Distance (One Way): 2.1 miles / 3.4 km
The Locator Lake Trail in Voyageurs National Park is an easy out-and-back trail, most often treated as an overnight adventure when camping permits are reserved, that leads to the Chain of Lakes on the Kabetogama Peninsula, specifically Locator Lake, War Club Lake, Quill Lake, and Loiten Lake!
Of these four, Quill Lake is by far my favorite, both because the campsite is on an island and because it is centrally located, making it the best lake to head out in either direction for some day fishing. I discuss this in more detail below.
On a different note, a little-known secret about the Locator Lake Trail is that it is one of the best day hikes in Voyageurs National Park to enjoy peak fall colors, and I mention this because nobody considers it!
Yes, trails out on the Kabetogama Peninsula, and others that are only accessible by boat, are often overlooked as day hikes by most who visit Voyageurs National Park. However, if you are interested in making the effort to get out and spend the day hiking one of the many remote backcountry trails in the park, the Locator Lake Trail is one of the best to consider, granted that you’re visiting at the very end of September or early October! I do not stand by this same recommendation at other times of the year.
Locator Lake Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Locator Lake Trail is found in one of a few different places along Kabetogama Lake, depending on what you’ve arranged with your private water taxi or what they prefer.
That said, most pick-ups through private operators are arranged at either the Kabetogama Lake Visitor Center or the Wooden Frog public boat access, operated by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. If you are shuttling yourself, Wooden Frog is the closer of the two options to get to the actual trailhead on the far side of the lake.
If you are hiking the Locator Lake Trail with the intention of camping, be sure to park in the overnight parking areas in both the state park and Voyageurs National Park at the visitor center.
Google Maps Directions: Locator Lake Trailhead (Kabetogama Lake Visitor Center) / Locator Lake Trailhead (Wooden Frog)
Hiking Checklist - Voyageurs
Here is a complete list of must-have things that you will want for any hike in Voyageurs National Park.
Hiking the Locator Lake Trail
The Locator Lake Trailhead is located on the far northern end of Kabetogama Lake, about 3.6 miles (5.8 km) by boat from the Wooden Frog public access.
If you’re visiting Voyageurs National Park during the summer, know that the biting flies, specifically the Deer Flies and Black Flies, swarm as soon as you leave the dock and enter the trees!
For this reason, a bug net is essential when visiting the park during the summer, and I would get to the trailhead with the intention of hiking all 2.1 miles (3.4 km) to Locator Lake without taking a break, as they become less of a nuisance once you push off from shore on the other side.
On the contrary, if you visit Voyageurs National Park during the fall, the Locator Lake Trail really is a fun hike to take it slow and enjoy the colors!
In fact, on this day, I think I spent more time hiking the trail and taking photos of the leaves than I did fishing in Locator Lake on the other side.
The best thing about the Locator Lake Trail is that the colors are stunning almost immediately after leaving the dock!
For context, I hiked the Locator Lake Trail on September 30th during a year when peak fall colors were predicted to occur a little later than normal across northern Minnesota.
That said, peak fall colors on most fall foliage trackers refer to the Aspens, as they are the dominant deciduous tree species across much of the landscape.
The thing to know, however, is that Maples turn first, while Aspens change much later. This is important because Maples are where you get the largest variety of colors—think reds, oranges, and yellows!
So, really, I recommend trying to time a visit to Voyageurs National Park just before the peak, and hopefully, you’ll have the opportunity to see the best of both worlds!
If you’re hiking the Locator Lake Trail with the intention of camping and fishing the Chain of Lakes over the course of one or a few days, I could not recommend wearing a hooded sun shirt more—especially for long days out on the water.
However, recommending a hooded sun shirt to wear on the trail during the summer is truly a disservice, as the thin material is no match for the biting flies!
Instead, I recommend wearing a quality rain jacket if you plan to visit during the summer, even though it will likely be a very hot hike over to Locator Lake.
The Locator Lake Trail crosses several short boardwalks as it makes its way across the marshy landscape that dominates much of the Kabetogama Peninsula.
I mention this because these crossings can be somewhat high-risk, high-reward when walking with a heavy overnight bag.
That said, the boardwalks on the Locator Lake Trail are not nearly as challenging as they come, with the worst I’ve encountered in Voyageurs being the bridge across the Ash River on the Kab–Ash Trail between Blueberry Ridge and the trailhead off Ash River Trail Road—the trailhead off the highway.
This is where the Locator Lake Trail turns sharply to the south after the first marshy crossing.
This is about as steep as the Locator Lake Trail ever gets!
This is the second sharp turn to the south, meaning the point where the trail turns north and starts heading directly toward Locator Lake is not far ahead!
This small pocket of Maples was easily the most beautiful part of the Locator Lake Trail during peak fall colors!
I mean, how could you not plan your trip to Voyageurs and the Chain of Lakes around the colors after seeing these photos?
This is where the Locator Lake Trail turns sharply to the north, about 0.6 miles (1.0 km) from the trailhead on Kabetogama Lake.
After 0.7 miles (1.1 km), the Locator Lake Trail passes the biggest unnamed pond between Locator and Kabetogama Lake.
In my experience, this is a pretty easy place to spot Beavers, as they are extremely prevalent throughout much of Voyageurs National Park!
These boardwalks parallel the west side of the unnamed pond.
Once again, I cannot stress the importance of bringing a bug net, as it really is for your own sanity if you choose to visit during the warmest summer months.
In addition to all the gear I’ve mentioned thus far, bear spray is one to consider, depending on your personal comfortability hiking in Black Bear territory.
That said, it is not legal to fly with bear spray if you’re getting to the park by way of Minneapolis, Duluth, or International Falls. However, if you are driving to Voyageurs National Park, I recommend buying it in advance to save money.
This is where the Locator Lake Trail passes the northernmost reaches of the unnamed pond, which is a nice mental checkpoint, as this boardwalk is almost exactly halfway between both trailheads.
How to Time the Best Colors in Voyageurs National Park?
If you’re wondering how to time the fall colors in Voyageurs National Park, a general rule of thumb is the last week of September and the first week of October, with a few days on either side of October 1st typically being the best for Maples.
That said, this really is just an average, and to know for sure, I recommend checking the national fall foliage map linked below—remembering that trackers for northern Minnesota are typically based on Aspens, not the Maples.
Explore Fall: Fall Foliage Map
The start of this hill is located just before the Locator Lake Trail turns sharply back to the east, roughly 0.9 miles (1.4 km) before the pre-staged canoes at the end of the trail.
This is the bottom of the hill, but almost immediately after reaching this point, the Locator Lake Trail will start a somewhat steep climb up the next hill, just a few steps ahead.
This is the start of the steep ascent that immediately follows the boardwalk at the bottom.
This is the point the Locator Lake Trail turns sharply to the east as it makes its way up an unnamed ridge just to the south of Locator Lake.
There aren’t many viewpoints on the Locator Lake Trail, but this cliff edge is a nice mental checkpoint, as it’s only 0.6 miles (1.0 km) from the end of the trail.
When the trail returns to the trees, it will remain in the forest until it reaches the end at Locator Lake.
The photo above showing the red Maples and the photo below showing the tall Aspen in the middle are two great examples of what I’ve been describing throughout this article.
The peak for one species is not necessarily the peak for another, but to enjoy the best of the colors on the Locator Lake Trail, I could not be happier that I visited earlier than later to get to see the Maples turn!
With about 0.3 miles (0.5 km) to go, the Locator Lake Trail makes one final hard turn to the north, which is easy to remember because the trail begins making its way up this short hill.
This is the top of the short hill.
I have to say, it truly was worth every penny spent on a water taxi to visit the Locator Lake Trail during the peak!
Just before Locator Lake, the trail descends the short hill shown previously.
There is one last pit toilet just before the end of the Locator Lake Trail.
End of Locator Lake Trail
After roughly 2.1 miles (3.4 km), the Locator Lake Trail ends at this split, which leads to a small picnic area on the right and the pre-staged canoes for the Chain of Lakes on the left.
If you’re hiking in with plans to fish for the day or to head to one of the four backcountry campsites along the Chain of Lakes, be sure to write down the codes provided by the National Park Service for the canoes and paddle box before your boat ride across Kabetogama Lake—and note that a phone may not be the best method to keep this information, as discussed in more detail below.
This is the small but beautiful picnic area to the right of the split shown above.
Locator Lake
This is where the Locator Lake Trail ends on the southwest side of Locator Lake.
If you are interested in camping at one of the four lakes that make up the Chain of Lakes, all reservations are made through the Recreation.gov link below.
That said, the Chain of Lakes is the only place in the Voyageurs National Park backcountry that has additional canoes to add to a camping reservation or for day use on a first-come, first-served basis.
To reserve canoes for day use, simply click the "Reserve Day Use" button on the same page linked below to get started.
Book Here: Voyageurs National Park Camping Permits
No information is collected by this website when using the Recreation.gov booking widget, and all reservations made here are secure through the official website.
Warning
On my first trip to the Chain of Lakes, one person in our group of four had their phone slip out of their pocket right here at the launch, never to be seen again!
This is why I said above that storing the codes provided by the National Park Service on a phone may not be a good method—especially on other interior trails where there is the option to move from campsite to campsite over a multi-day trip. It’s very easy to get complacent with things in your pocket when repeatedly getting in and out of a canoe.
With all that in mind, I recommend against wearing any average pair of shorts or pants, as zippers are your best friend on a canoe trip! Alternatively, the hiking shorts linked below have pockets that are specially designed to prevent items from falling out.
This is why I actually recommend both if you’re visiting during the summer because shorts on the trail are the last thing you want to be wearing, given how bad the bugs truly are!
How Is the Fishing on the Chain of Lakes?
On this day hike, I spent the afternoon fishing, but on another trip, four others and I made our way up Cranberry Creek to spend three nights on Quill Lake.
That said, I’ve only ever caught Largemouth Bass—about 30 of them—on the Chain of Lakes, but I originally chose to camp on Quill Lake for the opportunity to catch and fillet a Northern Pike.
That didn’t happen, but I will be back to try again!
If you are curious about the fishing gear I personally use and recommend, everything I swear by is linked below. Additionally, I have a long and very detailed description about why I recommend this specific setup at the end of my separate Voyageurs National Park article, which I highly recommend reading if you are visiting from out of state.
Read My Separate Post: Best Things to Do in Voyageurs National Park
War Club Lake
To get between Locator Lake and War Club Lake, we were able to make the transit in our loaded-down canoes without having to get out and portage.
This was more of a luxury than you can imagine because, in the summer, the bugs aren’t as bad on the water as they are the second you step back on land!
Quill Lake
To get between War Club and Quill Lake, the same cannot be said.
We were able to paddle about three-fourths the distance up Cranberry Creek, but for about the last 0.2 miles (0.3 km), we had to get out and carry, which was miserable during the summer because it’s four times back and forth on the trail—one for the canoes and one for our bags.
When we made it onto Quill Lake, the consensus among the group was that we were not moving—meaning we were not moving until our last day, when we had to make our way back out to Kabetogama.
Looking back, this disappoints me a little because I didn’t get to see or fish Loiten Lake, but when looking at a map, the portage between the two seems to be the longest on the entire chain, which is why I can’t be too disappointed, knowing I will be back to camp during the fall!
On a completely different note, I’ve always found it interesting that, from the origins of Cranberry Creek, it’s only about 1.0 mile (1.6 km) as the crow flies to Shoepack Lake, where the rare and endemic Shoepack Muskie is found. Genetic isolation really is a weird thing!
Quill Lake Campsite
The reason I originally chose Quill Lake when picking somewhere to camp on the Chain of Lakes was to have the opportunity to camp on an island. I’ve long enjoyed finding island campsites for fishing in the North Woods after camping on the island on Wind Lake in the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA).
That said, an island is not protection from Black Bears or other wildlife, and if you take a boat tour on one of the big lakes, your guide might point out that many of the islands have an abundance of wildlife, such as Wolves.
This is why proper food storage is essential when camping in Voyageurs National Park. This could be a bear canister or, for a lighter, more compact solution, I recommend bringing a bear bag and learning how to properly hang a one in free space, not just suspend it vertically from a branch.
That is how visitors get their food stolen, and not just from bears!
Coming Soon!
