Вояжёрс: Национальный парк Миннесоты

National park in Minnesota, United States

Voyageurs National Park is an American national park in northern Minnesota near the city of International Falls established in 1975. The park's name commemorates the voyageurs—French Canadian fur traders who were the first European settlers to frequently travel through the area. Notable for its outstanding water resources, the park is popular with canoeists, kayakers, other boaters, and fishermen. The Kabetogama Peninsula, which lies entirely within the park and makes up most of its land area, is accessible only by boat. To the east of the park lies the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The park has several boat ramps and visitor centers on its periphery, though the main body of the park is only accessible by boat or, in the winter, by snowmobile, ski, or snowshoe. In 2018, the park hosted 239,656 visitors.

Voyageurs National Park is located on the Canadian Shield, with the rocks averaging between 1 and 3 billion years old. These are some of the oldest rocks on the North American continent. Most of the rocks in the park belong to the Archeon Quetico Subprovince, of the Superior Physiographic province, associated with the Kenoran Orogeny. These consist of schists and gneisses in the west and central portion of the park, and granitic rocks of the Vermillion Granitic Complex (2.69 to 2.64 Ga) in the east and southeast. The Kabetogama Kenora dike swarm (2.2. to 2.1 Ga) follows a northwesterly trending Precambrian fault system. The northwest corner of the park contains metamorphosed rocks of the Wabigoon subprovince, which form a northeast trending greenstone belt. A lateral strike slip fault separates the two subprovinces, referred to as the Rainy Lake Seine River fault zone. It is this northwest area of the park, on the Kabetogama peninsula, which saw a gold rush from 1893 to 1898. The Little American Mine, on Little American Island, is one of 13 abandoned mines within park boundaries. Terminal moraines are found in the southern portion of the park, while the northern portion contains glacially scoured lake basins, but accumulations of glacial outwash and glacial till less than 100 feet is the norm. Lake Agassiz deposits are evident within the park, while glacial striations and glacial erratics are common.

The largest city near Voyageurs National Park is International Falls, Minnesota. Unlike many other national parks, where the main access to the park is by motor vehicle, bicycle or foot, the primary access to Voyageurs is via water. Many visitors travel by kayaks and canoes, while others rent houseboats or take a guided tour boat.

Visitors travel and explore the park's lakes and islands with canoes, kayaks and motorboats. The park's interior peninsula is only accessible by boat except when frozen lakes provide outer routes. The park has a system of canoes and boats available for rental at interior lakes. During summer months, the park also offers shuttle service to an interior lake, as well as ranger led boat tours that explore the park's natural features and history.

The park has over 50 mile (80 km) of hiking trails. While some trails are located on the mainland, the majority traverse the park's interior peninsula, including long distance backcountry trails.

The Voyageurs Forest Overlook, Beaver Pond Overlook, and the Kettle Falls Dam area are all popular stargazing locations in the park. In 2020, the International Dark Sky Association awarded the park its International Dark Sky Park certification.

The park is snow covered from late November until early April. An ice road on Rainy Lake is plowed and marked from the visitor center's boat ramp, heading toward Cranberry Bay or around Dryweed Island, depending on ice conditions. Available activities include lake driving, snowmobiling, cross country skiing, winter camping, ice fishing and snowshoe hiking. Snowmobiling is limited to the frozen lake surfaces and the Chain of Lakes Scenic Trail through the center of the Kabetogama Peninsula. Trail maps can be obtained from the visitor centers. The Kettle Falls Trail is 7.4 mile (12 km) runs overland along the narrows, avoiding the soft and fractured ice of the narrows, until reaching the western end of Namakan Lake. The Rudder Bay Trail is a short connecting trail acround the north side of the western Namakan Lake and Voyageur narrows, to the Ash River Visitor Center. Here, it joins into the Voyageur Trail.

According to the A. W. Kuchler U. S. Potential natural vegetation Types, Voyageurs National Park has two classifications; a Great Lakes Spruce/Fir (93) vegetation type with a Northern Conifer Forest (22) vegetation form, and a Great Lakes Pine (95) vegetation type with a Northern Conifer Forest (22) vegetation form. This national park is home to timber wolves, black bear, moose, an abundance of white tailed deer, and smaller mammals such as fox, beaver, river otter, muskrat, snowshoe hare, and weasel which may be seen crossing frozen lake surfaces during the winter. In October 2022, a male cougar was spotted by a camera trap in the Park boundaries. Bald eagle, loon, double crested cormorant, owl, and warblers are common birds found.

The park was first proposed in April 1891 by the Minnesota Legislature in a resolution requesting that the president create a national park in the state. It wasn't until nearly eighty years later that federal legislation authorizing the creation of the park was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on January 8, 1971. Established in 1975, this is Minnesota's only national park.

Voyageurs National Park has been occupied by humans for nearly 10,000 years. During the Paleo Indian Period, people entered this area as the waters from glacial Lake Agassiz receded. Then during the Archaic Period (8,000 B. C. 100 B. C.) nomadic people moved with the animals they hunted and with the ripening grains. Fishing grew into a major source of food during this time. The Woodland Period (100 A. D. 900 A. D.) saw an increase in the use of the wild rice. Beginning around this time, they used ceramics to create small, side notched triangular projectile points.

European exploration began about 1688. French explorer Jacques de Noyon wintered along the Rainy River. But it was the demand for beaver pelts that brought the fur traders. As competition in the east depleted the beaver, the voyageurs expanded their range into the northwest territories of North America. Here along the modern border of the United States and Canada, the Cree, Monsoni, and Assiniboine tribes were first Native American contacts. By the mid 18th century these people had abandoned the Rainy Lake area, to the Ojibwe. By 1780 the Ojibwe were the primary residents on the border. They filled key roles as suppliers of food, furs, and canoes.

Logging came to the northwoods as the stands of white pine in Michigan, Wisconsin and central Minnesota were harvested. Beginning in the 1880s and 1890s, logging grew until there were two major logging companies. The International Logging Company in Koochiching County used sawmills at International Falls and Fort Frances until 1937. It was the constant need for water that caused the dams to be constructed at International Falls, Kettle Falls, and Squirrel Falls in the early 1900s. The Virginia and Rainy Lake Lumber Company harvested trees to the east in Saint Louis County. They rafted logs down river to Hoist Bay until 1929. Hoist Bay is named for the machinery used to hoist floating logs out of the lake. Trains then took them to sawmills in Virginia, Minnesota. The logging has altered the composition of the forest. Where white and red pine once dominated the forest, they are a minor part. Few stands of large, mature trees exist in the park.

In the summer of 1893 George Davis, funded by Charles Moore, discovered gold on Rainy Lake. Davis was on a small island near Black Bay Narrows. Here, he found a gold bearing quartz vein. The "Little American" discovery gave rise to the island's modern name, Little American Island. With confirmation of the discovery, Charles Moore hired Jeff Hildreth, a miner from the Black Hills to obtain title to the island. In the spring of 1894, development of the mine and of the nearby Rainy Lake City began. Rainy Lake City was incorporated on March 17, 1894. By summer the city was a community of several hundred people. It had a school house, bank, general store, hotels, restaurants, a newspaper, hardware store, butcher shop, and several saloons. With the development of the Little American Mine, other prospectors entered into the search. Mining remains which can still be seen (13 sites in all within the park boundaries

When the park was established in 1975, there were over 60 resorts around the park. Within the park, there were 12 resorts, 97 leased cabin sites, and over 120 privately owned recreational homes. Many sold their land and buildings to the park. Some people chose to sell their property and leave immediately, while others chose to sell their property, but maintain use for either a lifetime tenancy or a 25 year use and occupancy reservation. As these properties are vacated, the park will remove many structures to restore natural conditions. Twenty properties, containing over 50 structures, will be retained and managed by the National Park Service because of their historic significance.

Large fishing operations began on the Rainy River in 1892. By the 1890s and early 1900s, seven or eight fishing companies operated in the area. Most were on Crane Lake. The main production was caviar, taken from the eggs of lake sturgeon. Most fell by the wayside as long distances and a lack of refrigeration affected the industry. By the 1930s all the large operations were gone. Family fishing replaced the large operations. By 1910 there were around 48 family business'. The catch was sold at local auctions held at Kettle Falls. By 1923, commercial fishing was banned on Kabetogama Lake. By 1942 only 10 licensed family operations were active. Old fishing camps and net tarring sites still exist in the park. The best preserved is the Oveson Fish Camp (c. 1950s).

Safe channels are marked in the main lakes by the U. S. Coast Guard. When upbound in the lakes, there are green numbered buoys that mark the 'left' or port side of the channel. Red number buoys mark the 'right' or starboard side. It is the opposite when downbound. For Rainy Lake and Namakan Lake, upbound is going east. For Kabetogama Lake, upbound is going west. If you're on Sand Point Lake or Crane Lake, upbound is going south. Hazardous rocks are common throughout the park and can lie just beneath the surface. Less than ten percent of these hazards are marked. The park consists of parallel ridges of rock, which form the islands and the peninsula.

Snowmobiling is a major recreational activity during the winter months. In the heart of the season, the most hazardous areas regarding thin ice or open water are along the river channels including places like Rainy River or any of the narrows. The current under the ice causes pressure ridges and soft spots. Snowmobiles generally avoid these areas.

Thirteen abandoned mines with 22 openings are present in Voyageurs National Park. All are located in the northwestern corner of the park along structures within the Rainy Lake greenstone belt. Some abandoned prospect pits, shafts, and open cuts are concealed by vegetation. These sites have been examined by qualified park staff and do not pose major hazards.

The Voyageurs canoed and portaged the 2,000 mile (3,220 km) journey from Grand Portage to Lake Athabasca. This well established waterway between Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods became the official border following the Treaty of Paris (1783).