The Lady Slipper Scenic Byway runs through the same forest, lake, and river country where the Ojibwe tribe of Native Americans lived at the head of the Mississippi River. Chief Oziwindib (Chief Yellowhead), who guided the explorer Schoolcraft to the true headwaters of the Mississippi, lived in villages on Star Island and at Knutson Dam.

The natural scenery along the byway includes close forests and open wetlands in succession, for a unique contrast. This contrast is especially brilliant in the autumn, when blazing islands of color appear among the wetlands around them.

Travel back in time at Camp Rabideau, where the Civilian Conservation Corps housed its workers were housed beginning in the late 1930s. Camp Rabideau became a National Historic Landmark in 2006 as one of the nations best preserved Civilian Conservation Corps Camps. Guided tours are available from June through September. The CCC planted thousands of the trees seen along the byway route.