I've searched the forums for answers to some of my questions, but any postings are over 10 years old. I have a host of questions to ask those in the know. We are considering renting a houseboat this next summer of 2018. We've done a little bit of research and understand that we need to make overnight reservations with the National Park. Where do we even begin to route out where we want to stay? Any advice on the best companies to rent from? Before and after the trip we will be traveling in our motorhome. We will need a place to leave it while we are on the houseboat. We will also have our dog with us, so we need a company that allows dogs on the boat. Our primary question, at this point, is where do we start? We don't know the area at all.

http://www.voyagaire.com/minnesota-h...voyagaire-faq/

Dogs allowed on the boats (but mostly aren't allowed on land except at the Visitors Center)

There is overnight parking at the visitors center but I don't know if that includes motorhomes. You may need to contact the park to verify that.

Fodor's isn't really the right place to ask this since this park is more of a regional national park than one that attracts people from more than 500 miles away.

This article is almost 10 years old but has good info

http://www.startribune.com/details-i...eurs/17858134/

Since there appear to be a small number of boats in operation, you should probably make reservations. Biting insects can be very bad near shore, esp June.

Where to start?

https://www.nps.gov/voya/planyourvisit/houseboating.htm

How many nights are you houseboating? And how much of the different areas do you want to see?

There are 5 lakes (for houseboating) - Rainy Lake, Kabetogama and Namakan are the 3 main lakes, Sand Point and Crane are much smaller. Most people would spend their time on Rainy, Kabetogama and/or Namakan.

Rainy Lake has 2 houseboat rental companies: Northernaire and Rainy Lake Houseboats. It does not connect to the other lakes so if you choose either of these companies, you will be restricted to Rainy with your houseboat.

Kabetogama (Ash River) has one: Ebel's Voyageur Houseboats

Crane Lake has one: Voyagaire Lodge & Houseboats

Look at a map of the park so see where the lakes are in relation to one another. There is a small boat portage at Kettle Falls that connects Rainy Lake to Namakan if you have a canoe/kayak/motorboat for a day trip - no houseboat will fit through that portage though. Crane Lake connects to the larger lakes via Sand Point Lake. And the houseboat rental on Kabetogama actually starts on the Ash River, so you will navigate upriver and through a narrow channel to get onto Kabetogama.

The 3 main lakes run roughly east/west so any storms coming through will likely cause some rough water because there really is nothing to stop the wind. There are sheltered areas on each lake if things get really bad. Rainy Lake would be the worst due to it's sheer size and amount of open water.

So, that's somewhat of a starting point. Any company would be great but.... If you only have a few days, you probably don't want to start on Crane and waste half a day getting to Namakan. If you want to see as much of the park as possible, you don't want Rainy Lake because you can't get to the other lakes. If you hate the idea of navigating through narrow channels, you don't want Crane or Kabetogama. There's always a tradeoff so decide what's most important to you.

I 'think' they all include a kayak or canoe with the houseboat rental, but verify that. You will definitely want a small boat to explore once you're parked the houseboat for the day/night. The park runs boat tours to Ellsworth Rock Gardens on Kabetogama, so you could take advantage of that if you can't get there via houseboat.

I would assume they all have space to park a motorhome and allow dogs on board. Just verify the park regs on what you can and cannot do with your dog once in the park.