The Canoe Rack Lottery: Storing a Boat on the Isles

A Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board rack rental runs about 50 weeks, from May 1 to April 15, and is priced at $325 for city residents and $425 for non-residents, with an extra watercraft on the same rack costing $100. The board rents about 600 racks a year across 15 sites, including North and South locations on Lake of the Isles, two sites each on Bde Maka Ska, Lake Harriet and Cedar Lake, and racks on Lake Nokomis, Brownie Lake, Lake Hiawatha and Wirth Lake.

Spots are awarded by lottery, not first-come. Registration opens Jan. 2 at 8 a.m. and closes Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. Minneapolis residents who enroll by the deadline get priority in a drawing held March 6, and applicants who are not selected are refunded in full by March 31, the Park Board says.

For paddlers within walking distance of the Isles, a rack collapses the roof-rack-and-parking routine into a short walk, which is why the spots on the most popular lakes get claimed quickly. The board has signaled the supply question is on its radar through broader chain-of-lakes planning that includes studies of relocated and rebuilt launch and storage facilities, particularly on Bde Maka Ska.

For anyone hoping to land one this coming season, the practical step is to mark the Jan. 2 opening and enroll before the Feb. 28 deadline at minneapolisparks.org.