Minnesota’s National Park: What’s New and Notable in 2025
Celebrate 50 Years of Voyageurs National Park
Happy Birthday to Voyageurs!
In 2025, we celebrate and toast to 50 years of Voyageurs National Park. Established on April, 8 1975, Voyageurs is a primarily water-based national park that spans 218,000+ acres of lakes, forests and streams in northern Minnesota, and one of the state’s most treasured natural wonders.
This year we reflect on a half-century of parkhood while we take in the present day wonders – from big lakes, wild habitat to world-class dark skies. And we look 50 more years into the future, envisioning a park that is protected and accessible for many generations to come.
During this year-long celebration, Voyageurs Conservancy and the National Park Service will commemorate the milestone with birthday parties, special events, programs, partnerships and other initiatives that honor five decades of adventure, connection and conservation.
Cheers to World-Class Night Skies
Celebrate Our Certified Dark Sky Park
In 2020, Voyageurs earned International Dark Sky Park Certification from DarkSky International. Since gaining this elite recognition, Voyageurs Conservancy, the National Park Service and partners continue to celebrate and elevate “park after dark” programming with free events and other educational opportunities.
The Conservancy strives to protect the park’s most magical, awe-inspiring natural resource and the many measures to help maintain the Dark Sky Park certification, ensuring stargazers a glimpse at brilliant constellations, meteors shows, and the occasional appearance of Northern Lights (or as we call them, Mother Nature's birthday candles!).
It’s no wonder that Voyageurs is consistently ranked a top destination for “The Best Northern Lights Viewing in the Lower 48.”
Park Astro-Tourism Events and Programming
Boreal Stargazing Week, Feb. 10 through 17 – Celebrate Voyageurs stellar night skies with captivating night sky tours, snowshoe hikes, live conversations with astronomers, education programming, and more. Boreal Stargazing Week is a collaborative effort among Voyageurs Conservancy, Friends of the Boundary Waters, Starry Skies North, the National Park Service, Superior National Forest, Expeditions in Education, the Wood Lake Nature Center, and The Bell Museum.
Star Party, Labor Day Weekend 2025 – This festival celebrates Minnesota’s International Certified Dark Sky Park and the importance of preserving its dark skies. Visitors can enjoy a variety of land and water-based activities, including expert speakers, volunteer astronomers, night sky education sessions, guided and water-based night sky tours by canoe or tour boat, telescope sessions, campfire s’mores, and more. The event is hosted by Voyageurs Conservancy, the National Park Service, and numerous partners.
Park-After-Dark Programs, Summer 2025 – Kicking off a stellar summer season, the Conservancy will host regular night sky community education programs led by a Conservancy dark sky expert. More details will be announced in Spring 2025.
Investing in Visitor Experience and Park Access
All-New Crane Lake Visitor Center
The community of Crane Lake and the National Park Service will debut a new visitor center with a special grand opening event on June 6, 2025. The new visitor center will serve as a gateway to the park’s eastern region including Sand Point and Namakan Lakes. Coming in 2026, permanent educational installations will help showcase the park’s world-class dark skies, waterways, and Ojibwe history, with special activities that engage children. On-site volunteers and NPS staff will help educate and guide new visitors to launch their outdoor adventures in the area.
Voyageurs Land Protection
The Conservancy and NPS recently helped facilitate the addition of more land to the 218,000+ acre national park. The newly-added 51-acre parcel, located on Rainy Lake’s Big Island, is situated approximately 18 miles east of the Rainy Lake Visitor Center and accessible solely by water. It features two sand beaches and serves as a habitat for a diverse range of wildlife, including deer, otters, foxes, and eagles.
Nurturing the Next Generation
This program provides a paid opportunity for future leaders to break into the conservation field and make an important contribution to our public lands. Since its launch in 2021, the Conservancy has funded dozens of Field Fellows to work on important park projects like environmental education, aquatic ecology, wetland restoration, and more.
The Voyageurs Mobile Classroom delivers hands-on, standards-based learning directly to Minnesota schools, offering students an interactive experience that explores the natural and cultural wonders of Voyageurs National Park and their nearby nature. The mobile classroom has reached thousands of students in Duluth and the Twin Cities. In 2025, we hope to drive efforts further by reaching more schools around the state.
Connecting the Park with Local Culture and Community
Indigenous Education
The Conservancy and National Park Service engage with Indigenous communities ensuring a future where our education programs and park interpretation are more inclusive of Ojibwe stories past and present.
Park Artist-In-Residence Program
Voyageurs National Park recently hosted music composer Marko Bajzer through the park’s artist-in-residence program in an effort to tie the history of public lands with the arts. To commemorate the park’s 50th anniversary in 2025, Bajzer will debut an original symphony orchestra piece, entitled “Sky-Tinted Water,” at concert halls around the state.
50th Anniversary Photo Contest
Voyageurs Conservancy hosts an annual photo contest, yielding hundreds of photos each year – from stunning sunsets, northern lights to heartwarming family moments and remarkable shots of our diverse wildlife. In 2025, the Conservancy is eager to capture images of the past and present beauty of Voyageurs National Park. Contest details will be announced soon.
Voyageurs’ Leave No Trace Spotlight
The Subaru/Leave No Trace Traveling Team will be at Voyageurs National Park July 24 through 26 to collaborate with Voyageurs Conservancy and the National Park Service on a variety of programs including stewardship projects, workshops, and community outreach.
Each year Leave No Trace hand-selects nominated outdoor spaces that need collective care and attention. By designating them as Spotlights, they rally the local community to step up, join forces with Leave No Trace, and make a meaningful impact that can revitalize and protect these special places where we recreate, enjoy one another’s company, and elevate our health physically, mentally and emotionally.
Show your love for Voyageurs National Park with Voyageurs Conservancy merch! Shop now to support park preservation, and stay tuned for exclusive 50th-anniversary merchandise being released throughout 2025. Celebrate 50 years of adventure and conservation in style!
In the Pipeline
Coming up in spring 2025, Voyageurs Conservancy and the National Park Service will announce more details about new events, partnerships, contests, and a new 50th anniversary marketing campaign. Be sure to check back on this webpage, or follow @VoyageursCovservancy on Instagram and Facebook for ongoing updates about 50th activities.