Episode Guest
Kate Severson – Program Manager for Interpretation, Outreach, and Partnerships
Voyageurs National Park
Park Stats
- Where is the park located – International Falls, Minnesota
- Park was dedicated – April 8, 1975
- President when the park was created – Gerald Ford
- # National Park – 36th
- Size of the park – 218,055 acres
- Number of visitors last year (2024) – 199,030
- Field Notes
- Park is made up of 4 large lakes, 26 small lakes, and 655 miles of shoreline
- Evidence of humans 10,000 years ago
- It was a major route for fur traders, who were called Voyageurs
- 270 secluded campsites that you get to via boat
- Home to 50 species of mammals, 100 birds, 10 amphibians, 4 reptiles, 54 fish
Speed Round
What is your earliest park memory?
When I was in elementary school, my family lived in Indiana and there was a state park near us called Cliffy Falls State Park. And we would drive through there and just count the number of deer and we would make it like a, oh, can we find more deer than we saw? Like the white tail deer then we saw last time.
And I think that was one of my earliest memories of being in a park.
What made you love the parks?
Again, family. My parents met at Glacier National Park. They were working there at one of the lodges one summer and later they took my family out there on a family vacation. And it was great hearing their stories about when they worked and lived there. And they pointed all these mountains that they had climbed and yeah, I think that’s why I love the parks.
What is your favorite thing about Voyageurs National Park?
Oh got, I’ve got immediacy bias right now, but winter, it’s so overlooked here. I love the wintertime here. It’s very soft and with or snow. It’s very soft and quiet and peaceful in a way. It’s very subdued and it’s like a subdued beauty too. It, I love voyagers in the winter
What is your favorite thing to do in Voyageurs National Park?
I know I just said I love the winter, but I like swimming. Not a polar plunge, but I love swimming. And getting out into the water. It’s nice. It’s so refreshing. It’s colder water, but it’s, yeah.
What park have you yet to visit but is on your bucket list and why?
I would say Apostle Islands, the National Lake Shore, and that is because it’s not our official sister park, but we share a lot of staff with them, like our admin staff and our administrators are always like, oh, over at Apostle Islands, this and this are happening. And I went kayaking, and so I need to get out there and see it myself.
What are three must-haves you pack for a park visit?
I know you try to get away from your screens, but I always bring my phone because it’s the best way to take pictures and capture memories. And there’s a really great app called iNaturalist that I use on there, except my phone. I know I feel like I shouldn’t say that, but yeah. I bring my phone and I have a dog.
I like to, I guess I don’t pack the dog, but I like to bring my dog along and take her out and hike with her. Let’s see, a third must have I guess my water bottle.
What is your favorite campfire activity?
I like reading around a campfire. Reading aloud especially, I worked in the American concert or AmeriCorps and did conservation crews for a while and one of the things we would do would read, be reading around the campfire. I worked in the boundary waters and we read the Hobbit around the campfire one summer and it was great.
Tent, camper, or cabin?
Tent when I’m feeling adventurous cabin, when I’m feeling like I just wanna be cozy and make it easy.
Hiking with or without trekking poles?
Trekking pulls on mountains or really rocky ground. If it’s a flatter area, then no trekking pulls.
And what is your favorite trail snack?
Savory cheese and crackers. Sweet peanut M&Ms.
What is the favorite animal sighting that you’ve had?
So when I was younger, I hiked the Tahoe Rim Trail and a friend of mine, we decide, we decided we’d hike one of the peaks in the dark so we could get up there before sunrise. And we did that. And then closer to the top we lost track of the trail and we were completely lost and we couldn’t find it. And I was getting nervous ’cause you don’t wanna be lost in the dark.
Where there’s. Cliffs and things. And I saw my headlamp caught this animal in the corner of my eye and it was a porcupine. And I was like, what? And I like, went to get closer to see it and this porcupine is just trundling along and they’re fairly good size and it basically led us back to the trail.
So I see it. The porcupine is like my spirit guide in a way.
What is your favorite sound in the parks?
Oh, you have to say the loon. It’s a waterbird, and once you hear it’s call across the lakes, you’ll just, it’s so magical, and it is iconic for the Northwoods, but you’d have to, I have to say the loon.
What is the greatest gift the parks give to us?
I would say perspective. Almost like a good book. You go out and you experience the park and you come back with a whole new way of looking at things. Just to say with a good book, if you read a good book, you have a new way of understanding the world around you. And a trip out into the park is the same way.