Grand Portage National Monument
Travel into the past to discover the present. Explore the partnership between the Grand Portage Anishinaabe and the North West Company during the North American fur trade. Experience the sights and smells of a bustling depot reconstructed in its historic location. See how it shaped co-management with the NPS today. Follow pathways to the past to imagine a drum echo over Gichigami - Lake Superior.
Fees & passes
Free. No entrance fee here.
Admission to the Heritage (Visitor) Center, exhibits, films, Historic Depot (includes: Great Hall, Kitchen, Canoe Warehouse, Gatehouse, stockade, Ojibwe Village, dock), hiking trails, picnic areas, parking, and special events are all free of charge.
Hours
| Trails & Grounds | Daily · Sunrise to Sunset |
| Historic Depot | Daily · Closed |
| Heritage Center | Daily · 9:00AM - 4:30PM |
When to go
August draws the most visits here and December the fewest, averaged over 2021 to 2025.
Campgrounds
| Fort Charlotte Backcountry Campgrounds | 18 sites | |
| The two Fort Charlotte backcountry Campsites are accessible to hikers and canoeists. · Books through nps.gov | ||
Every campground here has its own page on Campsite Atlas, with site counts, hookups, rig limits and booking windows. All of them on one page → How park camping works
Visitor centers
- Heritage Center ↗Passport stamp
Open year-round, the Grand Portage National Monument Heritage Center opened on August 10, 2007, with a commitment to honor the area's history, people, and culture. The Center houses exhibit galleries about Anishinaabe culture and the fur trade, a bookstore, and multi-media programs.
Explore
Things to do
- Hike Grand Portage Trails
Hike the Mount Rose Trail for stunning views of Grand Portage Bay and the Depot. To experience the trek the Voyageurs made as well as Indigenous people before them, hike a portion or all of Gitchi Onagamiing, the Grand Portage Trail.
Opens on the Park Service site - Hike Gichi Onigaming (Grand Portage)3-48 Hours
Several options exist for exploring the Grand Portage. From a canoe adventure starting in the Boundary Waters to a short walk from the Depot, this trail offers year-round options for hiking, portaging, skiing, and snowshoeing.
Opens on the Park Service site - Browse the Bookstore
A selection of books and souvenirs are available for sale in the bookstore.
Opens on the Park Service site - Visit the Reconstructed North West Company Depot1-3 Hours
Boozhoo! Bonjour! Welcome to the Depot! In the days of the fur trade, a great variety of people passed through its gates to do business with the North West Company.
Opens on the Park Service site - Birding on Mount Rose30-90 Minutes
From the Heritage Center parking lot to the top of Mount Rose and down to the Historic Depot, you'll pass through different habitats. Listen for Merlins and White-throated Sparrows, watch Turkey Vultures soar, and warblers flit among the branches.
Opens on the Park Service site - Earn a Grand Portage Junior Ranger Badge
Junior Rangers have fun discovering history, while learning about why we need to protect the special treasures found in our National Parks.
Opens on the Park Service site
Show all 12Hide
- Snowshoeing at Grand Portage
Ask at the front desk to check out a pair of historic snowshoes for the day. Explore the snowy Depot area.
Opens on the Park Service site - Investigate Archeology at the Heritage Center30-60 Minutes
View archaeological artifacts from excavations from the 1930s to the present. Most of what we know about Grand Portage and the fur trade came out of the ground! Through excavations around the North West Company depot, at Fort Charlotte, and on the…
Opens on the Park Service site - Explore Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) Culture30-60 Minutes
Learn about Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) culture past and present. Explore the art and craft of the Grand Portage community with many museum objects on display, including tools for woodworking and gathering maple sugar, a cradleboard, a drum, beaded items…
Opens on the Park Service site - Stamp Your Passport During Your Visit2-5 Minutes
The Grand Portage National Monument passport stamp is located at the Heritage Center desk.
Opens on the Park Service site - Visit Grand Portage State Park1-4 Hours
Grand Portage State Park is the location of the highest waterfall in Minnesota. The waterfalls and rapids along this section of the Pigeon River caused the significance of the Grand Portage Trail bypass for canoe traffic. The wheelchair accessible…
Opens on the Park Service site - Learn About the Fur Trade and the Colorful Voyageurs30-60 Minutes
Voyageurs, North Men and Montrealers, made up the bulk of the fur trade employees at Grand Portage. These hardy souls would spend weeks to months in the wilderness transporting trade goods to remote posts either in canoes or on their backs.
Opens on the Park Service site
Films
National Park Service productions, public domain.
News
- Grand Portage National Monument Seasonal Hours for Heritage Center and Historic Depot Beginning October 13, 2026 ↗2026-10-07
Beginning Tuesday, October 13, 2026, Grand Portage National Monument will transition to its fall hours. The Heritage Center will be open daily from 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. The Historic Depot will close for the season on this…
- Artist Demonstration and Talk with Artist in Residence – Sofia Vanderlan ↗2026-08-26
Grand Portage National Monument and the Grand Marais Art Colony invite the public to two upcoming events with artist-in-residence Sofia Vanderlan.
- Grand Portage National Monument to Host Night Sky Event ↗2026-07-27
Grand Portage National Monument invites the public to discover the mesmerizing wonders of the night sky during a special Star Party, offered in partnership with the National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation on…
- Grand Portage National Monument Announces 2026 Annual Rendezvous Days: “Games & Entertainment of the Fur Trade Era” ↗2026-07-27
Grand Portage National Monument invites visitors to experience the sights, sounds, and stories of the 18th-century fur trade during the annual Rendezvous Days, taking place Aug. 7-9, 2026.
Map
Interactive map by the National Park Service
Public land nearby
Distances are approximate. Wilderness Atlas publishes a center point and an acreage for each area rather than a boundary, so each area is treated here as a circle of the same size and the figure is the gap to that circle.
Forest Service trails nearby
These trails are outside the park on National Forest land, within 15 miles of Grand Portage. Each one opens on Trailhead Atlas.
Distance is measured from the park's reference point to the nearer end of the trail.
Minnesota guidebooks
We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.
Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject.
Reference
Wildlife
Seen this monthRuffed Grouse 1× · North American River Otter 1×Research-grade observations within 25 km, last 30 days, via iNaturalist
Full checklist: 187 birds, 36 mammalsHide
Raptors & owlsAmerican Kestrel · Bald Eagle · Barred Owl · Boreal Owl · Broad-winged Hawk · Cooper's Hawk · Golden Eagle · Great Gray Owl · Great Horned Owl · Hawk Owl · Long-eared Owl · Merlin · Northern Harrier · Northern Saw-whet Owl · Osprey · Peregrine Falcon · Red-tailed Hawk · Sharp-shinned Hawk · Short-eared Owl · Turkey Vulture
Waterfowl & wadersAmerican Bittern · American Black Duck · Blue Goose · Blue-winged Teal · Bufflehead · Canada Goose · Common Goldeneye · Common Loon · Common Merganser · Common Teal · Double-crested Cormorant · Great Blue Heron · Greater Scaup · Harlequin Duck · Hooded Merganser · Horned Grebe · Lesser Scaup · Little blue heron · Long-tailed duck · Mute Swan · Red-breasted Merganser · Ring-necked Duck · Ruddy Duck · Sandhill Crane · Tundra Swan · Wood Duck
Shorebirds & seabirdsAmerican Woodcock · Baird's Sandpiper · Black-bellied Plover · Common Snipe · Common Tern · Dunlin · Glaucous Gull · Greater yellowlegs · Herring Gull · Killdeer · Least Sandpiper · Lesser Golden-plover · Lesser Yellowlegs · Pectoral Sandpiper · Ring-billed Gull · Ruddy turnstone · Sanderling · Semipalmated Plover · Semipalmated Sandpiper · Solitary Sandpiper · Spotted Sandpiper · White-rumped Sandpiper · Wilson's Snipe
Gamebirds & dovesMourning Dove · Ruffed Grouse · Sharp-tailed Grouse · Spruce Grouse
WoodpeckersBlack-backed Woodpecker · Downy Woodpecker · Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker · Hairy Woodpecker · Northern Flicker · Pileated Woodpecker · Red-bellied woodpecker · Red-headed Woodpecker · Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Hummingbirds & swiftsChimney Swift · Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Also on the checklistAlder Flycatcher · American Crow · American Goldfinch · American Pipit · American Redstart · American Robin · American Tree Sparrow · Baltimore Oriole · Bank swallow · Barn Swallow · Belted Kingfisher · Black-and-white Warbler · Black-billed Cuckoo · Black-capped Chickadee · Black-throated Green Warbler · Blue Jay · Blue-headed vireo · Bohemian Waxwing · Boreal Chickadee · Brown Creeper · Brown Thrasher · Brown-headed Cowbird · Canada Jay · Cedar Waxwing · Chipping Sparrow · Clay-colored Sparrow · Cliff swallow · Common Grackle · Common Nighthawk · Common Raven · Common Redpoll · Common Yellowthroat · Dark-eyed Junco · Eastern Bluebird · Eastern Kingbird · Eastern Meadowlark · Eastern Phoebe · Eastern Wood Pewee · European Starling · Evening Grosbeak · Fox Sparrow · Gadwall · Golden-crowned Kinglet · Golden-winged Warbler · Gray Catbird · Gray-cheeked Thrush · Great Crested Flycatcher · Great Grey Shrike · Gyrfalcon · Harris' Sparrow · Hermit Thrush · Horned Lark · House Wren · Indigo Bunting · Lapland Longspur · Least Flycatcher · Lincoln's Sparrow · Magnolia Warbler · Mallard · Mourning Warbler · Nashville Warbler · Northern Cardinal · Northern Goshawk · Northern Shoveler · Northern rough-winged swallow · Olive-sided Flycatcher · Palm Warbler · Philadelphia Vireo · Pine Grosbeak · Pine Siskin · Purple Finch · Purple Martin · Red Crossbill · Red-breasted Nuthatch · Red-eyed Vireo · Red-winged Blackbird · Rose-breasted Grosbeak · Roughleg · Ruby-crowned Kinglet · Rusty Blackbird · Savannah Sparrow · Scarlet Tanager · Sedge Wren · Smith's Longspur · Snow Bunting · Song Sparrow · Sora · Swainson's Thrush · Swamp Sparrow · Townsend's Solitaire · Two-barred Crossbill · Veery · Western Meadowlark · Whip-poor-will · White-breasted Nuthatch · White-crowned Sparrow · White-throated Sparrow · Winter Wren · Wood Thrush · Yellow-bellied Flycatcher · Yellow-headed Blackbird · Yellow-rumped Warbler · tree swallow
Small mammalsAmerican Beaver · American Water Shrew · Arctic Shrew · Cinereus Shrew · Deer Mouse · Eastern Chipmunk · Least Chipmunk · Meadow Jumping Mouse · Northern Flying Squirrel · Red Squirrel · Snowshoe Hare · Southern Bog Lemming · Southern Red-backed Vole · Woodland Jumping Mouse · common porcupine · mole shrew
PredatorsAmerican Black Bear · American Marten · American Mink · Bobcat · Canada lynx · Coyote · Ermine · Fisher · Gray Wolf · Least Weasel · Striped Skunk · river otter
Hoofed mammalsEurasian Elk · White-tailed Deer
BatsBig Brown Bat · Black Bat · Eastern Red Bat · Hoary Bat · Little Brown Bat · Northern Bat
Activities
Activity guides for this park Birdwatching in the national parks · Camping in the national parks · Canoeing and kayaking in the national parks · Hiking in the national parks · Skiing in the national parks · Wildlife watching in the national parks
Weather & climate
Short, warm summers and long, cold winters define the climate of northern Minnesota. Average range of summer temperature is from 55°F to 78°F in July and average range of winter temperatures is from –11°F to 12°F in January. Average annual precipitation in Grand Portage, MN is about 32 inches.
Questions people ask
Does Grand Portage charge an entrance fee?
No. Grand Portage is free to enter.
Source: National Park Service
What are the hours at Grand Portage?
Standard hours are Sunrise to Sunset, every day.
Source: National Park Service
Can I camp in Grand Portage?
Yes. The Park Service lists 1 campground in Grand Portage: Fort Charlotte Backcountry Campgrounds. 1 takes reservations through Recreation.gov.
Do any Grand Portage campgrounds have hookups or showers?
No. None of the 1 listed campgrounds report showers, electric hookups, or a dump station.
Source: Campgrounds
Do Grand Portage campgrounds book through Recreation.gov?
No. Fort Charlotte Backcountry Campgrounds takes reservations through nps.gov.
Source: Campgrounds
How busy is Grand Portage?
85,734 recreation visits in 2025, number 231 of 387 units that report visitation.
Source: Most visited parks
What is the weather like at Grand Portage?
Short, warm summers and long, cold winters define the climate of northern Minnesota. Average range of summer temperature is from 55°F to 78°F in July and average range of winter temperatures is from –11°F to 12°F in January.
Source: Weather & climate
Follow this park
- Alerts feed (RSS)
- Every active Park Service alert for this unit, one item each, rebuilt with the nightly data refresh.
- Add dates to your calendar (.ics file)
- Fee-free entrance days that apply here and each published hours exception, as all-day events.
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