Grand Portage State Park Visitor Center, Minnesota

When the International Boundary with Canada was established at the Pigeon River, it was because of the well known fur trading route at Grand Portage, a few miles south. Today the boundary follows the river on the north side of Grand Portage State Park. The 300-acre park is the only state park in the country that is co-managed by the a state and a native tribe, in this case the Chippewa Tribe, which owns the land, and leases it to the state for a dollar a year. This makes it the only Minnesota State Park that is not owned by the state of Minnesota. Most of the land here, and extending over 75 square miles south of the International Boundary line, is part of the Grand Portage Ojibwe Indian Reservation. Grand Portage State Park follows the Pigeon River along its US bank, and includes the largest waterfalls along the river, which prevented passage in the old days (which is why the grand portage was established, five miles south of here), including the 120 foot tall High Falls, the tallest in the state, though it shares them with Ontario.