do?

Kate Severson 35:24

Right now our rainy lake visitor center is the only one open, and from there you can rent snowshoes and you can rent cross country skis. If you're new to winter activities, I would recommend the snowshoes. They're a little bit slower pace, and I like the snowshoes for multiple reasons. It's not just about traveling on top of the deep snow, it also gets you to slow down and really appreciate what you're seeing around you. And the snowshoes we have at Rainy Lake Visitor Center are the traditional style. So they're not the modern aluminum frame. They're like wooden and woven together, and they are, they just have this really great feel when you get out on them. It feels like I am in the north woods in winter of Minnesota. Yeah. Oh, and then cross country skiing is great too. We have multiple cross country ski trails in the winter and it's another great way to see things in the park and wildlife viewing this. Oh.

Missy Rentz 36:17

I bet. I bet the wildlife that comes out in winter is

Kate Severson 36:22

Oh yes

Missy Rentz 36:23

and the fact that there, I guess there are, 'cause you're a lot of evergreens there, but there's a lot of, sometimes you can see things better in the winter.

Kate Severson 36:30

exactly. You can see them better. You can see tracks better, so you know what's been around you. And yeah, it, everyone asks in the, summertime, how do I see a moose? Or how do I see a wolf? And I'm like, come back in the winter.

Missy Rentz 36:45

Right where you have the white snow and you can see them and

Kate Severson 36:49

Exactly. Exactly. Oh.

Missy Rentz 36:51

Another thing that you can do there you talked about driving on the ice, but there's ice fishing as well. In the park, which is a whole interesting thing for this southern girl.

Kate Severson 37:02

I am excited. I have not been ice fishing yet and I am from some family. I got some hand me down ice fishing equipment, so I'm gonna go this coming weekend. I almost wanna talk to you after

Missy Rentz 37:13

Oh, check back in. That would be fun.

Kate Severson 37:16

yes.

Missy Rentz 37:16

That would be very fun.

Kate Severson 37:17

excited.

Missy Rentz 37:18

Okay. Can you bring your pets to Voyageurs?

Kate Severson 37:21

Yes, you can. We have one trail that pets are welcome on. It's called the Recreation Trail, and it leaves from the rainy lake visitor center. Unfortunately, our other trails pets are not allowed. And then if you are camping in the front country, campsites, pets are allowed in those. You do need to have them on a leash and make sure you pick up after them. But yeah.

Missy Rentz 37:44

Okay, great. So we finish every episode with a speed round of questions, and I'm gonna just ask you questions and you can answer with what first comes to mind.

Kate Severson 37:52

Okay.

Missy Rentz 37:53

All right. What is your earliest park memory?

Kate Severson 37:58

When I was in elementary school, my family lived in Indiana and there was a state park near us called Cliffy Falls State Park. And we would drive through there and just count the number of deer and we would make it like a, oh, can we find more deer than we saw? Like the white tail deer then we saw last time. And I think that was one of my earliest memories of being in a park.

Missy Rentz 38:19

What made you love the parks?

Kate Severson 38:23

Again, family. My parents met at Glacier National Park. They were working there at one of the lodges one summer and later they took my family out there on a family vacation. And it was great hearing their stories about when they worked and lived there. And they pointed all these mountains that they had climbed and yeah, I think that's why I love the parks.

Missy Rentz 38:44

What's your favorite thing about Voyageurs National Park?

Kate Severson 38:48

Oh got, I've got immediacy bias right now, but winter, it's so overlooked here. I love the wintertime here. It's very soft and with or snow. It's very soft and quiet and peaceful in a way. It's very subdued and it's like a subdued beauty too. It, I love Voyageurs in the winter

Missy Rentz 39:07

What's your favorite thing to do at Voyageurs National Park?

Kate Severson 39:11

I know I just said I love the winter, but I like swimming. Not a polar plunge, but I love swimming. And getting out into the water. It's nice. It's so refreshing. It's colder water, but it's, yeah.

Missy Rentz 39:24

What park have you yet to visit, but it's on your bucket list and why?

Kate Severson 39:29

I would say Apostle Islands I, the National Lake Shore, and that is because. like our official sister park, but we share a lot of staff with them, like our admin staff and our administrators are always like, oh, over at Apostle Islands, this and this are happening. And I went kayaking, and so I need to get out there and see it myself.

Missy Rentz 39:52

What are three must-haves you pack for a park visit?

Kate Severson 39:55

Ooh. I know you try to get away from your screens, but I always bring my phone because it's the best way to take pictures and capture memories. And there's a really great app called iNaturalist that I use on there, except my phone. I know I feel like I shouldn't say that, but yeah. I bring my phone and I have a dog. I like to, I guess I don't pack the dog, but I like to bring my dog along and take her out and hike with her. Let's see, a third must have I guess my water bottle.

Missy Rentz 40:26

Super important For sure.

Kate Severson 40:28

On it.

Missy Rentz 40:30

what is your favorite campfire activity?

Kate Severson 40:33

I like. Reading around a campfire. Reading aloud especially, I worked in the American concert or AmeriCorps and did conservation crews for a while and one of the things we would do would read, be reading around the campfire. I worked in the boundary waters and we read the Hobbit around the campfire one summer and it was great. It was

Missy Rentz 40:52

I love that. And are you in a tent, camper, or cabin?

Kate Severson 40:57

Tent when I'm feeling adventurous cabin, when I'm feeling like I just wanna be cozy and make it easy.

Missy Rentz 41:04

Do you hike with or without trekking poles?

Kate Severson 41:07

Trekking pulls on mountains or really rocky ground. If it's a flatter area, then no trekking pulls.

Missy Rentz 41:14

What's your favorite trail snack?

Kate Severson 41:17

Savory cheese and crackers. Sweet peanut m ms.

Missy Rentz 41:23

What's your favorite animal sighting?

Kate Severson 41:26

So when I was younger, I hiked the Tahoe Rim Trail and a friend of mine, we decide, we decided we'd hike one of the peaks in the dark so we could get up there before sunrise. And we did that. And then closer to the top we lost track of the trail and we were completely lost and we couldn't find it. And I was getting nervous 'cause you don't wanna be lost in the dark. Where there's. Cliffs and things. And I saw my headlamp caught this animal in the corner of my eye and it was a porcupine. And I was like, what? And I like, went to get closer to see it and this porcupine is just trundling along and they're fairly good size and it basically led us back to the trail. So I see it. The porcupine is like my spirit guide in a way.

Missy Rentz 42:15

I think it is in that instance for sure. What is your favorite sound in the park?

Kate Severson 42:22

Oh, you have to say the loon. It's a waterbird, and once you hear it's call across the lakes, you'll just, it's so magical, and it is iconic for the Northwoods, but you'd have to, I have to say the loon,

Missy Rentz 42:36

What's the greatest gift that the parks give to us?

Kate Severson 42:41

I would say perspective. Almost like a good book. You go out and you experience the park and you come back with a whole new way of looking at things. Just to say with a good book, if you read a good book, you have a new way of understanding the world around you. And a trip out into the park is the same way.

Missy Rentz 43:02

Kate, thank you so much for joining us and teaching us all about Voyageurs. I. Wanna come back and do the water parts of it and I'm just really grateful to you for sharing your park.

Kate Severson 43:13

Yeah. Thanks for interviewing me today, Missy. I'm always happy to talk to people about Voyageurs.

Missy Rentz 43:19

Thanks for listening to this episode. Until next time, we'll see you in the parks. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, please be sure to like and share on your favorite podcast platform. Music for the parks podcast is performed and produced by Porter Hardy. For more information, please follow us at The Parks Podcast, or visit our website at TheParksPodcast.com.