Minnesota's only national park

Voyageurs National Park, in north central Minnesota, covers 218,000 acres, and water accounts for 84,000 of them.

Those numbers help explain why the state's only national park hosts wolves, eagles, loons and moose -- but few human visitors. Only about a quarter of a million people visit annually, a fraction compared with the 9 million who romp through Great Smoky National Park each year.

That's a shame. Sure, you need to take to the waters to reach the heart of the park -- the 75,000-acre Kabetogama Peninsula. And the park boasts 500 islands dotting 30 connected lakes. But the graceful fir-and-birch forests hugging the shoreline and the rugged rocky bluffs rising from the waters make the effort worthwhile. The near solitude you encounter doesn't hurt, either.

Enjoying the wilderness amid the waters doesn't require paddling, though many visitors kayak or canoe to campsites throughout the park. Others ply the waters with rented houseboats. Day visitors can take guided boat tours offered by the three visitor centers. No matter the approach, the park is sure to make a splash.

A good place to start planning a visit is the park's website, www.nps.gov/voya. The Rainy Lake Visitor Center (1-218-286-5258), near International Falls, is the main visitor center and the only one that is open year-round.