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Claffey Beach in Voyageurs National Park

Beach · Voyageurs National Park

Claffey Beach

A boat-access beach stop on Sand Point Lake.

Type
Beach
Nearest trail
2.5 mi
  • Picnic tables
  • Restrooms
DirectionsMap
Parkwolf audio tour29 stories across Voyageurs’s roads

Overview

About Claffey Beach

Why stop

  • A table, fire ring and privy for a simple shore picnic.

Heads up

  • Boat access only.

Map

Where it is

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Full map
BeachClaffey Beach48.36963, -92.48646
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Plan your stop

Before you go

2 active Voyageurs alerts

  • ClosureDryweed Island-area sites closed for bear activitySeventeen campsites, houseboat sites, and a day-use site on Dryweed Island and nearby islands are closed through the end of October 2026 because of continued bear activity and unsafe bear-human…Official details
  • CautionNavigation markers and buoys absent on park lakesUse caution while boating on Rainy, Kabetogama, Namakan, and Sand Point Lakes because park hazard markers and secondary navigation aids have been removed, and most primary navigational buoys are also…Official details
Voyageurs alerts
A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone
Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Voyageurs Tour Guide

Your drive to Claffey Beach, narrated.

Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Voyageurs National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.

  • 29 audio storiesacross Voyageurs’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
  • Wildlife heatmapsfor Gray Wolf, Moose, Bald Eagle, and 13 more
  • Works offlinemaps, 19 trails, 49 places, and audio download before you lose signal
  • CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
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“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
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4.7 from 8,600+ ratings

Guide

More about Claffey Beach

A beach landing on Sand Point LakeClaffey Beach is a named, boat-access day-use landing on Sand Point Lake.

Claffey Beach is a named, boat-access day-use landing on Sand Point Lake. I’d treat it as a simple picnic stop when you’re already exploring the lake; it isn’t a road-side detour, and no site-specific boat distance is published.

Plan the water tripThe closest public boat launch is at Crane Lake Ranger Station, the nearest gateway to Sand…

The closest public boat launch is at Crane Lake Ranger Station, the nearest gateway to Sand Point Lake. Use a boating chart: the park’s published waypoint helps locate the landing but isn’t intended for navigation. Day-use sites need no reservation and aren’t for overnight stays.

A short shore breakA picnic table, fire ring and outdoor privy are listed for Claffey.

A picnic table, fire ring and outdoor privy are listed for Claffey. For a photo, take a wide view from the landing that includes both the shore and open water; a close shot of the table loses the point of this boat-access stop.

On a voyageurs routeSand Point Lake follows a route used by early voyageurs and fur traders.

Sand Point Lake follows a route used by early voyageurs and fur traders. It takes its name from a large sandy point on the Canadian side; the broader lake stretches about eight miles and holds 115 islands, a big water landscape around this small landing.

beachboatingpicniclakehistory

Wildlife

Wildlife in Voyageurs

All Voyageurs wildlife maps
Gray Wolf10 sightingsGray WolfMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapMoose12 sightingsMooseMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapBald Eagle67 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 10 AMSighting mapLoon79 sightingsLoonMost seen around 6 AMSighting mapWhite Pelican41 sightingsWhite PelicanMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapTrumpeter Swan19 sightingsTrumpeter SwanMost seen around 6 PMSighting map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Voyageurs. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.

Keep exploring

Near Claffey Beach

See it all on the map

Trails nearby

ModerateMukooda Trail2.8 mi · 2.5 hr · 2.5 mi awayA rocky ridge hike with a Prohibition-era cabin story.

More stops nearby

Picnic area · 0.4 mi awaySand Point Day-Use AreaA picnic pause on an island-studded lake.Picnic area · 0.6 mi awayGrassy Bay Island Day-Use AreaA boat-in picnic stop for a pause on Sand Point Lake.Sight · 1.2 mi awayWilliam Ingersoll EstateBoat-access island estate with four surviving historic buildingsSight · 2.9 mi awayGrassy Bay CliffsA towering granite wall, best seen from the water.Sight · 4.7 mi awayCasareto Summer CabinA 1930s cabin on Crane Lake with a much older story

Parkwolf’s Voyageurs ranking

Top sights in Voyageurs

All 49 places
  1. 1Ellsworth Rock GardensSight
  2. 2Grassy Bay CliffsSight
  3. 3Kettle Falls Dam OverlookSight
  4. 4Anderson BaySight
  5. 5Little American IslandSight
  6. 6I.W. Stevens ResortSight

Take Parkwolf to Voyageurs.

The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.

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