Kenora: Museums, Local History and Nature

Kenora brings together cultural history and outdoor experiences: at the The Muse museum campus, a museum devoted to the region’s history and an art centre come together. Historic murals, guided tours and urban trails offer other ways to explore the area. When choosing a vacation rental or holiday home, you can consider whether you’d prefer to discover Kenora primarily through its museums and history or through activity and nature.

Museums and stories from Kenora

The Muse brings together the Lake of the Woods Museum and the Douglas Family Art Centre. The campus is located in Memorial Park at the south end of Main Street; its addresses are 300 and 224 Main Street South. The Lake of the Woods Museum holds more than 25,000 physical objects and over 100,000 photographs. These collections offer different insights into history: objects and photographs are two distinct parts of the collection. The museum also offers public programs for children and adults throughout the year. This lets you combine a museum visit with activities aimed at different age groups.

Exhibitions at the Douglas Family Art Centre change over time. They feature works by contemporary and historical Canadian artists, as well as international artists. Art enthusiasts can plan around this changing program as a focus of their trip; alongside it, the Lake of the Woods Museum offers a different emphasis with its objects, photographs and public programs.

You can also encounter Kenora’s history outside the museums. Eighteen historic streetscape murals form a self-guided tour. You can include the tour in your explorations at your own pace. Guided tours of the Lake of the Woods Cemetery offer another way to explore local history, through stories about notable and notorious people buried there. The Lake of the Woods Railroaders Museum adds to these themes with a tour about the railway history of Kenora and Canada. Those interested in learning more about art and history can choose from several different formats, from a self-guided tour to a guided one.

Urban Trails, Nature and Activity

The urban trails also offer a reason to make time for the outdoors. Kenora’s urban trails offer good chances of spotting herons, otters, beavers and foxes. The Rat Portage Urban Trail connects streets in Kenora with the Laurenson's Creek nature walk. The trail network therefore includes both street sections and a connection to this nature walk. If you want to focus more on activity and nature during your trip, you can include the trails in your explorations of Kenora.

Garrow Park offers two different options for sports activities. There is a free nine-basket disc golf course. The park also has a dedicated outdoor pickleball facility with eight public courts; it was fully renovated in 2019. Disc golf and pickleball are clearly defined options for spending time outdoors. If you enjoy filling your days with activities like these, they can factor into your travel plans when choosing a holiday home or vacation rental.

A Seasonal Experience

A Christmas celebration at the Lake of the Woods Cemetery includes lighting thousands of ice candles from Christmas Eve through Boxing Day. The period therefore runs from December 24 through Boxing Day. This experience is quite different from the year-round public museum programs and tours: it is tied to the Christmas season. If your trip falls during this period, you can include this special event in your plans for Kenora.

More places to discover: Taber, Dryden, Pawitik, Machin, Sioux Lookout, Kenora, Unorganized, Minaki, Nestor Falls.

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