Crane Lake Visitor Center Project

Crane Lake Visitor Center nearing completion, Winter 2025.

NPS/Mark Miller

 

Artistic drawing of Crane Lake Visitor Center's interior design with temporary displays.

A Unique Partnership Project

As Voyageurs National Park celebrates its 50th anniversary, a new chapter in its history is beginning. The Crane Lake Visitor Center, set to open in summer 2025, will offer an exciting new space for visitors to learn, explore, and connect with the park’s breathtaking landscapes and rich history.

Grand Opening Event

A Grand Opening Event is set for Friday June 6, 2025, an event that is part of a year-long celebration honoring five decades of Voyageurs National Park (est. 1975):

1:30 PM – Kick off the celebration with a ribbon cutting ceremony and remarks from special guests who helped make this new facility a reality for the local community.

2:00 - 5:00 PM – Join family-friendly activities to celebrate the new Crane Lake Visitor Center:

• Paddle aboard a North Canoe with NPS Park Rangers
• Experience Mobile Classroom programs
• Enjoy refreshments and live music outside
• Tour the new building - Guests will have the first opportunity to explore the brand-new visitor center! Temporary exhibits will be on display for the 2025 season, with permanent installations set to debut in 2026.

Located in the gateway community of Crane Lake, Minnesota, the new visitor center will serve as an important entry point for those venturing into the park’s vast interconnected waterways.

The visitor center is a community-led effort championed by the Crane Lake Township who garnered $3.2 million for a municipal campground (Introducing the Crane Lake Voyageur RV Park and Campground), and $2.6 million for the community building through the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

Since the inception of the park, and the development of the park's General Management Plan (GMP) the benefit of having a National Park Service (NPS) visitor contact facility in each of the gateway communities was identified. Given that the NPS has no lands in the Crane Lake community, the need to seek a partnership opportunity to fulfill the objective was always necessary.

To learn more about the community, visit Crane Lake.

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).

Interior Themes for Visitor Education

• Dark Sky Education - Preservation, Enjoyment, Cultural Stories
• Regional Indigenous History
• Interconnected Skies & Waters (Stewardship and Enjoyment of Voyageurs National Park, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Quetico Provincial Park)
• Area Recreation Opportunities, Programs, Wayfinding
• Overview of Voyageurs National Park

 

The beautiful waters of Crane Lake in late summer.

NPS/Mark Miller

 

 

To provide input to the design of this project, email Voyageurs program manager for Interpretation, Education and Partnerships