Living history interpreter presenting program, "Bagpipes at Grand Portage."
NPS Photo
There are many things to see and do during a visit to the Monument. How much time do you have?
Things to do if you have:
Two or three hours:
Start at The Heritage Center:
Explore art and craft of the Grand Portage Ojibwe community with many museum objects on display.
View archaeological artifacts from excavations from the 1930s to the present
Watch the feature film - Rendezvous With History a Grand Portage Story (23 minutes)
Play "Art of the Trade"
Browse the Eastern National bookstore.
Visit the Historic Depot:
Three reconstructed post and sill log buildings (great hall, kitchen, and canoe warehouse)
four outside areas (Ojibwe village, voyageurs encampment, dock and historic gardens (European kitchen and Ojibwe three sisters gardens)) and read wayside exhibits around the depot area.
A half day:
Everything you can do in two or three hours plus:
Become a Grand Portage Junior Ranger / voyageur - request your free booklet from a ranger at the information desk in the heritage center.
answer the questions by watching films, looking at exhibitis and talking with living history interpreters around the various sites of the depot
Present your completed booklet at the information desk in the heritage center to have your answers checked and receive your junior ranger patch and certificate.
Enjoy a picnic (three tables) at the west end of the parking lot where the Mount Rose Loop trailhead wood stairs begin.
Hike the Mount Rose Loop Trail to a stunning overlook of the historic depot, Grand Portage Bay, Mount Josephine, the gap in the hills the Grand Portage footpath goes through.
Enjoy picnicking beside Lake Superior in the historic porkeater's camp (voyageur's who paddled from Montreal) also read the wayside exhibits in the picnic area.
Participate in a ranger walk or talk titles have included: (30 minutes to one hour).
Saving the Past Through Seeds: The Historic Gardens
From Tree to Makuk
Building a Birchbark Canoe
Historic Bread Baking Demonstrations in the NWCo Kitchens
What's Cookin'
Why Grand Portage,? Walking Tour
"My Grandpa Had One of Those," Historic Tools and Their Uses
To the Pacific by Land 1793
Native American Lifeways
Bindagodiwin: The Ojibwe/Dakota Conflict
Bagpipes at Grand Portage
The Art and Craft in Ojibwe Technologies
Portage into the Wilderness: Walk along the Grand Portage
More films shown in the heritage center:
Film Shorts: "Our Home: The Grand Portage Ojibwe," "The Gift of the Birch Bark Canoe," "A Gap in the Hills: Geography of Grand Portage," and "The Men of the North West Company" - Running time for all four is 24 minutes.
Northwest Passage - Running time is 10 minutes.
The Voyageur - 20 minutes.
A day:
Everything you can do in a half day plus:
Hike the Grand Portage footpath from the depot to new Highway 61 (1 1/2 mile round trip - about half an hour).
More than a day:
Everything you can do in a day plus:
Hike the Grand Portage footpath from the stockade to Old Highway 61 (eight miles round trip - three to four hours).
Hike the Grand Portage from Old Highway 61 to Fort Charlotte (nine miles round trip - six to eight hours).
Hike the entire Grand Portage footpath from the stockade on Lake Superior to Fort Charlotte and back (17 miles round trip eight to 16 hours).
Camp overnight at fort charlotte - obtain your backcountry permit during regular business hours from the heritage center or online (24 hours plus).
Visit Grand Portage State Park - See High Falls, the highest waterfalls in Minnesota - hike to upper and lower Middle Falls.
Take an excursion from Hat Point Marina to Isle Royale National Park for a day aboard the Sea Hunter or overnight or longer aboard the Voyageur II.
