Grand Portage National Monument

USA / Minnesota / Grand Marais /
 road, campsite / caravan site, archaeological site, natural monument
www.nps.gov/grpo/

Grand Portage National Monument, located within the boreal forest on the north shore of Lake Superior in northeastern Minnesota, preserves a vital center of fur trade activity and Anishinaabeg Ojibwe heritage.

The Grand Portage itself is a footpath which bypasses a set of waterfalls on the Pigeon River a few miles from where that stream runs into Lake Superior. This path is part of the historic trade route of the voyageurs between their wintering grounds and their depots to the east. This route, composed of the Pigeon River and other waterways and Grand Portage and many other portages, was of enormous importance in pre-industrial times, as it provided access from the Canada's settled areas to its interior of Canada. Some 50 miles upstream from Lake Superior, this trade route crosses the Height of Land Portage connecting South Lake on the Pigeon River watershed with North Lake of the Rainy River watershed. This portage crosses the Northern Continental divide and therefore provides passage between the drainage basin of the Arctic Ocean and that of the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunflint_Trail
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   47°58'54"N   89°45'24"W

Comments

  • Not to be picky, but the Hudson Bay drainage basin is NOT the same as the Arctic Ocean drainage. The Grand Portage nonetheless is a key historical site!
This article was last modified 11 years ago