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About My Northern Lights Chase
I have only seen the Northern Lights once, which was during a trip to Tromsø, Norway. You can read about that Northern Lights chase by clicking HERE. Ever since that trip, I have wanted to see the Northern Lights again.
On the evening of Friday, September 24, 2020, I decided to head to Northern Minnesota to attempt to view the Northern Lights. Every week, I check the Aurora forecast and the maximum potential KP charts to see if there is a chance of seeing a spectacular Aurora Borealis show. When I checked Friday evening, I saw that the KP was expected to be between 3 and 6. The KP index shows how far south the Northern Lights will be visible. To be visible in Northern Minnesota, the KP Index should be at least 3.
I left the Twin Cities around Friday at 8:00 pm and drove to Bemidji. I arrived in Bemidji around 11:00 pm, but it was too cloudy to see anything. I figured my best chance would be Saturday evening as the skies were supposed to clear.
To track this information, I use the app Aurora. Aurora is a free app that can be downloaded from the Apple App Store.
On Saturday evening, I drove from Bemidji to the South Shore of Lake of the Woods. As you can see below, the KP was around four, and I was given a probability of around 12% of successfully seeing the Auroras.
The map below shows the probability of seeing the Northern Lights. The gray section shows a probability of less than 10%, and the green section shows a probability of greater than 10%. If the color is orange or red, the chances increase to over 25%
It is rare for Minnesota to be in the green, so I figure I had a decent chance of successfully viewing the Northern Lights.
Camera Settings for Photographing the Northern Lights in Minnesota
I am still perfecting my Northern Lights photography and consider myself a novice/intermediate night sky photographer. Here are the settings I typically use.
Tripod: You will need a tripod to take pictures of the Northern Lights as it is not possible to hold your camera still for 10+ seconds.
Timer: To ensure that there is no shaking when you take the picture, use the timer option. I typically use a two-second timer.
Lens: I prefer an 18 to 55 mm lens as it allows me to photograph a wider portion of the sky.
Focus: Manual Focus – Manually adjust your zoom to infinity or focus on the moon or a distant star.
ISO: I start around 1600 and work my way up to 128,000.
Aperture: The lower, the better. My lens usually allows my aperture to be set at around 3.00 to 4.00.
Shutter Speed: I start around 10 seconds and increase up to 30 seconds.
Below, are some examples of the fine tuning it takes to get the settings correct.
Northern Minnesota Aurora Viewing Locations
On Saturday morning, I drove from Bemidji to Lake of the Woods scouting places along the way. I chose to focus on three places: the South Shore of Lake of the Woods, Upper Red Lake, and Blackduck Lake. All three of these locations had great views of the northern sky with little light pollution which made them the perfect Northern Minnesota Aurora Viewing Locations.
Northern Minnesota Viewing Location #1 - South Shore of Lake of the Woods
The South Shore of Lake of the Woods was my top location for my Northern Lights Chase. I found a small cape at the coordinates below that went out into Lake of the Woods. The cape is at the end of a public road and near a small marina. I felt that this was the perfect location because of the unobstructed view of the northern sky.
Below are my photographs overlooking Lake of the Woods. You can see a small greenish glow towards the north. There is no natural light in that direction, so it was definitely the auroras. Unfortunately, the clouds never quite clear enough to be able to get better pictures.
I spent around 90-minutes waiting for the lights and took a photograph every minute. Eventually, clouds rolled in from the west and obstructed my view. I decided it was time to move spots, and I headed south to Upper Red Lake, where the skies were clearer.
Northern Minnesota Viewing Location #2 - Upper Red Lake
Typically, I would never drive south to increase my chances of seeing the Northern Lights, but due to cloudy skies, I had no choice but to head south. I had scouted a great place on the shores of Upper Red Lake. The coordinates are listed below.
There is slightly more light pollution on Upper Red Lake, and I believe that my photo captured light pollution rather than the Auroras. Still, there is a slight green glow to the north, which made me think it was worth continuing to my final location on Blackduck Lake.
Northern Minnesota Viewing Location #3 - Blackduck Lake
My final location was the public access on Blackduck Lake. Once again, I have listed the coordinates below.
The sky was almost perfectly clear over Blackduck Lake. Unfortunately, Blackduck Lake is near the town of Blackduck, and there was quite a bit more light pollution. At this point, the KP was below 3.00, and there was a 0% chance of seeing the Auroras this far south. I decided it was time to end my chase and head back to Bemidji.
Conclusions - Northern Lights Chase - Northern Minnesota
While I was not successful in my Northern Lights chase, I did have a great time and saw a lot of beautiful places. There is never a guarantee of seeing the Auroras, and with the odds being around 13%, I was more likely to fail than be successful. I arrived at Lake of the Woods around 11:45 pm and made it back to Bemidji by 5:00 am.
Despite not seeing the Auroras, I had a great time and saw some beautiful scenery. With COVID-19 still affecting tourism, it was nice to do something traveling related while being able to social distance the entire time.