Grand Portage State Park

Photo By Jon Wood / P&TC photo contest
About the park

This park, at the very tip of the arrowhead, has Minnesota’s tallest waterfall. It’s an impressive sight, with water cascading over a giant outcrop of diabase rock, often conjuring rainbows that hover above the river. The waterfall observation deck is a short hike of about a half mile from the visitor’s center.

Visitors will immediately feel the strong cultural influence of the Grand Portage Band of Chippewa at this park, which is located on Tribal land and managed in partnership with the Band. Interpretive signs and displays give context for how Native Americans have used and managed the land historically and today.

 

On this page

Marvel at Minnesota's Tallest Waterfall

Exploring the Park

Park-goers will catch views of waterfalls while wandering through the park
Lori Warne/P&TC Photo Contest
The falls are just as beautiful in the winter time
Jon Wood/P&TC Photo Contest
There are various scenes of beauty to explore throughout the park
Rudi Hargesheimer/P&TC Photo Contest
Wildlife are abundant in the area, so moose sightings are possible
Travis Novitsky/P&TC Photo Contest
Pristine wilderness is one of the benefits visitors can expect to enjoy
Kyle T. Ford/P&TC Photo Contest
Hikers will experience the beauty of the park's landscape
Katlyn Benson/P&TC Photo Contest

Park Location

Park Highlights

Trails

  • Hiking ~ 4.5 miles
  • Boardwalk ~ 700 Feet
  • Accessible ~ 1.5 miles
  • Snowshoe ~ On any of the trails

Activities

  • Waterfall ~ Minnesota's Tallest Waterfall
  • Picnic Tables
  • Interpretive Exhibit
  • Historic Site ~ International Border Marker
MNDNR Official Page - Grand Portage State Park

Our Land Projects

for Grand Portage State Park

P&TC Projects by the numbers

Projects
0
Acres
100
Year of Last Project
2008
A map of Grand Portage State Park highlights areas including High Falls and several river observation decks. Indicates partnered projects, state land, amenities, and park trails. There's also a detailed inset of the Visitor Center area with parking and trail access in Grand Portage.
Click to enlarge

Our Land project stories

A powerful waterfall cascades over a rocky cliff into a turbulent river below, surrounded by lush green vegetation. A vibrant rainbow arcs across the scene, created by the mist from the waterfall. In the background, a clear blue sky is visible on a sunny day.

Creating Grand Portage through vision & persistence

  • 272 Acres
  • 1987- Acquired by P&TC
  • 1990- Conveyed to park

In the late 1980s not many people knew about Minnesota’s most majestic waterfall, which lay in private ownership at the tip of the Arrowhead. And it would have remained that way had the right people not come together at the right time to persist in making it a state park.

Located on the ancestral lands of the Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe, this place remained special to the Band even as they lost access due to complex history rooted in the Nelson Act of 1889.

Somewhere around the 1950s, a married couple bought the roughly 270 acres from the government and owned it for decades.

In the mid 1980s, the deputy commissioner of the MnDNR, Steve Thorne, learned of the tribe’s desire to buy the land, which was hindered by lack of funds. Having worked on Indian law for the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, Thorne was uniquely positioned to float an innovative idea of partnering to protect the land.

The land would be purchased by the state, donated to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to become part of the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, then leased back to the state to be managed as a state park with a special focus on interpreting Native American heritage. It was a completely unique idea that had never been tried anywhere else before.

The only hold-up was the legislation, which was threatening to take longer than the landowners were willing to wait. To ensure the land wasn’t sold to another private landowner in the meantime, Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota purchased the land in 1987.

To aid in making the case for creating the state park, Parks & Trails Council commissioned at least one study of the ecological value of the land. After two years of advocating at the state capital by MnDNR, P&TC and others, the legislation passed creating Grand Portage State Park in 1989.

Today, everyone can experience first-hand Minnesota’s tallest waterfall and learn about the rich Native American history of this area.

Middle Falls

  • 22 Acres
  • 1998 - Acquired by P&TC
  • 2000 - Conveyed to park

Sometimes we acquire land outside of a state park knowing that it is essential for the integrity of the park. Such was the case in 1998 when land on the Canadian side of the Middle Falls waterfall went up for sale. We acquired the land and it became an extension of the provincial park that offers protection of these majestic falls.

 
 
A large wooden sign for the Grand Portage State Park Welcome Center sits in a grassy area. The sign includes translations of "Welcome" in several languages and logos of associated organizations. Text provides historical context about the Grand Portage State Park and its partnerships.
Welcome sign acknowledges Parks & Trails Council's role in establishing Grand Portage.

Adding Land for a New Welcome Center

  • 6.3 Acres
  • 2007 - Acquired by P&TC
  • 2008 - Conveyed to park

In 2007, the Minnesota Department of Transportation partnered with the DNR to build a new visitor and parking lot that serves a dual purpose of a wayside for road travelers and state park visitors. Located less than a mile from the border patrol station, many Canadians enter here and are welcomed by the visitor center.

Parks & Trails Council helped with the acquisition of six acres where the parking lot is now located. 

News

from Grand Portage State Park