Voyageurs National Park · Minnesota

Locator Lake Trail

2.0 mi of trail, end to end · Hike the Locator Lake Trail: 4 mi round trip in the Service's write-up · about 200 ft of climbing · 1,118 ft–1,222 ft

1,179 ft 1,150 ft · 1.2 mi high 1,222 ft

Hike the Locator Lake Trail 4 mi round trip · the Park Service's write-up

2-5 Hours · no dogs · Spring, Summer, Fall · season Hiking during late spring, summer, and fall.

Start Kabetogama Lake

Canoe launch area with two rack of canoes and Locator Lake in background.
Chain of Lakes canoe launch area at end of Locator Lake Trail Photo: NPS/C. Braton

Watch this video of the Locator Lake Trail to learn how to gain access into our Chain of Lakes!

Please note: The Cranberry Creek Portage Trail from Rainy Lake has been permanently closed. Access to the Chain of Lakes is via the Locator Lake Trailhead on the north shore of Kabetogama Lake.

All backcountry trailheads are only accessible by water.

The Locator Lake Trail takes adventurous hikers up and over various ridges. It twists its way through forest and wetlands while extending north from Kabetogama Lake until it ends on the southern shoreline of Locator Lake, one of a series of unique interior lakes with rental canoes and reservation only campsites.

Explore this two mile, one way hike as an afternoon adventure, or use it as a starting point for an exciting back-country camping experience that will remain in your memories for years to come.

For more information about camping in Voyageurs National Park, please visit: Camping at Voyageurs National Park - Voyageurs National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Difficulty: Strenuous

Hiking Distance: 4 miles(6.4-km), round trip

Restrooms: Vault toilet at both trailheads

Download map.

Accessibility Trail is narrow with lots of exposed roots, rocks, and stairs. It climbs up and down multiple steep hills.

This hike on nps.gov

On the parks map

All 14 trails in Voyageurs National ParkFind a trailOn the parks mapPark on nps.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the National Park Service's public trails layer, the trailheads and the waterfalls, views, peaks and historic places along them the Service's public points of interest, read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end. The write-ups are the Service's own "things to do" text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the park's own site before you go.