Hiking

It doesn't get any wilder than this!  Vermillion Gorge on the west end of Crane Lake is ideal for Minnesota hiking, picnics, and fishing trips.  There are two different routes to choose from, one requires a boat.  Walking from the village of Crane Lake go north past the Voyageurs National Park office,  where the road Y's stay left, then turn left again into a parking area.  The trail starts on the northwest corner of the clearing.  The three-mile long trail is carpeted in lush emerald green moss and meanders up to a breathtaking overlook of a natural river gorge where white water rushes through.  A picnic lunch would be a nice touch or pack a beverage to enjoy while exploring your surroundings.  A quicker way to the river gorge is by boat.  Tie up at the dock on the south (left) side and walk the trail up to the gorge area.

Vermillion Gorge Trail Description:
At a leisurely pace, this 3-mile trail can easily be hiked in 3 hours.  The last portion of the trail parallels the Vermillion River Gorge - a rugged landscape of sheer granite cliffs and rock outcrops.

From Crane Lake to Vermillion River the hiking  trail is graveled.  Boardwalks cross wet areas.  Near the crest of the first hill, the Voyageur's Snowmobile trail branches to the left.  Keep right on the gravel trail.  

At the river, the trail takes a sharp turn upstream.  Here the hiking trail narrows and the surface changes from gravel to native material.  This is the steepest part of the trail and as you climb, notice the change in vegetation.  The aspen/birch forest with its dense understory gives way to an open, parklike grove of red pine.  

From atop the red pine knoll you can see the Vermillion River entering Crane Lake, completing its 38 mile journey from Lake Vermillion.  

As you descend from the red pine knoll, you will approach the river and the mouth of the gorge.  The trail surface changes to wood chips here.

Warning:  This section of the trail has steep cliffs nearby.  Hikers with small children should keep them in hand.

Vermillion Falls Trail Description:
A 10-minute hike on a well-maintained trail puts the visitor at Vermillion Falls, at a cascading torrent of water forced through a 10-foot-wide opening in the granite.  Keep small children in hand.

Smallmouth bass fishing below the falls can be excellent.  Fishing from shore will produce many snags in this shallow, rocky water.  Another option is to launch a canoe or small car-top boat by the parking area and paddle up river.

Warning:  The current below the falls is swift and strong in high water and can capsize a boat.  Be careful not to approach too closely.

Cast into and around the current with lead head jigs tipped with worms, leeches or minnows.  Crappies, walleyes and northern pike can also be caught here.

A trail directly across the road from the parking lot leads the visitor to "The Chute", a constriction in the river that produces a Class II or III rapids.  It's a pleasant 5-minute walk and worth the effort.  Part of the trail also serves as the portage around the rapids.  If you have a canoe, you could portage to the base of the rapids, put in, and then cross the river to a point of land on the far side.  There you can see one of the 9 maintained campsites on the river.

A final point of interest is a small wild rice bed.  Standing on the bridge looking up river, the wild rice grows in the small bay to your left.  It will be mid-July before the shoots begin to emerge from the water, and seed heads won't begin to develop until the first part of August.  Extensive wild rice (it's actually an aquatic grass, not a rice) beds flourish along the Vermillion River and are harvested by humans and wildlife alike from late August through October.

Herriman Lake Trail Description:
From the paking lot, it is .4 mile to the Echo River Picnic Site.  This scenic day-use site is not in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

However, if you hike on to Little Vermillion, Dovre, or Herriman Lakes, or south along the Echo River, you will enter the BWCAW.

• Pack your swimsuit and a picnic lunch for the sand beach on Little Vermillion Lake.

• Enjoy the scenic views of oxbows along the Echo River.  Take your binoculars, or a bucket for blue berries in mid-July.  If the berry crop is good, you may find easy picking on the rocky loop at the end of the trail.

• Feel a sense of solitude as you hike through mature red and white pines among rock outcroppings on the Dovre Lake Loop.

• Take your camera to capture the blaze of fall colors around Herriman and Knute Lakes at the end of September.  The maples, aspens, and oaks are also beautiful along the Echo River and Dovre Loop.