We can't thank Dave enough-caught about 40 fish including 11 different species . We even saw…read moremanatee, dolphins and lots of birds. We appreciate his kindness, sense of humor, and the continued teaching. He cleaned what we could keep and we had a delicious dinner that night. We highly recommend Sunset Glow Guide Service and hope to be back next year.

Wow did I have a blast fishing with Dave at Sunset Glow Guides services! He made a beginner angeler…read morefeel like a professional out on Lake Vermillion. His patience, knowledge, and experience were everything I could have asked for out of our fishing trip. Not to mention the multiple Walleye, Small Mouth Bass, and sunfish we caught, he cleaned, and we got to eat! I highly Reccomend you use his services whether you are a novice like myself learning life long techniques, or an expert looking to reel in fish after fish!! Thanks for the great time Dave!

Best way to describe our experience is this way. Awesome comfortable place to stay...we love the…read morescenery and the resorts rustic flavor....very accommodating and friendly staff . Can't say enough good about them. We loved seeing Willie, their dog. Always looked for Willie when we came to the office and even talked about him on the way home. This is truly a superb Minnesota Resort. A place to enjoy the evenings and mornings sitting in the screened in porch, listening to the waves and the boats going by. A wonderful Minnesota Resort Tradition you won't want to miss. Take our word for it you won't be disappointed. Gary and Deb Korsgaden

This place is great. I've known of this resort since I've been coming up here 30 years. This place…read moreis family owned and now owned by the original owners daughter and son. Not luxury but great for a family used to holiday inn accommodations. They have a fantastic beach, cabins, volleyball court, boats and a store. I think it's well worth the money

Great place to stock up on lures and get a massive amount of ice cream. I got two scoops and I was…read moresitting there as he put like 6 scoops in. I will be coming many more times in the future.

Biggest one scoop of ice cream I have ever had in my life!!! Pretty impressed with the tackle…read moreselection as well.

Somewhat maintained recreational area around a lake; hiking /skiiing trails; fishing from a short…read moredock; no camping; closed at night; swimming

Outstanding Ice fishing trip. Snow machine ride to Hyppa's hot fishing hole. Warming tent set up…read moreand warm upon arrival, then we just got to it. Hyppa's also set up 3 tip up rigs outside our tents. Caught a 23" Walleye, many perch, etc. was a fun and active fishing day even thought about -15 outside. Tents were warm & relaxing. I'd recommend this service to anyone! "Jake can Rake in the fish".

Jake was the only guide in the Cook area of Lake Vermilion that was willing to take me out on a…read moreguided ice fishing trip. He told me he does enjoy ice fishing himself and had all the gear, but had never had anyone ask for a guided ice fishing trip before. Jake told me where to park and met me at the appointed time for a snowmobile ride out to his ice house which was heated and ready to start fishing when we got there. Sonar flashers enabled us to watch as fish swam up to meet our jigs. I had a great time! Jake turned out to be an exceptionally pleasant and very knowledgeable guide. We caught two nice northern pike, a pair of walleyes and had non-stop action with perch. The experience was everything I had imagined and more than I'd hoped for! Jake guides exclusively on Lake Vermilion and specializes in walleyes. He also enjoys fishing other species such as smallmouth bass, crappie, and northern pike.

Our family of 6 had a lovely vacation on #18 Lake Vermilion Houseboat. It was clean and everything…read morewas in working order. We were given a good complete orientation on how to drive the boat and where and how to moor for the night. We had the boat for 3 nights and stayed in a different spot on beautiful Lake Vermilion each night. We had great weather the first 2 nights and had no issues finding a site to moor. The 3rd day was windy and the water was choppy. Luckily, we had 2 strong teenagers to tie the rope to anchor the boat to shore. We appreciated getting a text from Joy and Kyle about the wind speed and direction that day. They told us a time to get our boat anchored and gave their recommendation on which spot to choose. Overall, positive experience for an adventure we had never done before. Thank you Joy, Kyle and staff!!

This is my favorite vacation. For us it is a week of rest and solitude. We sleep, hammock, read,…read morehot tub, explore our campsites, play games, swim, and make ourselves really good food. We've had Kyle be our excellent fishing guide, bringing back and cleaning a Walleye feast. And, we know that there is still more to explore and do. The Soudan mine. The casino. Hiking trails. More. We will be back again and again. The boats: We've experienced 4 different boats. They're all clean and comfortable. Each has its strengths. They are easier to drive and park than you think. Kyle makes navigating the lake a breeze with good maps and easy to use GPS units. The campsites: Vary pretty wildly. Some are groomed. Others are pretty wild. Some remote. Some very near civilization. Some are rocky. Others are beach. Some are shoreline. Others are island(our favorite!). The people and the service: Kyle and Joy are the best. As mentioned above, we've hired Kyle as a fishing guide twice. One time he had to coordinate another guide and he was awesome. Scheduling responses are fantastic. Service to the boat is timely and efficient. And, emergency response is immediate and thorough (a very long story I'll tell you over a beer!).

For those of you old enough to remember, its the land of Sky Blue Water (Hamms Beer) lol and the…read moreland of 10,000 lakes. Located in Itasca Co. Minnesota about 200 miles north of Minneapolis MN. North Star is surrounded by state (Bowstring) and National (Chippewa) Forests. Its approximately 832 acres in size. It deepest part is 90 feet with about a 30 foot average. It has about a half dozen family and fishing resorts with scattered private homes. When fishing, anglers can expect to catch a variety of fish including Bluegill, Brown Bullhead, Largemouth Bass, Muskie, Northern Pike, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Yellow Bullhead, Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed. You can expect to see a variety of wildlife in and around the lake. From Loons, Eagles, Heron, Hawks and hummingbirds all the way up to deer, caribou, black bear and even an occasional moose and even timberwolf. Some spectacular sunrises and sunsets are often the normal. And I've even seen the Northern Lights a couple times. They call this area "The Edge of the Wilderness" and they're right. No traffic, no hustle and bustle just a great place to unwind, relax and enjoy the peace and quite of your surroundings. Even if the fishing is not as good as you like, I guarantee you will come back relaxed and rejuvenated.

I don't have enough great things to say about Steve and Ginny and the rest of the crew at Spirit of…read morethe Wilderness. We were out on Knife Lake on Tuesday July 14 2026 (the day of the closure and evacuation of the wilderness). I had rented a one way Spot and picked up my permit from Spirit. Unfortunately with the device we had no one could communicate with us, but the crew at Spirit was tracking us and keeping everyone back home aware of our situation. After we got back into Ely, they even offered a bunkhouse for us to stay the night before heading home.

Five stars isn't enough for this crew. We fish with Craig at Lake Vermilion Fishing Guides just…read moreabout every year, and our Boundary Waters trips into Basswood are the ones we talk about all winter. From the first phone call he asks the right questions about what you want out of the day, then builds the whole trip around it. Getting into the BWCA on your own takes real planning, but Craig handles all of it, and once you're out there you've got world-class fishing with almost nobody around. He reads the water, adjusts constantly, and genuinely cares that everyone on board catches fish. He handles the big fish with real care too, quick photos and healthy releases. This is what a professional guide service should be. We're already planning next year's trip.

In our quest to visit all MN state parks, Bear Head Lake was next on our list. We stuck with the…read moreHiking Club trail or Norberg Trail. It was a three mile loop that took you past a couple of lakes. It involved walking on some uneven ground (roots and stones) but it was relatively flat and very woodsy. We visited in mid July and it was quite buggy so make sure you are covered or sprayed to minimize the bites. Minnesota parks are so beautiful. I get so worries about where I'm stepping, I sometimes forget to look up and all around to enjoy the beauty.

Bear Head Lake is a sleeper of a state park in Minnesota, which is too bad because this park is…read morebeautiful. We stayed on the no-electricity loop, which consisted mostly of tent campers. The facilities were well maintained and the campsites have everything you need to have some quiet, sit around the fire, and eat your camp meals. The park itself offers great trails, will set you up with fishing gear, as well as rent you a canoe or kayak or rowboat for 4 hours or a full day. The new trail center is a beautiful building, and the beach is a wonderful place to have lunch or snooze in the sun. We did the hiking loop that takes you back by the backcountry sites. It was about a 3-4 hour hike and we saw a lot of wildlife and had the trail all to ourselves. Next time we go, we'll be staying at the paddle-in site on that loop. It was the perfect spot. We will be back here again.

Voyageurs is an under visited park with lots to offer. It excels at paddle packing. You must have a…read moreboat to really explore the park because no camping is available except on islands in the park's lakes. The park doesn't rent boats so plan to bring your own or rent from a local outfitter. If you do need somewhere cheap or free to sleep nearby, check the overnight parking area at Wooden Frog which also comes with water and vault toilet facilities. There are three different visitors centers each offering something different.

After coming here to Voyageurs National Park in Northern Minnesota I have officially been to every…read moreNP in the continental United States! I am proud...took many years to accomplish. Let me explain why this very remote and secluded park mostly based out on the waters was just okay, and not really memorable in terms of sights and surroundings. There are 3 sections to Voyageurs that I explored. - The Kabetogama Lake area. - The Rainy Lake section. - The Ash River part. In total...I used 2 full days hanging out and getting to know what Voyageurs is all about. I dedicated 1 entire day to a boat tour around Voyageurs. And btw...if you are new to Voyageurs for the first time...it is best explored by boat tour. If you don't take a boat...then you're wasting your time. The hikes/trails and or scenic views are extremely minimal here. Just a heads up to be prepared...I would have my expectations tempered for coming here. I advise to simply enjoy the forest setting along Kabetogama and Rainy Lakes like I did and appreciate being out in nature. I booked my day Grand Voyageur day excursion boat tour with a former employee of Voyageurs NP named Bill. He has his own website called Border Guide Service for navigating the waters with roughly 10 people in your group. It's a 6-hour tour costing $160. He can be found online at the website voyageursnationalparktours.com. We departed on our boat tour from the Kabetogama Lake section of Voyageurs. Bill was insightful and knew all the history and popular sights and landmarks to visit. Here's a sample of what I got to check out while on his tour... Kettle Falls and Hotel, Hoist Bay, Ellsworth Rock Gardens, Junction Bay and Daily Brook. Bill is friendly and I'd recommend his tour. I appreciated my time getting to know more about what makes Voyageurs unique. You can book a Voyageurs Park tour with recreation.gov...the national park service website. I never reserved with this website because this past summer for the middle of June and because of the pandemic...recreation.gov didn't offer many available times and options for tours. We have been just sort of exiting the pandemic and maybe they gave tours twice a week, which wasn't good enough in my book because of how I scheduled my journey here. I needed more accessible options other than recreation.gov. Bill at voyageursnationalparktours.com offered tours every day, much more accommodative for me. I know I only have so much room to write so I'll try and be concise about what I saw at all 3 sections when not traveling by boat. I spent 1 full day out of Kabetogama Lake with my tour. Otherwise, other than a small Visitors Center here, there's not much offered, not even a worthwhile hiking trail. I spent my 2nd full day half the time at the Rainy Lake section and the afternoon time at the Ash River area. Btw, all 3 sections are within 20 - 40 miles driving distance from each other. Rainy Lake is the primary part to Voyageurs. A lot of private boats depart onto the waters from here including the recreation.gov boat tour. The Visitor Center here was great, offering good souvenirs, getting your Parks Pass stamped and even a park film. I did 2 hikes here - the Rainy Lake Recreation Trail and the Oberholtzer Trail. Both are simple along flat ground and give you an introduction into the surroundings of Rainy Lake. The Ash River I believe was the smallest of all 3 sections and the least visited. Although Voyageurs wasn't meant to be hiked...yet here at Ash River were the most decent trails. And again, there's a small VC here. The hikes I did were Kabetogama Lake Overlook, Blind Ash Bay, Sullivan Bay and Beaver Pond Overlook. These hikes offered some pleasant sights. Ultimately, I only hiked and walked around at Rainy Lake and Ash River, and I used Kabetogama Lake as my boat destination for departing onto the waters to the famous sights of Kettle Falls, Hoist Bay and Ellsworth Rock Gardens. Extra notes... In the Kabetogama section...there's the Gateway General Store and Gas Station where you can pick up all your supplies and any extras you may need. I stopped here every morning and grabbed breakfast with an egg sandwich and coffee. I really recommend this place. For accommodations I stayed in the Kabetogama Lake area and camped out at WoodenFrog State Forest Campground. For those tourists who appreciate sleeping outdoors...I definitely suggest WoodenFrog Campground for $17 a night, pitching your tent among spacious surroundings. When hanging out in Rainy Lake...the town of International Falls is situated just 10 miles away. Int'l Falls is the biggest town near Voyageurs. It has everything including fast food restaurants like McDonald's and Dairy Queen, supermarkets including hotels and motels. Voyageurs NP is fine for a couple days visit getting a chance to check it off your NP To-Do List. I paired it with Isle Royale NP a few days prior, another primitive park set in the UP of Michigan. Alright, this is Voyageurs NP.