Our Boating Trip on Lake Kabetogama to Ellsworth Rock Gardens

On August 16th, Scott and I rented an 18' Alaskan 60 hp boat for 1/2 a day ($50) from Pine Aire and went out on Lake Kabetogama to find the Ellsworth Rock Gardens also known as the "Showplace of Lake Kabetogama".  

We didn't leave until Scott finished up work in the early afternoon and then headed out.  The guy at Pine Aire explained where Ellsworth Rock Gardens was to Scott and then to me, since Scott is directionally challenged, and when we got out on the lake we had a dispute to which way to go.  This is the way he told me to drive to Ellsworth - around Sugarbush Island (the large island on the left of my kink in the arrow). 

The lake is shallow in some weird parts and we didn't want to run up on a shoal, so I drove to the gardens and he drove back any way he wanted.  It does get a bit tricky when you're on the water, but after a bit of a learning curve, we got pretty good at it.  

It was a little tricky getting used to the navigational tool, too.  I guess it's a marine GPS plotter.  We had to watch where we were going, figure out what was around us and the depth of each spot because at some of the islands the depth was down to 5 feet.  Our little boat could easily go to 2 feet but we didn't want to chance it. It was funny how in some parts of the water you were right by an island and it was 40 feet deep and then close by an island you could be 5 feet deep.  But, check out that water temperature!!  It was 81 IN the water and 78 outside!

After an hour or so or figuring out where we were (if we had a map of the area and brought it with us, we could have easily seen the shapes of the islands and figured out where we were against the marine GPS chart plotter), we arrived at Ellsworth Rock Gardens and pulled into the dock and Scott tied us up.

The Ellsworth Rock Gardens was started by a guy named Jack Ellsworth who had a cottage on the island and over 20 years, he constructed 62 terraced flower bed filled with over 13,000 lilies of four varieties and 28 other flower varieties both annuals and perennials.  The beds contain over 200 abstract rock sculptures.  Since the 1940s, this place has been a tourist destination at Voyageurs and also eligible now for the National Register of Historic Places.  He worked on his project until the mid 1965 when Mr. Ellsworth's health started to decline.  What was once manicured grass and ornamental gardens soon because overgrown and lost.  He died in 1974 and his wife, a few years later.  The national park service acquired the property in 1978 but the gardens still deteriorated and visitor still came.  Finally, after pressure from the community, the NPS started to upkeep the gardens and received funding to organize a "garden blitz" of skilled persons to revitalize the site which they did practically overnight!  We had just missed the peak season.  Generally, the blooms are best between July and early August.

There is a booklet you can get when you arrive with a self-guided tour inside.  Here's the map portion.

It was a pretty garden and if only we'd have been there during the peak season (July - early Aug), we would have seen more gorgeous flowers.  The orange lillies were still blooming.  I'll try and label each photo - they may be out of order in the hike, but you get the idea.

This is the Signature Stone at the base of the gardens.

Table and Chair
Some of the stones are literal like this one; others express
the eye of an artist.  Some push the limits of gravity!

Gorgeous Orange Tiger Lillies

This is the Circle Stone

This is the Arrowhead on the top of the hill.
This is Ellsworth's largest sculpture.

This is the tee-pee and was one of the last features added to the gardens.
There was a canvas around it and brightly painted with Indian motifs
and the interior was lit with battery-powered lights.

Mythical Animals
This section of the garden has a bunch of interesting shaped rocks like animals.

Balanced Rock

This is the Stone Bridge.
The path crosses this bridge that leads to the Cat
and the Meteorite.

The Cat
That's what I call it - there is no name for it.

The Meteorite
This is tucked away in a far corner of the garden.

At the end of the hike we found a little old privy and a covered picnic area complete with a rock fireplace.

By the time we got back to the start, we saw some park rangers who were making a new bathroom area and new boat launch and pathway.

And, then we saw there was a guest house on the island so we hiked over there and saw that and a cute outhouse!

After we finished at the garden, we got back in the boat and Scott drove us around the lake for another hour or so.  He looked pretty good driving that boat!

Sometimes, we just sat and watched the shore.

Other times, we watched other people...

Or birds sunbathing on rocks...

And then I drove for the last half hour until we came to our place on the lake.

Driving back Kabetogama Visitor Center.

Coming into Pine Aire.

Our rig with the flag.

Pulling into the dock.

Once back, we tied off and Scott ran back to feed the dogs.

It was pretty fun!  We talked about buying a boat or a houseboat and maybe doing half our time on a lake and the other half just RVing around...it would be fun!  I really loved being up here in northern Minnesota, for sure!