Accessibility

Visitors with limited mobility can get a ride from the Heritage Center to the historic site and back.

NPS Photo / M. Tessier

Welcome!

Grand Portage National Monument welcomes all individuals with a disability and strives to make the park accessible to visitors by removing barriers and providing alternative programming.

A 72 inch wide sidewalk connects the parking area, which has three accessible parking spaces with aisles, two are van accessible, to an 84 inch wide ramp to the Heritage Center. There is a temporary loading/unloading space at the bottom of the ramp. The Heritage Center front doors are automatic, opened with a push button to the right of the doors.

Two floors of exhibits in the Heritage Center are wide enough for a wheelchair to navigate. An elevator to the second floor is available. Three of the exhibits in the museum have audio. Tactile exhibits include animal pelts on a bench on the left upon entering the museum area, and on a barrel to the right of the store entrance. The store is behind the information desk to the left of the restrooms. The classroom is to the right at the end of a short hall and offers a 23 minute open-captioned movie about the park. Restrooms, each with one accessible stall, and a drinking fountain are located behind the information desk.

Two benches offer seating in a protected area in front of the building near the entrance to the Heritage Center. There are benches, chairs, and stools throughout the main floor that are subject to being moved. Inquire at the front desk for assistance with seating or a quiet place to rest.

The sidewalk outside the Heritage Center continues downhill on an inclined ramp (wheelchair users might require assistance) to the crosswalk at Mile Creek Road (County Road 17). Please use caution while crossing, as Mile Creek Road is the most used road by the Grand Portage community. After the crosswalk, the path becomes a hardened gravel trail throughout the historic site. A gravel ramp joins the pathway to the Canoe Warehouse. Interpretive exhibits include two large birchbark canoes plus displays and programs presented inside, all of which are navigable with a wheelchair. Beyond the Warehouse, restrooms are connected to the hardened pathway. Each restroom includes an accessible stall. The path continues from there to a gate leading into the palisade.

Within the palisade, a ramp located on the west side of the Kitchen allows entry to the back door of the Kitchen. A level breezeway connects the Kitchen to the Great Hall, which also connects to all porches of the reconstructed Kitchen and Great Hall. Interpretive exhibits, hands-on displays, and ranger conducted interpretive activities are offered in these buildings. Both the Kitchen and Great Hall have enough room to navigate by wheelchair. Another ramp from the Kitchen’s east side, allows access to the main gate under the gatehouse and a view of both the Grand Portage footpath and Mount Rose Trail, which are rocky and too narrow for most wheelchairs. The Mount Rose trail is steep and has stairs.

Two wheelchairs are available free of charge to use during your visit. Wheelchairs are located in the Heritage Center and in the Great Hall. Please ask monument staff for assistance. A staff driven golf cart for a ride to the historic buildings is available on request. Large print and Braille formatted interpretive literature are available at the information desk. Language interpreters may also be provided. Please call 218-475-0123 or email us at least three days before your visit.

 

Service Animals

Service animals, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, are permitted to accompany visitors with disabilities in all areas open to the public at Grand Portage National Monument.

The 2010 revision to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a “service animal” as a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.

The work or task a dog has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. A dog that is in training to become a service animal is not considered a service animal.

National Parks: Accessible to Everyone

Emotional Support Animals

• Comfort or emotional support animals do not qualify as service animals. The key difference between a service animal and a comfort animal is that a service animal is trained to do work or perform tasks, whereas a comfort or emotional support animal is not.

• Service animals in training, comfort animals, and pets are subject to the park’s pet regulations and are not allowed past the entrance pergola. For more information about where your pets are allowed check out our Pets page.