JULY 2026
COMPLIMENTARY
V T s y o b C With
Volume 02 / Issue 7
July 2026
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FROMTHEEDITOR
or me, the lakes area will always bring me back to fishing near Park Rapids with my grandpa. His lake place was not fancy. There was no running water. No electricity. Just a trailer, lots of trees, a boat (with paddles for most years), and enough quiet to make the rest
of the world feel very far away. Our days on the water were simple, slow, and probably better because of it. We fished. We sat by the fire. We wandered around looking for wild strawberries and raspberries. That is the magic of the lakes area. It does not require much. It does not need luxury.
Sure, there are beautiful resorts, great restaurants, golf courses, events, shops, and everything else that makes this region such a special place to visit. But underneath all of that, the heart of the lakes area is still wonderfully simple. It is time outside. It is family. It is stories told around fires. It is quiet mornings on the water. It
is the feeling of being lucky to be exactly where you are. That is why people keep coming back.
Brady Drake Meet Fargo Editor
TABLEOFCONTENTS
MEET FARGO // JULY 2026
COVER STORY
Partner Content:
40
20 Vita Roofing: Answering Your Roofing Questions! 22 Wimmer's Diamonds: The Ring Is Only the Beginning 26 Valley Christian Counseling & Wellness: Leaking, Pressure, Pain... Is This Normal? 29 Strive Chiropractic: Why High Performers Crash 34 Designer Homes: A Legacy On The Lake
The Lakes Issue
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88
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40 The Cboys' Favorite Stops Around The Lakes 52 Built For The Lake Life 60 Minnesota Lakes Country 2026 Summer Event Guide 68 Where To Golf In Minnesota Lakes Country 88 The Front Desk To Minnesota's Wild Places 94 Minnesota Lake Resorts Worth The Drive From Fargo 110 Amy Thielen's Northern Table 116 An Art Adventure Through Otter Tail County 120 Meet the Maker: RHO Art 122 Folkways: Our Summer Happy Places: Folkway's Intern Picks
MEET OUR TEAM AT
LEARN MORE ABOUT US AT SPOTLIGHTMEDIAFARGO.COM
PARTNER CONTENT
A ring is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but it can hold an entire life story.
By Brady Drake
It can hold a nervous proposal, a first home, children and grandchildren, road trips, anniversaries, quiet mornings, ordinary Tuesdays, and the love that only becomes more meaningful with time. At Wimmer’s Diamonds, that is the part of the work that has always mattered most. The engagement ring may be where the relationship begins, but for many couples, Wimmer’s stays part of the story long after the proposal.
Jim and Laura Boulger’s story began in a college classroom. They met in an Irish literature class during sophomore year, started dating as juniors, and were together for five years before they married in 2008. Jim picked out Laura’s engagement ring himself. She describes it as classic solitaire, but with a twist and small inset diamonds down the band. That detail mattered. It felt timeless, but still personal. Traditional, but not ordinary. Like the other couples, their connection to Wimmer’s did not end with the wedding ring. Jim grew up knowing the Wimmer family, and the relationship continued naturally. When he and Laura have purchased diamond jewelry, that is where they have gone. They bought a ring for Laura’s 40th birthday, along with earrings, a necklace, and other pieces. They have brought jewelry in for cleaning and repairs. Each time, they found
22 | JULY 2026 | MEETFARGO.COM
good service, familiar faces, and people who remembered them. “When we see them out in the community, they’re always very personable and remember us,” Laura said. “It definitely makes you want to go back.” For Jim and Laura, marriage has been a life of learning together. They have welcomed three children, bought their first house, moved to Fargo and grown through the ordinary lessons that shape a relationship. Laura says one of the biggest has been learning how to communicate—not just talking, but understanding each other’s communication styles. That, too, is part of building a life of love. It is not just the proposal or the wedding day. It is learning. Adjusting. Becoming better partners. Celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and milestones along the way.
Photos prov ided Jim and L by aura Boulg er
For Ken and Dolores Thoms, that story has lasted more than 40 years. Now in their 90s and living at Eventide, Ken and Dolores still remember walking into Wimmer's in 1984 and feeling like they belonged there. They bought their engagement ring from Wimmer’s, and over the years they returned again and again for rings, gifts, and special pieces their family would pick out for Mother’s Day and other occasions. Why did they keep going back?
Photo by J. Alan Paul Ph otography
“Because we liked them,” they said simply. Dolores remembers being greeted warmly every time they came in. The staff knew them. They were happy to see them. Even the store dog made an impression.
Photo by ography aul Phot . Alan P
J
“When somebody treats you nice, you’re going to enjoy it,” Dolores said. Their life together has been full of family, work, moves, memories, and plenty of humor. Between them, they raised a large blended family. Dolores had two sets of twins just 13 months apart, later went to college, earned her degree, and taught school for 20 years. After they married, she and Ken made their home in West Fargo.
d by provide Photo ol D ores Ken and
They did not describe their life as fancy. They did not talk about grand vacations or perfect moments. Instead, they talked about Florida winters near Sanibel and Fort Myers, friends who traveled with them, and the steady companionship that comes from choosing each other over and over.
Photo by J. Alan P aul Photog
raphy
y Photo b y otograph h P l u a P n a l J. A
CONTINUED> 23
PARTNER CONTENT
For Pam and Wayne Rud, love started with a little more horsepower. They met in Fargo in the early 1970s, back when “dragging Broadway” was a social scene all its own. Pam remembers seeing Wayne’s hot car in the mornings. Wayne remembers the cars, too, including the street racing, the gathering spots, the way everyone seemed to know who was driving what. Eventually, a mutual connection led to a blind date. Wayne called Pam three times in one night before they finally went out to a movie. They clicked quickly. Within nine months, they had met, gotten engaged, and gotten married. More than five decades later, they are still together. The engagement ring came from Wimmer’s. Wayne went in over his lunch hour and worked with Andy Wimmer. Pam’s mother worked at Wimmer’s for 31 years, but she was not there that day, and she did not know what Wayne was planning. He picked out the ring, found a way to make it work, and later brought it to Pam when she was finishing training in Wisconsin. He told her he had brought her a present. It was in the glove box, wrapped beautifully in a Wimmer’s ring box. Pam opened it in her aunt and uncle’s driveway in St. Paul, MN. It was Nov. 18, 1972. “That’s just kind of a funny story,” she said. Through 53 years of marriage, Pam and Wayne have built a life around shared passions and mutual respect. Cars were there from the beginning, and they stayed. Wayne was an engine
builder by trade and owned a machine shop for decades. Their daughters grew up around cars, rod runs, camping trips, and lake weekends. The couple still has classic cars, and their family’s love of automobiles continues into the next generation. They also built a cabin on West McDonald Lake, a project that became another family gathering place. They traveled, camped, raised children, bought their first house, and made a home out of what began as little more than a new structure without a driveway, garage, sidewalk, or yard. When Pam thinks about what has made their marriage last, she talks about trust, respect and allowing each other room to be themselves. They do many things together. They also give each other space. Wayne has his cars. Pam has her friends and trips. “I got my stuff to do, and she’s got her stuff to do,” Wayne said, “and it all meets in the end.” That same trust is what kept them coming back to Wimmer’s. Over the years, they purchased anniversary pieces, Black Hills gold, diamond earrings, necklaces, watches, rings and custom work. Pam’s 25th anniversary sapphire and diamond ring came from Wimmer’s. So did many of the pieces that became part of their family’s jewelry story. Her mother’s jewelry, much of it purchased at Wimmer’s, has now been passed down to Pam and her sister. “For us, it’s the trust,” Pam said. “The trust we have in them, and all the people we’ve worked with there.”
by Photos provided e Rud Pam and Wayn 24 | JULY 2026 | MEETFARGO.COM
Across these three couples, the details are different. One love story began with a ring and grew through more than four decades of family and Florida winters. One started on Broadway with classic cars and a glove-box proposal. One began in an Irish lit class and grew into marriage, children, and a home in Fargo. But each story carries the same truth that jewelry is never only about the jewelry. It is about being known. It is about walking into a place where people remember your name, your family, your story and the moments you are trying to honor. It is about finding the right ring at the beginning, and then returning for the anniversaries, birthdays, repairs, upgrades, heirlooms, and gifts that mark a lifetime. At Wimmer’s Diamonds, couples are not treated like transactions. They are treated like people at the start of something meaningful. And for many of them, the ring is only the beginning.
| wimmersdiamonds.com
| /wimmersdiamonds
| @wimmersdiamonds
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Partner Content
Why High Performers Crash The Missing Piece: Your Nervous System Your spine protects your spinal cord—the system controlling how your body responds to stress. When that system stays overloaded, stress hormones remain elevated, muscles stay tight, sleep becomes lighter, and recovery slows down. Eventually, even high-capacity people crash.
Why Getting Checked Matters From the outside, high performers look like they have it together.
The problem? The nervous system keeps score.
They’re productive. Driven. Reliable. They push through stress, stay busy, and keep showing up long after everyone else would slow down. Until one day, they can’t.
Your body is built to handle stress in short bursts—not nonstop pressure, stimulation, deadlines, poor posture, and mental overload. Eventually, the system stops adapting and starts surviving.
The energy disappears. Sleep stops helping. Brain fog sets in. Patience gets shorter. Anxiety gets louder. The body starts breaking down.
That’s when people begin feeling exhausted but wired, mentally foggy, emotionally flat, constantly tense, and unable to truly recover—even after rest.
At Strive Chiropractic, we don’t just look at symptoms. We evaluate how well your nervous system is functioning under stress. Using comprehensive evaluations and objective diagnostic testing, we identify patterns of nervous system overload that may be driving exhaustion, tension, brain fog, poor sleep, and burnout. Many patients are shocked to realize they don’t have a willpower problem. They have a body stuck in survival mode.
And most high performers blame themselves.
Stop Running on Empty Why Rest Alone Doesn’t Burnout is not normal. Constant Fix It
But burnout usually isn’t a motivation problem. It’s a nervous system problem.
You can take a weekend off, get more sleep, or try to “manage stress better” and still feel drained.
Your Body Was Never Designed to Stay “On”
Because if your nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight mode, your body may no longer know how to shut down and recover properly.
High performers are often great at ignoring stress signals. They override fatigue, push through tension, live on caffeine, and tell themselves recovery can wait.
That’s not weakness. That’s dysregulation.
| strivechiropractic.com
| /striveFargo
exhaustion is not a badge of honor. And pushing harder is not the answer. If your body feels like it can’t keep up anymore, stop guessing. Get checked. Get answers. Fix the problem at the source. Strive Chiropractic helps high performers reset their nervous system, recover fully, and perform at the level they were built for.
| @strivechiropractic 29
A Legacy on the Lake For the Waldera family, building this lake home was never just about the house. It was about family. It was about tradition. It was about creating a place where memories could continue for generations. Both homeowners grew up with family lake homes, spending summer weekends there with their boys and extended family. Those years shaped the vision for this project—a home where family and friends could gather in every season. “Our vision was to build a year-round lake home of our own so that we could continue making those memories with our families and leave a gathering place to our sons so that they could carry on those traditions with their families too,” the homeowners said. That vision became one of Designer Homes of Fargo-Moorhead’s most meaningful recent custom projects. Founded in 2007, Designer Homes has spent nearly two decades helping clients turn ideas, inspiration, and personal priorities into homes that feel deeply their own. With roughly 325 homes completed and a building radius of about 80 miles extending from FargoMoorhead into the surrounding lakes area, the company has become one of the region’s most recognizable names in custom residential construction. But for Designer Homes, the heart of custom building is not simply creating something beautiful. It is understanding how people want to live. “The best way to do this is to listen to our clients,” Founder and Owner of Designer Homes Robert Leslie said. “They will tell us exactly what they want and how they are going to live, so that we are able to utilize our expertise to create the very best floor plan and amenities to fit their needs.”
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For the Walderas, every space needed to be intentional. They wanted a home that would support them through every stage of life—functional, low maintenance, welcoming, and equally suited for everyday living and entertaining. They also wanted space for their hobbies, a home that encouraged healthy living, and a design that brought the beauty of the lake and wooded property indoors. “We wanted to take advantage of the beautiful lake and wooded area both front and back and to bring that beauty inside, so you always felt at the lake,” the homeowners said. Architectural Designer Dylan Walton said the Waldera family envisioned a legacy lake home that would feel connected to its surroundings. "Finding the balance between contemporary design and a warm,
natural aesthetic while framing lake views from the home's most meaningful spaces was central to the design, allowing the tranquility of the setting to become part of the family's everyday experience." The result is a home that feels both striking and grounded. Contemporary architecture is softened by warm vertical siding, natural walnut finishes, and expansive glass that fills the home with natural light. A dramatic two-story great room opens directly to the deck, creating a seamless connection between indoor and outdoor living while making the surrounding landscape part of everyday life. Construction Manager Luther Zeltinger said the lot was one of the most unique aspects of the project.
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“It took a lot of coordination from positioning the home to the final grade, but the view of the lake through all the windows and doors on the lake side, along with the walkout access to the deck, patio, and lake, made it all totally worth it,” Zeltinger said. Brook Jessen, Director of Design and Marketing, helped transform years of saved photos, Pinterest boards, Houzz ideas, and Parade of Homes inspiration into a finished design. “The homeowners shared what was most important to them and the experience they hoped to create at the lake,” Jessen said. “My role was to listen, understand what mattered most, and help translate those ideas into design decisions that reflect who they are as a family.” Eric DeClercq, Vice President of Construction, said there are countless behind-the-scenes preparations to consider before a project ever breaks ground. “Many of the most important details are the ones you don’t immediately see,” DeClercq said. “The way the home is positioned to capture the best lake views, how natural light moves through the spaces throughout the day, traffic flow between gathering areas, and the coordination of countless structural and mechanical components all required extensive planning long before construction began.” That thoughtful planning is immediately evident the moment you step inside. A soaring two-story great room immediately draws your attention to the lake beyond, creating an unforgettable first impression. A contemporary fireplace anchors the room, while warm walnut finishes and clean architectural lines create an atmosphere that feels both dramatic and welcoming. For the homeowners, the process with Designer Homes stood out because of the communication and guidance. They had built a home before, 34 years earlier, but said this experience felt different from the very beginning. “When building with our Designer team, they guided us every step of the way,” the homeowners said. “Designer made it seamless by giving us a schedule of timelines, setting up meetings and appointments with vendors, and joining us during those meetings.” They also appreciated the regular communication through email, texting, builder apps, online vision boards, and weekly photo updates. “Designer Homes customer service is second to none,” they said. “The open communication with everyone on our team made the process of building an exciting adventure and took the stress out of our build.”
For Jessen, the kitchen and dining room became the heart of the home. “Jen and Mike love to entertain, so it was important for the kitchen and dining room to be open, inviting, and easy to gather in while making the most of the beautiful lake setting. Matte black cabinetry was paired with dark walnut-stained cabinetry to create the warm contemporary feel they envisioned. The soft veining in the quartz complements the warmth of the room, and the connecting dry bar gives guests a dedicated place to pour a drink while staying part of the conversation.” That balance of warmth and contemporary design continues throughout the home. Wood ceilings extend through the kitchen and dining room, while matte black accents, soft quartz surfaces, and natural wood finishes create a cohesive material palette that flows naturally from one room to the next. The home also reflects the family’s lifestyle, with spaces designed for entertaining, a dedicated fitness room, and an upstairs art studio created especially for Jen. For Zeltinger, the greatest reward was seeing the homeowners experience the home they had imagined. “Construction management is often logistical gymnastics—making sure the right people, materials, and moving pieces are in the right place at the right time and built to the highest standard. We had an excellent team of subcontractors and vendors who worked seamlessly throughout the project. Seeing everything from the exterior to the interior come to life, and then watching the Walderas enjoy the finished result, is what makes all the effort worthwhile.” Looking back years from now, the homeowners know they will remember the effort, the decision to build with Designer Homes, and the relationships they formed throughout the process. More than anything, they will remember the time shared with family and friends and the gratitude of building the home they had envisioned for so long. Contemporary, thoughtfully crafted, and filled with custom details, the Waldera lake home is ultimately defined by family, connection, wellness, creativity, and time together. “At Designer Homes, we pride ourselves not only on building beautiful homes,” Leslie said, “but on building beautiful homes that are extremely livable.” For the Waldera family, that livability now has a setting: an inviting, modern lake home designed for full weekends, quiet mornings, lifelong traditions, and memories that will continue for generations.
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"I like the family that owns it. They’re just nice, good people, and they make amazing coffee. It’s also quick, so you don’t spend all day there. You can hop in, get what you want, and grab something good to eat, too, like an egg bake, panini, or pastry. It’s just good quality from a good family. My go to is an iced vanilla latte, or a hot vanilla latte if it’s cold out."
| lakesfika.com | /EllaMariesCafeandCollectibles | @lakesfika
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"Parallel 46 has really good food, and their steak is great. It’s one of those higher-end dining spots where, if you’re going out with your fiancée for a special occasion, that’s a place you would go. But even if you’re just looking for a really good, high-quality meal, it’s a great option. It’s one of the nicest restaurants in the area. The steak is great. They’ve always had good desserts, too, and their drinks are really well done. They have really good bartenders, so even something like a Moscow mule or an old-fashioned is made really well. The presentation, the atmosphere, everything about it feels special."
| parallel46mn.com | /Parallel46MN | @parallel46_mn
"The Cormorant Store is kind of your one-stop shop. You can buy a fishing rod there, get a hot lunch, grab fuel and snacks, and they have Sandy’s Donuts there every morning, which is dangerous but good. I have a really bad habit of eating probably four donuts a week, so I almost don’t want to say they have Sandy’s Donuts there because then people might start getting into my stash. But they’ll keep them stocked up. I’m not worried about it. They’re great over there."
| /cormorantstore
"I think it’s the best golf course in the area, personally. It’s in great condition, and I like the terrain. It has a great level of difficulty, but the staff there are also really nice. They treat you well and seem happy that you’re there to golf. It’s an easy course to hop on and play, especially during the week when it’s not as busy. You can usually get on and play pretty much whenever. It’s the perfect mix of high-end golf while still feeling welcoming. The course is awesome, it’s in great shape, and it’s fun to play. It’s not too easy, but it’s not too hard either."
| wildflowergolfcourse.com | /WildflowerGolfCourse | @wildflowergolfcourse
"I go to the Lakes Sports Shop for guns, ammo, arrows, fishing equipment, golf balls, and pretty much anything sporting goods-related. If you need a surfboard, you can get that there, too. They have outdoor sporting goods, but also actual sports equipment. They have a lot up there. They’re family-owned and friendly. The people there remember you after you’ve been in a couple of times, and they give you good direction. I think they’re priced fairly, too."
| lakessportshop.com | /lakessportshop | @lakessport
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"Wood Fire has the best pizza in the area. I love that they’re trying to do something different. They cook the pizza in a woodfired oven right in front of you, and they have this big outdoor area where people can hang out. They also have drinks on tap where you can fill up your own drinks at the bar instead of waiting to be served, which is really cool. They have big TVs for sporting events, and it’s just a great place to hang out. Plus, they do takeout and delivery."
| woodfirepizza.co | /WhereisWoodFire | @woodfire_dl
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"They closed their Dilworth location and opened up in the old Swannie’s building on Middle Cormorant. It’s just an awesome spot on the lake, and they have some of the best burgers around. I really love their hangover burger."
| Search "Hi-Ho on the Lake"
"The Zoo on 22 is my favorite dive bar. It is our local hangout. They recently renovated, and now they have TVs everywhere. It looks out over Lake Maud, and it just has that perfect Cormorant Lakes area vibe. It’s a great lake hangout spot."
| zooon22.com | /zooon22
"I started going to Lakes Brew out of convenience because it was right next to the gym. I went there maybe two times, and the lady already remembered my order, which was basically the largest iced caramel macchiato they could give me. Their bacon bagel sandwich is really good, too. It’s normally quick, and everyone there is always happy to see you in the morning. It’s just a really good coffee shop to swing through. It’s a drive-through or walk-up spot, so I’ll get a car wash, pop over to the coffee shop, and then head to work."
| Search "Lakes Brew"
"The Pelican Lake sandbar is an iconic hangout. Everybody pulls up with their boats, and it’s shallow for hundreds of feet out in front of the Barry mansion. It’s all sugar sand, so people pull up, hang out, and you’re going to see everybody you know. Everyone is there to have a good time. We’ll pull up in the boat, play music, and basically spend the whole day there. Then, most of the time, we’ll end up leaving there and going to Zorbaz."
"Dunton Locks is over by my house. It’s an area between Big Detroit Lake, Lake Sallie, and Lake Melissa. It’s this cool bike trail that goes right along the river, and it’s a nice asphalt trail. In the winter, it’s a snowmobile trail. It’s just a nice place to ride bike. I don’t like to ride bike super far, so I like a spot like that. You don’t have to worry about being on the road, and it’s really pretty. There’s a lot of wildlife back there, too."
"I’ve been going to Music on the Mountain for probably the last five years. It’s another one of those things where people from all over the area come out and hang out. You see everybody you haven’t seen all summer, and everyone is there having a good time."
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"The Cornfield Cafe is simply an unbeatable old-school small-town cafe with great breakfast."
| cornfieldcafe.com | Search "The Cornfield Cafe"
"This is actually my favorite ice cream spot, and it's right on the shore of Pelican Lake."
| fairhillsresort.com | /fairhillsresort | @fairhillsresort
"The Cajun Salmon Salad at The Cormorant Pub & Boathouse is my favorite menu item in the lakes area. It's scrumptious!"
| thecormorantpub.com | /cormorantpub
"As far as public swimming spots go. This one is my favorite. Jumping off the bridge is a plus. And your friends can watch you from the dock."
"The Roadhouse is my favorite place for live music. It's loud and awesome, which always makes for a great party."
| /TheRoadhouseCormorantMN
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"I worked at Pelican Zorbaz for six summers and had a great time doing it. I have been going for 15+ years, and it's always been a great place to socialize with an authentic vibe."
| zorbaz.com | /ZorbazontheLake | @zorbazonthelake
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"Ortenstone Gardens is the best “park” in DL but it’s so much more than just a park and it’s growing and constantly changing so every year you go back, there’s something new to see from all the sculptures and art like the massive trolls that people travel all around the world to come see, to the massive steel horse on top of the hill looking over the lake. There’s one of one pieces of art scattered throughout the property you won’t see anywhere else in the world."
| ortenstonegardens.org | /ortenstonegardens
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"The wings at Long Bridge are a must have for anyone coming to Detroit Lakes. They hit even harder on the boat."
| longbridgedl.com | /longbridgedl
"Gotta hit the Lakeshirts beach shop for their tent sales and pick up some Lakeshirts hoodies for a steal."
| lakeshirts.com | /lakeshirtsblue84 | @lakeshirts_
"Wildflower golf course is hands down the best course you can play in the lakes area. The people there could not be more welcoming and hospitable, and the course is always in amazing shape; it’s our go-to spot as many nights a week as we can."
| wildflowergolfcourse.com | /WildflowerGolfCourse | @wildflowergolfcourse
"My fiancé and I love to boat to Fireside for date nights in the summer. There are so many good spots to eat on the lake, but Fireside offers a bit higher dining experience and feels special when we get to do it."
| firesidedl.com | /FiresideDL | @thefiresidedl
"I love going out to Detroit Mountain. From the mountain bike trails, troll hunting, and events like Music on the Mountain, there’s always something to do or going on out there. It’s also the best view of Detroit Lakes and all the surrounding area from the top if you enjoy hiking!"
| detroitmountain.com | /DMRAinc | @detroitmountain
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"Cormorant Pub is a great spot to get off the lake and enjoy some drinks and food with friends. My favorite menu item there is the Mac Daddy burger."
| thecormorantpub.com | /cormorantpub
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"Hotel Shoreham has amazing food and a classic lake atmosphere."
| hotelshoreham.com | /HotelShoreham
"Parallel 46 recently started doing breakfast, and their culinary touch on breakfast staples is a welcome addition to the lakes area. Their weekly breakfast specials are always amazing, and the bartenders do a fantastic job with their unique cocktails."
| parallel46mn.com | /Parallel46MN | @parallel46_mn
"Northside is one of the few remaining dive bars in the area. Also open for breakfast. Be aware it’s cash only."
| Search "Northside Bar"
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ISIAH JOHNS
At a lake home, luxury begins with the approach to the water. The shape of the lot. The direction of the wind. The way guests arrive by car, by pontoon, or barefoot from the beach. It begins with whether the home feels like a project—or whether it feels ready for the memories it was built to hold. At 22195 Broadwater Drive on Pelican Lake, the home is designed for people who want to enjoy the lake immediately, comfortably, and often. For Simon Irish, broker and longtime lakes-country real estate professional, the first thing to understand about the property is not the square footage, the finishes, or even the home itself. It is the shoreline. “The beauty of it is its location,” Irish said. Set in a protected bay on Pelican Lake, the property offers one of the most sought-after combinations in lakesarea real estate: protection from the wind, easy access to the water, and a flat approach to the beach. Many lake homes come with elevation—sometimes dramatic elevation—which can mean long stairways, steep slopes, or even mechanical solutions just to get from the house to the dock. Here, the experience is simpler. From the main level and the primary bedroom, the home opens directly toward the lake. Walk out, and the beach is there. No descent. No obstacle course. Just a natural flow from morning coffee to the shoreline, from the kitchen to the dock, from the indoors to the reason people buy lake homes in the first place. “That’s one of the biggest things people are looking for,” Irish said. “Not having elevation.” 52 | JULY 2026 | MEETFARGO.COM
Pelican Lake has long held a strong reputation in the lakes area, and Irish points to several reasons why. It is a strong recreation lake, with enough depth for the kinds of boating people are increasingly seeking, including surfing. It also has a reputation for good fishing, including walleye and musky. Just as important, Pelican offers proximity. Compared with some lakes that require longer drives, Irish said Pelican remains accessible while still feeling like a true destination. The Broadwater Drive home stands out because of the specific lot it occupies. In lake real estate, Irish said, shoreline is everything. This property sits on what had been two lots, combined for the home, creating the kind of footprint that is difficult to replicate. More linear feet of lakeshore means more breathing room, more flexibility, and a stronger sense of arrival. That rare lot is paired with a home that was not pieced together over decades. It was built new, beginning in 2022, with modern systems, efficient windows, and a cohesive design from the start. That matters, especially in lakes country.
This home offers a different proposition: arrive, unpack, and begin.
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“A lot of times, you get somebody where the house was built in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s,” Irish said. Then come the phased updates: the kitchen one year, bathrooms the next, bedrooms after that, outdoor areas later. Buyers can end up spending their early years of lake ownership managing projects instead of enjoying the lake.
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Nearly 5,000 square feet gives the home scale, but the real story is how that space is used. The floor plan is built around entertaining, family, and the rhythms of lake life. Large windows frame the water and bring natural light deep into the main living areas. A beautiful fireplace anchors the space, while a main-level bar gives guests a natural place to gather. The primary suite is also on the main level, creating convenience and privacy without disconnecting from the center of the home. Nearby, a coffee bar, four-season porch, large kitchen, spacious pantry, and outdoor kitchen all support the idea that lake homes are for hosting. When people come to the lake, they eat, drink, relax, and spend time together. The pantry has to hold the snacks and beverages. The kitchen has to handle a crowd. The outdoor spaces have to work as hard as the indoor ones. This home does that without feeling improvised. It also includes details that speak to different generations using the home at the same time. An elevator connects levels, making the house more accessible for grandparents, parents, guests, or anyone who wants to move easily through the home. For younger family members, there is a feature they will remember immediately: a slide from the second story to the main level. Irish noted that the slide can be removed, but for families with children or grandchildren, it is the kind of playful detail that turns a lake house into a legend.
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Some of the home’s most memorable features are not the obvious ones. There is what Irish described as a “workout cave,” a bonus space accessible from outside. For a lake property, that kind of space can be especially useful. Guests can stop by from the water, hang out, clean up, or use the area without the whole house needing to be opened up. Then there are the practical luxuries like a heated driveway and heated garage floor. They may not be the first things a guest notices in July, but in Minnesota, those details matter. The home’s furnishings also add to the sense that the property was carefully fitted to its spaces. While the home is not automatically being sold fully furnished, Irish said furnishings are negotiable in real estate. One piece in particular—a concrete dining table—feels almost inseparable from the room it occupies. It fits the space. It makes a statement. And, according to Irish, it is not going anywhere easily. “If there’s a hurricane, that thing’s not moving,” he joked.
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For buyers looking at lake property, Irish’s advice is grounded in patience. Choose the lake first. Understand the location. A lake place should be where families grow closer, where friends gather, and where memories take priority over maintenance. That philosophy helps explain the appeal of 22195 Broadwater Drive. It offers the right lake, the right shoreline, and a home that does not ask its next owner to spend years catching up. The structure is new. The spaces are generous. The entertaining areas are already in place. The practical details have already been considered. For a family looking for a Pelican Lake home, that combination is powerful. Because the best lake homes are not only measured in square feet or finish selections; they are measured in how easily they allow life to happen: kids running between levels, grandparents joining the group without barriers, friends arriving from the dock, meals stretching from the kitchen to the porch to the outdoor kitchen, and mornings that begin with a flat walk to the water. At Broadwater Drive, the lake is not something you look at from a distance. It is right there, waiting.
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6 BEDS | 5 BATHS | 4,835 SQ. FT.
2 2 1 9 5 B R OA DWAT E R D R , PELICAN RAPIDS, MN 56572
MINNESOTA LAKES COUNTRY
SUMMER EVENT GUIDE There is no single version of summer in Minnesota lake country. In Detroit Lakes, it might mean country music at Soo Pass Ranch, a triathlon start at the City Beach, or a week of Water Carnival festivities. In Bemidji, it might mean dragon boats cutting across the water or fireworks over Lake Bemidji. In Nisswa and Pequot Lakes, it might mean turtle races and beans cooked underground. Farther north, summer takes on the smell of pine trees, blueberry pie, Lake Superior air, and fishburgers in Grand Marais. From west-central Minnesota to the North Shore, the 2026 calendar is packed with festivals, fairs, concerts, races, art markets, parades, and one-of-a-kind small-town traditions. Here are some of the events worth building a summer road trip around.
TUESDAYS IN THE PARK
June 2-August 25, 2026 | Detroit Lakes City Park Bandshell A Detroit Lakes summer does not need much dressing up, but live music in the park certainly helps. Tuesdays in the Park brings free weekly concerts to the Detroit Lakes City Park Bandshell throughout the heart of the season, giving locals and visitors a laid-back reason to gather near the lake. Bring a lawn chair, a blanket, snacks, and maybe a sweatshirt for when the evening breeze comes off the water. It is the kind of event that works for almost everyone, including families with kids, couples looking for an easy date night, retirees meeting friends, and visitors. With music starting at 6 p.m., it is an easy way to turn an ordinary Tuesday into a summer memory.
TRUCKS & TUNES
June 4-September 3, 2026 | Thursdays, 5-8 p.m. | Detroit Lakes City Park Live music, food trucks, cold drinks, and a crowd gathered under the open sky. Held Thursday evenings at Detroit Lakes City Park, the series gives people a way to start the weekend a little early. The event is free, the atmosphere is casual, and the food trucks make it easy to show up hungry. Bands begin playing at 6 p.m. The event starts at 5 p.m.
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BECKER COUNTY FAIR
July 29-August 1, 2026 | Becker County Fairgrounds, Detroit Lakes The Becker County Fair is the kind of event that reminds people why county fairs still matter. It is part agriculture, part midway, part family reunion, and part sensory overload—in the best way. The 2026 fair runs July 29-August 1 at the Becker County Fairgrounds in Detroit Lakes. Visitors can expect the traditional fair staples like livestock exhibits, 4-H and FFA projects, grandstand events, carnival rides, fair food, and plenty of reasons for kids to pull their parents from one attraction to the next. One long-running highlight is the tractor parade, which travels through Detroit Lakes before arriving at the fairgrounds.
WE FEST
August 5-8, 2026 | Soo Pass Ranch, Detroit Lakes
ART IN THE PARK July 26, 2026 | 9 a.m.-3 p.m. | Detroit Lakes City Park Held in Detroit Lakes City Park next to the City Beach, the Art in the Park fills the shaded park with booths from artists, makers, and craftspeople. Visitors can browse jewelry, woodworking, photography, clothing, pottery, fabric goods, and other handmade pieces while staying close enough to the lake to make a full day of it.
WE Fest remains one of Minnesota’s biggest summer music experiences, and in 2026, the country music and camping festival returns to Soo Pass Ranch with another major lineup. Performers include Thomas Rhett, Lainey Wilson, and Brooks & Dunn, with Little Big Town, Flatland Cavalry, Jamey Johnson, Nate Smith, Max McNown, Randy Houser, Cooper Alan, Shenandoah, Diamond Rio, Brent Cobb, Maggie Antone, Elizabeth Nichols, The Droptines, Noeline Hofmann, Matt Schuster, The Kruse Brothers, and many more!
PINE TO PALM GOLF TOURNAMENT
August 10-16, 2026 | Detroit Country Club Few sporting events in the lakes area carry the history of the Pine to Palm. Held annually at Detroit Country Club since 1931, the tournament has grown into one of the Upper Midwest’s most respected amateur golf traditions. The 94th annual Pine to Palm is scheduled for August 10-16, 2026. Contestants travel from more than 35 states, giving the event a reach that goes far beyond Detroit Lakes.
YOUNG LIFE TRIATHLON / LAKES AREA TRIATHLON August 15, 2026 | Detroit Lakes
The Young Life Triathlon brings early-morning nerves, transition-area focus, lake-water starts, and finish-line relief. Participants can choose from multiple distances, including an Olympic division with a 1.5K swim, 40K bike ride, and 10K run, or a sprint division with a 500-meter swim, 12.4-mile bike ride, and 2.92-mile run. For many racers, the setting is a major part of the appeal. Detroit Lakes offers a scenic backdrop for both competition and spectatorship.
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Maplewood State Park
LOONEY DAYS
July 30-August 2, 2026 | Vergas Vergas knows how to lean into its personality, and Looney Days is the proof. The 2026 celebration runs July 30-August 2 with the theme “Red White and Looney!” Sponsored by the Vergas Community Club, the town celebration brings together street sales, kids' activities, food, music, community events, and a full weekend of local pride.
TURKEY DAYS
July 22-26, 2026 | Frazee Expect a packed community schedule built around small-town fun, including vendors, food, music, contests, reunions, family events, and plenty of nods to Frazee’s turkey-town pride. It is the sort of festival that works well for families and day-trippers because there is usually something happening throughout the weekend, and the atmosphere tends to be casual and welcoming.
SILVER SAGE PRO RODEO
August 7-8, 2026 | Silver Sage Guest Ranch, Clitherall The Silver Sage Pro Rodeo brings a western edge to Minnesota lake country. Held near Clitherall, the event is a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Women’s Professional Rodeo Association-sanctioned competition, which means the action is the real deal. The 2026 rodeo is scheduled for August 7-8, with performances at 7 p.m. and gates opening at 4 p.m. Visitors can expect classic rodeo events such as bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tiedown roping, barrel racing, and bull riding. Silver Sage Pro Rodeo
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WATERMARK ART FESTIVAL July 18-19, 2026 | Library Park and Lake Bemidji Lakefront
The Watermark Art Festival is a strong fit for visitors who want their lake weekend to include a little culture. The festival transforms Library Park and the Watermark Art Center grounds into a downtown arts destination. The event features more than 100 artists and organizations, food, live music, art activities, demonstrations, and indoor and outdoor programming. Formerly known as Art in the Park, the festival has been a Bemidji summer highlight since 1967. Come and browse booths, listen to music, grab food, walk the lakefront, and step inside the Watermark Art Center galleries.
LAKE BEMIDJI DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL July 30-August 1, 2026 | Lake Bemidji waterfront
The Lake Bemidji Dragon Boat Festival is both athletic and festive, which is part of what makes it so fun to watch. The 20th annual festival is scheduled for July 30-August 1, 2026, along the Lake Bemidji waterfront. Teams paddle long dragon boats in synchronized rhythm, creating a race-day atmosphere that is colorful, loud, and easy for spectators to enjoy. Beyond the races, the festival includes food, music, kids' activities, cultural performances, a parade of teams, a 5K race, and a kids' fun run.
BELTRAMI COUNTY FAIR August 12-16, 2026 | Beltrami County Fairgrounds
The Beltrami County Fair gives the Bemidji area a classic late-summer fair experience. Scheduled for August 12-16, 2026, the fair brings together the familiar mix of livestock, youth exhibits, midway fun, food vendors, entertainment, and community gathering.
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NISSWA TURTLE RACES
Wednesdays, June 3-August 12, 2026 | Nisswa The 63rd annual races take place every Wednesday from June 3 through August 12, 2026. Registration starts at 1 p.m., races begin at 2 p.m., and participants receive an official 2026 racing button along with the use of a turtle. Due to state regulations, racers are not allowed to bring their own turtles. The event provides them.
BEAN HOLE DAYS
July 14-15, 2026 | Pequot Lakes The tradition centers on massive cast iron kettles of beans buried underground to cook overnight, then served at noon the next day to thousands of hungry visitors. It is part food event, part spectacle, part small-town celebration. The Brainerd Lakes Chamber describes it as “rootin’ tootin’ good fun,” which feels about right.
ART IN THE PARK
July 25-26, 2026 | Alexandria City Park Alexandria’s Art in the Park is one of the stronger arts events in Minnesota lake country, especially for visitors who want a weekend that blends shopping, creativity, and lake-town wandering. The 2026 event takes place July 25-26 at Alexandria City Park, with Saturday hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday hours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. More than 100 art and food vendors are expected, making it easy to spend several hours browsing.
ELY BLUEBERRY ART FESTIVAL July 24-26, 2026 | Whiteside Park, Ely
The Ely Blueberry Art Festival is one of the best reasons to head toward the Boundary Waters in late July. The 46th annual festival is scheduled for July 24-26, 2026, and draws an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 festivalgoers over three days. Held in Whiteside Park and the surrounding downtown area, the event features 237 artist and crafter booths, 25 food vendors, a beer garden, and freshly baked blueberry pies. Visitors can browse pottery, woodworking, paintings, jewelry, apparel, and handmade goods, then walk into downtown Ely for shops, restaurants, outfitters, and the unmistakable feeling of being at the edge of canoe country. 64 | JULY 2026 | MEETFARGO.COM
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TALL TIMBER DAYS
July 31-August 2, 2026 | Grand Rapids Tall Timber Days is Grand Rapids’ largest summer celebration and a natural fit for anyone exploring the lakes and forests of Itasca County. The 2026 festival is scheduled for July 31-August 2. The event brings together a parade, arts and crafts, live entertainment, food, kids' activities, and a full weekend of community programming. The arts and crafts fair is set up on the grounds of the Old Central School in historic downtown Grand Rapids, which gives the event a walkable, communitycentered feel.
GRAND MARAIS FISHERMAN’S PICNIC July 30-August 2, 2026 | Downtown Grand Marais
The Fisherman’s Picnic is one of the North Shore’s most beloved summer traditions. The 97th annual event is scheduled for July 30-August 2, 2026, in downtown Grand Marais. Organized by the Grand Marais Lions Club, the festival includes sidewalk sales, a craft show, daily contests, live music, kids' activities, food trucks, fireworks on Saturday night, and a Sunday parade. But the signature item is the fishburger, which is locally caught Lake Superior herring served on a bun. Grand Marais already feels like one of Minnesota’s most picturesque harbor towns, and Fisherman’s Picnic turns the whole community into a weekend celebration of lake life, local tradition, and summer tourism at its peak.
BAYFRONT BLUES FESTIVAL
August 14-16, 2026 | Bayfront Festival Park, Duluth For travelers willing to stretch the definition of “lakes area” to include Lake Superior, the Bayfront Blues Festival in Duluth is worth considering. Held at Bayfront Festival Park, the festival brings blues music to one of the most scenic outdoor venues in the state, with Lake Superior and Duluth’s harbor as the backdrop. The 2026 festival is scheduled for August 14-16. While the event has a different feel than a small-town fair or lake-country art market, it fits beautifully into a North Shore itinerary. Visitors can spend the day exploring Canal Park, the Lakewalk, breweries, shops, and restaurants, then head to the waterfront for music in the evening. For music lovers, it is one of Duluth’s strongest summer anchors
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Where to Golf in
By Brady Drake Minnesota lake country has it all. It has water, patios, trails, concerts, cabins, and small-town festivals. But for golfers, the region has another major draw. From Detroit Lakes and Otter Tail County to Bemidji, Brainerd, Alexandria, Park Rapids, Ely, and the North Shore, the area is packed with courses that turn a simple round into part of the vacation. Some are polished resort courses with stay-and-play packages. Others are relaxed public tracks tucked into pine trees, wetlands, lake views, or rolling farm country. Whether you are chasing a championship layout, a quick nine, a family-friendly round, or a full golf weekend with friends, these courses are worth building into a lakes-area trip.
Detroit Lakes Area
Detroit Lakes Detroit Country Club is one of the anchor golf destinations in Detroit Lakes, and it carries extra history because of the Pine to Palm Golf Tournament, which has been held at the club since 1931. The course is open to the public and offers two different 18-hole layouts: the Pine to Palm Course and the Lakeview Course. That gives golfers options, whether they want a more traditional championship-style round or a shorter, more casual outing.
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Detroit Lakes / Fair Hills Resort area Wildflower Golf Course is one of the prettiest public golf stops in the Detroit Lakes area. The course is an 18-hole, par-72 prairie-links layout connected to the Fair Hills Resort area, with open fairways, natural scenery, and a setting near Pelican Lake. It has enough challenge for experienced golfers but still fits the vacation-golf mood. Wildflower works especially well for groups staying around Fair Hills, families who want golf as part of a larger lake getaway, or players who enjoy a course that feels open and natural rather than overly crowded.
Detroit Lakes Forest Hills is a good addition for readers looking for golf that connects directly to a longer stay. The property combines a championship golf course with an RV resort, on-site bar and grill, and familyfriendly amenities, making it more than a quick tee-time stop. Its location in the Detroit Lakes region puts golfers close to hundreds of area lakes, so a round can easily be paired with boating, fishing, swimming, or a weekend at the campground.
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Otter Tail County
Ottertail Thumper Pond is one of the most complete golf-and-resort options in Otter Tail County. The course was designed by Eric Niskanen and carved through 90,000 red pine trees, giving it a wooded, northern Minnesota feel. In addition to the 18-hole championship course, Thumper Pond has a 350-yard practice range, a short-game area, two putting greens, lessons, an all-suite hotel, RV park, conference space, restaurant, spa, and an indoor waterpark. That makes it especially useful for families or groups where golf is only one part of the weekend. Serious golfers get a full course and practice setup, while non-golfers have plenty to do without leaving the property.
Battle Lake Balmoral Golf Course has been part of the Ottertail Lake area since 1961. Located on the southeast side of Otter Tail Lake, the par-72 course is known for good greens, a variety of shot shapes, and a classic public-course feel.
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Perham Perham Lakeside Golf Club offers three nine-hole courses—Pine, Maple, and Oak—creating 27 holes of public golf. The Maple and Oak courses as opening in 1940 and the Pine course in 2000, which gives the club a mix of older-course character and newer design. For visitors, the flexibility is the big advantage. You can play nine, 18, or mix and match nines across a longer day, then spend time in Perham’s downtown, restaurants, shops, or nearby lakes.
Henning Oakwood is a nice addition for readers who like the old-school Minnesota combination of golf and supper-club culture. The public nine-hole course near Henning gives golfers a more relaxed option in the Ottertail area, with a par-36 layout listed at 2,940 yards. For a casual vacation day, Oakwood works well as a lower-pressure round before dinner, a quick nine with friends, or a stop for golfers exploring the quieter corners of Otter Tail County.
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Bemidji Area
Bemidji Bemidji Town & Country Club gives northern Minnesota golfers a beautiful setting right along the north shore of Lake Bemidji. The public 18-hole course is bordered by Norway pines and is known for hosting the Birchmont Tournament, Minnesota Golf Association events, and collegiate tournaments. It has the feel of a course with history and standards, but it still fits nicely into a lake weekend. Visitors can play a round, spend time downtown Bemidji, walk the lakefront, or make the stop part of a longer trip through northern Minnesota.
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Brainerd Lakes Area
Brainerd The Classic at Madden’s is one of the standout public-access resort courses in Minnesota. Designed with walking golf in mind, the course is known for a polished, tour-quality feel and has earned national recognition, including placement on Golf Digest’s “America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses” list and Golfweek’s top resort-course rankings. The broader Madden’s golf property includes multiple courses, but The Classic is the one serious golfers will want to circle first. It is challenging, scenic, and built for players who want their golf trip to feel like the main event. Madden’s is not just The Classic. The resort also offers Pine Beach East, Pine Beach West, and The Social 9, giving golfers several ways to play depending on time, skill level, and mood. Pine Beach East and West offer full resort-golf experiences, while The Social 9 is designed for a quicker, more casual round. That range is valuable for groups, especially when one person wants championship golf and another just wants a fun round before dinner. All of Madden’s courses are open to the public, and the resort offers rentals, practice facilities, and golf packages.
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Nisswa The Pines at Grand View Lodge is a Brainerd Lakes classic, featuring 27 holes across three distinct nines: Lakes, Woods, and Marsh. With five tee boxes on each hole, the course suits a range of golfers while delivering the forested, resort-style atmosphere Nisswa is known for. Its practice facility includes putting greens, a two-sided driving range, and a short-game area. The Preserve adds another destination-level option to Grand View’s golf lineup. Located near Pequot Lakes, the 18-hole resort course offers a more secluded, scenic feel.
Brainerd Cragun’s has become one of the most interesting golf stories in the Brainerd Lakes region. The resort’s Legacy Courses now offer 45 holes of championship golf shaped by Minnesota golf legend Tom Lehman, with the property featuring the Lehman 18, Dutch 18, and a reversible par-3 nine. The Dutch 27 renovation was completed in spring 2025, and the redesigned courses emphasize playability, strategic design, Northwoods scenery, and high-level conditions. For golfers planning a true multi-round trip, Cragun’s belongs near the top of the list.
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Breezy Point Breezy Point gives the Brainerd Lakes area another major resort-golf stop, especially with Deacon’s Lodge and Whitebirch. Deacon’s Lodge is set among lakes, woods, and wetlands and is described by the resort as a nationally acclaimed layout, while Whitebirch is noted as the first championship golf course layout in the Brainerd Lakes Area and stretches over 6,700 yards.
Prairie Oral Surgery Brainerd Gravel Pit Golf is a different kind of Brainerd golf experience. Rather than a traditional 18-hole course, it is a 13-hole short course built from a repurposed gravel pit, with fescue, water features, elevation change, and a links-inspired feel. The course was designed with fun and flexibility in mind, which makes it ideal for mixed-skill groups, casual golfers, juniors, or serious players who love creative short-course architecture. The clubhouse overlooks all 13 holes and includes a golf shop, bar, and restaurant, giving the property a social feel that fits the modern golf trend toward shorter, more relaxed rounds.
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Alexandria Lakes Area
Alexandria Geneva Golf Club offers 27 holes and presents itself as a welcoming public golf destination rather than an exclusive private club. With three nines to choose from, golfers can play a full 18 while still getting variety, or come back for a different routing later in the trip. The course pairs naturally with Alexandria’s Chain of Lakes, downtown, patios, and other summer attractions.
Alexandria Atikwa is a true resort course, located at Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center on Lake Darling. The 18-hole course was designed with wetland preservation in mind and features rolling fairways, lake views, and strategic challenges for both casual and serious golfers. For visitors staying at Arrowwood, Atikwa is especially convenient, but it is also worth including for anyone planning an Alexandria golf weekend.
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Miltona Golf Digest’s Alexandria-area course guide includes Lake Miltona among the public courses near Alexandria, making it a useful option for golfers staying around the Chain of Lakes or heading north of town. It works well as a quieter add-on course for visitors who want to turn an Alexandria trip into a multi-course weekend.
Osakis Located near Lake Osakis, the course fits the mold of an accessible public course that can be paired with a cabin weekend, fishing trip, or family visit. Golf Digest includes Osakis Country Club among public courses in the Alexandria-area golf market, making it a good community to include if you want the guide to feel more regional and less limited to the biggest resort names.
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Park Rapids Area
Park Rapids Headwaters Golf Club is a public 18-hole championship course in Park Rapids, established in 1968 and carved through mature pines and hardwoods. That gives the course the kind of wooded northern Minnesota feel that fits perfectly with a Park Rapids or Itasca-area trip. The course iss enjoyable but challenging for all levels, making it a good recommendation for families, juniors, casual players, and regular golfers.
Menahga / Park Rapids area Blueberry Pines is located near Park Rapids and Menahga and offers an 18-hole championship course designed to provide a fair challenge for all ability levels. The course setting includes rolling hills, mature trees, and a spring-fed stream. Blueberry Pines also has a driving range, chipping and pitching area, putting green, carts, club rentals, dining, and stay-and-play options.
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Ely and the Boundary Waters Area
Ely Ely Golf Club sits in Ely and offers a scenic, north-woods golf experience close to the BWCAW gateway community. It iss one of the best values in the area and is committed to eco-friendly course management and creating a wilderness golf experience.
Grand Rapids / McGregor Area
McGregor Minnesota National Golf Club offers 27 holes designed by Joel Goldstrand, including a championship course that can stretch to 7,200 yards and offers five sets of tees on every hole. The course features bentgrass fairways, tees and greens, plus Ohio white sand bunkers. It also has North Fork Tavern on-site, which makes it easy to turn the round into a full outing with food and drinks afterward.
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North Shore / Lake Superior
Two Harbors Lakeview National is an 18-hole championship course that sits high above Two Harbors and offers views of Lake Superior from 14 holes.
Lutsen Superior National at Lutsen is one of the marquee golf experiences on the North Shore. Located along Lake Superior, the course offers 27 holes, with the River and Canyon premier 18 having been improved from tee to green. The setting is the biggest selling point with dramatic terrain, North Shore scenery, and a course that feels integrated into one of Minnesota’s most beautiful travel corridors.
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Silver Bay Silver Bay Golf Course gives the North Shore section a shorter, more approachable option. Lake County tourism highlights Silver Bay as one of the county’s two scenic golf courses along the North Shore, alongside Lakeview National. As a nine-hole course, it works well for visitors who want to squeeze golf into a day that might also include hiking, waterfalls, state parks, or a drive up Highway 61. Not every vacation round needs to take four or five hours, and Silver Bay fills that lighter, more flexible role.
JOE JACKSON BUILT MINNESOTA CAMP GUIDE TO HELP PEOPLE SEE ALL THE PUBLIC-LAND CAMPING POSSIBILITIES
oe Jackson likes to think of Minnesota Camp Guide as a kind of front desk. It's a place to ask, Where can I camp in Minnesota? What kind of camping is even possible? And how do I find the places I don’t already know to search for? For readers in Fargo, Detroit Lakes and the surrounding lakes country, that question matters. Not everyone has a family cabin. Not everyone has a boat lift, a private dock or a standing invitation to spend the weekend on someone else’s shoreline. But just across the border—and then deeper into Minnesota’s forests, rivers and public lands—there are thousands of places where a person can sleep outside, wake up near water, sit by a fire, paddle into a quiet campsite or simply learn how to be more comfortable outdoors. Jackson built Minnesota Camp Guide, found at minnesotacampguide.com, to make that world easier to understand.
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY JOE JACKSON
BY BRADY DRAKE
The site organizes Minnesota camping into what he calls the “23 Ways to Camp,” a framework that sorts public-land camping by both how you get there—car, backpack, bike or paddle—and who manages the land. State parks, state forests, national forests, wilderness areas, national scenic rivers and water trails all become part of one larger map. The result is part guidebook, part map room and part invitation. “This project uses two major variables to better organize all of our public land camping opportunities,” the site says. In plain English, it helps campers move beyond one crowded lane and see the whole road system. Jackson, who lives in Minneapolis and grew up south of Mille Lacs Lake, has spent much of his adult life helping people get outside. Professionally, he works as an outdoor guide and instructor, leading trips and teaching skills by bike, canoe, kayak and backpack. Before that, he spent years in the outdoor industry, including guiding through REI’s experiences program. Today, Minnesota Camp Guide remains what he calls a “super humble personal project,” something he tends like a garden when time and curiosity allow.
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The seed was planted in the early 2010s, as Jackson watched more and more people become anxious about state park campsite reservations. People around him worried that if they could not reserve a state park site, they could not camp. Jackson saw it differently.
CHIPPEWA NATIONAL FOREST
JOE JACKSON’S ADVICE FOR NEW CAMPERS Do less for the first time. Set up your tent before the trip. Test your stove. Make sure your water filter works. The fewer surprises waiting at camp, the more relaxed you will be. Start with support nearby. State parks like Glendalough and Maplewood are great first steps because they offer staff, facilities, trails and reservable sites.
ST. CROIX RIVER
Expect to keep learning. Packing, cooking, sleeping, paddling and choosing sites all get easier with repetition. The goal is not perfection. The goal is comfort and confidence.
“I just remember being like, man, everybody, we’ve got state forests, we’ve got two national forests, we’ve got wilderness areas,” he said. “Not to mention, besides car camping, we’ve got more water to canoe or kayak into a campsite than so many other places.” The problem was not a lack of opportunities. It was that the opportunities were scattered across agencies, maps, PDFs, office binders and local knowledge. Each public agency was doing its own work, but the average camper did not always know where to look. “If there was a singular map where all these different public land agencies who do great work—but it’s only their responsibility to manage their own website and maps—if that stuff was just sitting in one spot, how useful that would be,” Jackson said. So he started building it.
Use the map to stretch yourself. Once car camping feels familiar, try a cart-in site, then a hike-in or paddle-in site. Minnesota Camp Guide is built to help people see those progressions. Remember what is waiting. The awkward first attempts are often followed by the moment Jackson describes as: “Hell yeah. Here I am.”
The website itself is built on Wix. The mapping work is more technical. Jackson uses QGIS, a professional-grade geographic information system. Much of the data came from public agencies, but some of the most interesting pieces required extra digging. In the Chippewa National Forest, for example, he found designated dispersed campsites that existed in Forest Service materials but were not always easy to find online. That is where Minnesota Camp Guide becomes more than a compilation. It interprets the landscape. It connects dots. It gives people the confidence to try a new kind of trip.
Jackson focuses on public land. He is not trying to mix in private campground listings or monetize every search. He is interested in the lands that belong, in one way or another, to the public. He sees the project as a way to increase participation in public lands, but also awareness. People are less likely to care
SUPERIOR HIKING TRAIL
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CHIPPEWA NATIONAL FOREST
about losing a place, he argues, if they never knew it was there.
That is part of what he loves about the Chippewa National Forest.
“The less that you’re doing for the first time, the better,” he said.
“Our biggest threat to our public land system,” he said, “was just us as the public having a lack of awareness of what is in our portfolio of places that belong to us.”
In recent years, Jackson said, the Chippewa has become one of his favorite places in the state. He mentions Trout Lake in particular.
That could mean setting up a new tent in the backyard before a trip. Firing up the camp stove at home. Testing the water filter. Packing and repacking until the process feels less mysterious. The goal is not to become an expert overnight. It is to remove enough friction that, when you arrive at camp, you can pay attention to the good stuff.
For Jackson, using public land is one of the first steps toward valuing it. The Boundary Waters may be the most recognizable example in Minnesota, but he points out that lesser-known places matter, too like a quiet lake in a national forest, a primitive river campsite, a free dispersed site under cedar trees. These places may not have the same name recognition, but they can be just as meaningful once someone has spent a night there.
“You might be sitting by yourself on this tiny lake with these huge cedar trees, and the trumpeter swans are just landing for the evening, and there’s nobody else,” he said. “It wasn’t hard to get to, and it’s free to stay there, so long as you’re willing to treat your own water and live off batteries for the evening.”
“You’re never going to stop learning when you’re doing this stuff,” Jackson said. “Be patient with yourself.”
For someone newer to camping, that might sound intimidating. Jackson understands. Much of his advice comes down to reducing the number of unknowns.
For Fargo-area readers looking for a first step into Minnesota public-land camping, Jackson points naturally toward the lakes country.
PUBLIC LAND 101
State parks: Often the easiest starting point, with reservable campsites, staff, trails, bathrooms and visitor information.
Minnesota Camp Guide focuses on public land. Here are a few of the major categories campers may encounter.
State forests: Usually more rustic than state parks, with campgrounds, trails and, in some places, dispersed camping opportunities. National forests: Large federal lands with developed campgrounds, primitive sites, trails, lakes and broader camping possibilities. Wilderness areas: More remote places where travel is usually non-motorized and campers need stronger self-sufficiency skills. Water trails: Rivers and paddling routes with campsites designed for canoeists and kayakers.
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Glendalough State Park, near Battle Lake, is one of his top beginner-friendly recommendations. The park sits around Annie Battle Lake and offers a softer transition into camping. Its cart-in campground lets campers park nearby and haul gear a short distance, creating a quieter, more natural experience without the full commitment of backpacking. For those ready to add a little adventure, the park also has canoe-in sites, and bikes, canoes and kayaks can be rented at the park. It is the kind of place where a family can feel supported while still doing something that feels memorable.
VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK
Maplewood State Park offers a different flavor. Larger and wilder, it has rolling hills, hardwood forests, lakes and more room to roam. Jackson describes it as a next step for campers who want a little more space and a little more solitude. Visitors can still car camp, but they can also hike, paddle, fish or work their way toward more remote campsites. From there, Jackson said, campers can look farther east and north into the Chippewa National Forest. That is where Minnesota Camp Guide really begins to shine. Instead of only showing the obvious developed campgrounds, the site helps reveal national forest camping, dispersed sites, paddlein opportunities, backpacking routes and places that may never show up in a casual search. Eventually, that same curiosity can lead to the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, the Superior Hiking Trail, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness or the state’s vast network of water trails.
LAKE SUPERIOR NORTH SHORE
Jackson does not dismiss the famous places. He loves Lake Superior, the Boundary Waters and the Superior Hiking Trail. He recently finished the Superior Hiking Trail himself. But Minnesota Camp Guide has helped him, and others, see that a lifetime of outdoor discovery does not have to be built only around the icons. There are obscure places, he said, that are not necessarily harder. They are just less known. The reward is not only solitude. It is participation in something larger. Jackson talks about camping as joy, but also as ritual. The annual paddling trip with friends. The repeated act of setting up camp. The shared work of cooking, packing, paddling, walking, learning. Nature, he believes, has a way of making people feel both more grounded and less self-important. “I think it makes you happy,” he said. “We’re all looking for ways to do and have that.” And once people have experienced that feeling, Jackson hopes they keep going.
BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA WILDERNESS
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CHIPPEWA NATIONAL FOREST
THREE PLACES TO START Glendalough State Park A strong first step for families or newer campers. Jackson likes Glendalough because it offers a comfortable transition into public-land camping. Campers can use cart-in sites, rent bikes or boats and, when ready, try canoe-in campsites across the lake. Maplewood State Park A little bigger, wilder and more spread out. Maplewood gives campers a chance to car camp, hike, fish, paddle or work toward backpacking-style campsites without immediately jumping into a remote wilderness trip. Chippewa National Forest For campers ready to go deeper, Jackson sees the Chippewa as one of Minnesota’s great underappreciated camping regions. It offers developed campgrounds, primitive sites, paddle-in options, backpacking routes and designated dispersed campsites that feel much farther away than they are.
Maybe they try a new park. Maybe they volunteer on a trail. Maybe they become more invested in the public lands they use. Maybe they send him a note after discovering a campsite they never would have found otherwise. That, he said, is one of the best parts of the project. “I’m so happy to share all of these places with everyone else,” Jackson said. “We’re all the same fellow public landowners of all these things.” For those on the North Dakota side of the border, his invitation is simple: come over. Try the state parks near the lakes area. Follow the map deeper into the forests. Paddle a river. Sleep outside for one night. Learn one new skill. Then another. There is no need to own a cabin to have a place in Minnesota’s outdoors. There is already a front desk waiting.
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By Brady Drake Going to the lake is a season for Minnesotans. Within a few hours of Fargo, the landscape includes pine trees, clear water, old lodges, cabin resorts, bike trails, fishing docks, and lake country small towns. This guide narrows the list to some of the best resort-style getaways within reach of Fargo, from classic family resorts and historic lodges to golf destinations, boutique cabins, Boundary Waters base camps, and Cuyuna adventure stays. Some are built for big family vacations. Others are better for couples, golfers, anglers, wedding guests, or anyone who just wants a quiet place near the water.
Fair Hills Resort is one of the essential Detroit Lakes-area resort names because it preserves the feel of an old-fashioned Minnesota family vacation at a scale that can still handle big groups, reunions, weddings, and multi-generational stays. Located near Pelican Lake and Wildflower Golf Course, Fair Hills leans into the classic resort formula of lake time, golf, meals, organized activities, entertainment, and a strong sense of tradition. It is a natural fit for travelers who want more than a cabin rental—they want the full summer-camp-for-families experience, where the schedule, meals, water, woods, and evening entertainment all become part of the trip.
The Lodge on Lake Detroit is a stronger fit for travelers who want a boutique hotel-style lake stay rather than a traditional cabin resort. With all-lakefront rooms and suites on Detroit Lake, it gives guests immediate water views while keeping them close to downtown Detroit Lakes, restaurants, events, and city amenities. It is especially useful for couples, business travelers, wedding guests, and shorter stays where comfort, location, and lakefront access matter more than a full week of resort programming.
| /fairhillsresort | @fairhillsresort
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| /TheLodgeonLakeDetroit
East Silent Resort is one of the most important Otter Tail Lakes Country attractions because it brings together long resort history, cabin lodging, and a quiet lake setting. Located on East Silent Lake, the resort has been part of Minnesota family-vacation culture for more than a century and is especially appealing to families who want a classic cabin week with modern comfort. Its location also makes it a useful bridge between Detroit Lakes, Perham, Fergus Falls, and the broader Otter Tail region. | /EastSilentResort
Thumper Pond Resort is a different kind of Otter Tail-area property because it is built around golf, indoor waterpark-style recreation, events, and hotel-style lodging. It is not the quietest cabin-on-thelake option, but that is part of its purpose: it works for families who want indoor amenities, golfers who want a stay-and-play setup, and groups that need meeting or wedding space. In a broader resort guide, Thumper Pond helps show that Otter Tail Lakes Country is not only about cabin resorts and fishing lakes; it also has full-service recreation properties. | /thumperpond | @thumperpondresort
Barky’s Resort is a classic Otter Tail Lake family and fishing resort with year-round appeal. In summer, the draw is cabin stays, lake access, pontoon and boat rentals, sandy beach time, and generations of returning guests. In winter, the resort shifts toward ice fishing, snowmobiling, and quiet off-season getaways. Its location on the southwest shore of Otter Tail Lake makes it especially appealing to anglers and families who want one of the region’s signature lakes without a large hotel-resort atmosphere. | /BarkysResort | @barkys_resort
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Mantrap Lodge is an amazing resort in the Park Rapids area, especially for travelers who care about fishing, scenery, and a true Northwoods lake setting. Located on Big Mantrap Lake, the resort combines cabin lodging with a wilderness feel, family activities, a lodge and gift shop, pool, hot tub, playground, boats, and access to one of the area’s most distinctive fishing lakes. Big Mantrap’s bays, islands, and long shoreline give the resort a more remote feel than its distance from Park Rapids might suggest. | /MantrapLodge | @mantrap_lodge
Half Moon Trail Resort is a polished family resort on Boot Lake, just north of Park Rapids and near Itasca State Park. It combines updated accommodations, landscaped grounds, a sand beach, a heated pool, organized kids’ activities, and low-traffic water that works well for swimming, paddling, and family boating. It is one of the stronger Park Rapids options for families who want the classic cabin-resort structure but with an upscale, cared-for feel. | /HalfMoonTrail
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Ruttger’s Birchmont Lodge is the historic anchor of the Bemidji resort scene. Located on Lake Bemidji, the property dates back to 1915 and now operates year-round with lodge rooms, cabins, cottages, dining, marina access, fishing, golf, winter activities, and event space. It is one of the best fits for travelers who want both lake-resort atmosphere and easy access to Bemidji’s restaurants, downtown, university, trails, and cultural attractions. | /RuttgersBemidji | @ruttgersbemidji
Pimushe Resort belongs in the Bemidji/Blackduck section as one of the Minnesota Northwoods family and fishing resorts. Set on Pimushe Lake, it helps represent the quieter lake-country side of the region, away from Bemidji’s busier Lake Bemidji corridor and the larger Cass Lake properties. It is a good fit for travelers who want cabins, fishing, wildlife, and a more low-key Northwoods vacation. | /PimusheResort
Burntside Lodge is one of the must-have Ely-area properties because of its history, setting, and atmosphere. Located on the southern shore of Burntside Lake, it is the oldest remaining lakeside guest resort in the Ely area, with roots going back to 1913. It is best framed as a classic summer lodge for travelers who want historic charm, pine-covered shoreline, cabin culture, dining, and a direct connection to Ely’s old resort era. | /burntsidelodge
White Iron Beach Resort is a strong family and fishing resort near Ely, set on White Iron Lake and surrounded by the Superior National Forest. It offers lake cabins, sandy beach areas, shallow swimming, boat rentals, paddling options, and easy access to the Boundary Waters region. It is a natural fit for families who want the Ely wilderness feel but still prefer a resort with cabins, beach time, and activities close at hand. | /WIBR1917
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River Point Resort & Outfitting Co. is one of the most versatile Elyarea additions because it combines resort lodging with outfitting, fishing, paddling, and romantic getaway packages. It works for families, couples, honeymooners, anglers, and Boundary Waters travelers who want help planning time on the water. Its value in the guide is that it connects the traditional resort experience with Ely’s outfitting culture. | /riverpointresort
Grand Ely Lodge is the practical full-service lodge option in Ely, with hotel-style rooms, dining, pool, sauna, game room, event space, and direct access to the Shagawa Lake setting. It is especially helpful for travelers who want the Ely experience without renting a cabin or committing to a rustic resort. For weddings, conferences, winter trips, family weekends, and pre- or post-BWCA stays, Grand Ely Lodge is one of the easiest recommendations in town. | /grandelylodge | @grandelylodge
Silver Rapids Lodge is one of Ely’s original resort properties, dating back to 1919 and located near the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. With cabins, campsites, guest rooms, docks, trails, and access to a chain of lakes, it is built for fishing, camping, ATV and snowmobile trips, and outdoor-focused getaways. It belongs in the guide because it captures the rugged, gateway-tothe-wilderness side of Ely resort culture.
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Grand View Lodge is the grand historic anchor of the Brainerd Lakes resort scene. Set on Gull Lake in Nisswa, the property traces its roots back to 1916 and still carries the character of an old Minnesota lodge, with rustic architecture, lakefront gathering places, golf, dining, spa amenities, and a full range of lodging styles. Part of its appeal is that it feels less like a single hotel and more like a resort village, where guests can choose between lodge rooms, cottages, cabins, villas, and newer upscale accommodations while still staying connected to the classic Gull Lake experience. | /GrandViewLodgeMN | @grand_viewlodge
Madden’s is one of the most complete resort campuses in the region, built for travelers who want to park the car and spend the whole trip on property. Spread across a Gull Lake peninsula, it offers a blend of golf, beaches, marina life, dining, spa services, family activities, and lakefront lodging. The resort works especially well for families, golf groups, reunions, and multi-generational trips because it has enough variety to let everyone build a different vacation out of the same place.
| /maddensresort | @maddensresort
Cragun’s Resort is big enough for conferences, weddings, golf trips, reunions, and full family vacations, but still rooted in the traditional Minnesota resort formula of beach, boats, cabins, and lake time. Its Legacy Courses, redesigned with Tom Lehman’s involvement, give it a strong golf identity, while its lodging mix and yearround amenities make it one of the more versatile choices in the Lakes Area. For groups that need space, options, and an easy lakefront base, Cragun’s is one of the region’s most dependable picks. | /CragunsResort | @cragunsresort
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Quarterdeck brings a more modern, social energy to the Gull Lake resort mix. Located on the west shore of Gull Lake, it combines beach access and lake views with a newer boutique-resort feel, especially through QD Social, its year-round entertainment and recreation hub. It is a strong fit for couples, friend groups, wedding parties, and travelers who want the Gull Lake setting without the scale or formality of the area’s largest historic resorts. | /QuarterdeckResortonGullLake | @quarterdeckresort
Lost Lake Lodge is a quieter, more intimate option near the heart of the Gull Lake area. Its setting between private, spring-fed Lost Lake and the Gull Lake Chain gives guests a rare combination: a peaceful wooded retreat with access to the larger lake-country scene nearby. The lodge’s roots go back to its restaurant beginnings in the 1940s, which helps explain why dining, hospitality, and a slower, more personal resort experience remain central to its identity. | /lostlakemn
Good Ol’ Days Resort offers one of the best combinations of lakefront quiet and downtown Nisswa convenience. Located on Lower Cullen Lake and close to the Paul Bunyan Trail, it works well for families who want to swim, bike, walk into town, shop, and keep the vacation simple. The property’s history as an early logging-camp site gives it a little extra texture, but the real draw is its relaxed, lake-level setting just a few blocks from one of the area’s most beloved small towns. | /GoodOlDaysResort
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Boyd Lodge is one of the strongest resort options on the Whitefish Chain, giving guests direct access to the connected-lake experience while maintaining a family-resort feel. Located on Rush Lake and Lower Whitefish, it blends upscale cabin lodging with activities like swimming, fishing, turtle races, scavenger hunts, ice fishing, snowmobiling, and skating. It’s a good fit for travelers who want a polished cabin stay with the nostalgic “up north” traditions that make a lake week memorable
Clamshell Beach Resort stands out because it pairs a smaller resort atmosphere with amenities many guests associate with much larger properties. Set on Clamshell Lake, it offers sandy frontage, pools, beach activities, playgrounds, sport courts, and access to the Whitefish Chain, making it an especially appealing family option. It is also close to Whitefish Golf Course, which helps it work for groups that want both kid-friendly lake time and easy golf access.
| /BoydLodge
| /clamshellbeachresort
| @boydlodge
| @clamshellresort
Manhattan Beach Lodge is more of a historic lakeside inn than a sprawling resort campus, which is exactly what makes it distinct. Built in 1929 on Big Trout Lake, it combines lakeview rooms, handcrafted lodge details, dining, sunsets, and a sense of old resort-era romance. It is a particularly good fit for couples, small groups, wedding guests, and travelers who care as much about atmosphere and history as they do about beach-and-boat amenities. | /manhattanbeachlodge1929
Whitefish Lodge & Suites is best understood as a lodge-style base camp rather than a lakefront cabin resort. Located in the heart of Crosslake, it gives guests easy access to restaurants, golf, boating, fishing, trails, and Whitefish Chain activities without requiring a full cabin rental. It is a practical choice for wedding guests, short stays, fall weekends, winter trips, and travelers who want the “up north” feel with hotel-style convenience. | /whitefishlodgeandsuites
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Breezy Point Resort is the giant of Pelican Lake, with the scale and variety to serve families, golfers, conferences, weddings, and classic lake-vacation travelers. Its personality is a little more entertainmentdriven than many area resorts, with golf, dining, live music, marina activity, and the Breezy Belle excursion boat all adding to the experience. The resort’s long history, tied to Captain Billy Fawcett and early celebrity-era tourism, gives it one of the more colorful backstories in the Brainerd Lakes region. | /BreezyPointResort | @breezy.point.resort
Jones Bay Cottages is a smaller Pelican Lake option for travelers who want the water and beach without the scale of Breezy Point. With just a few updated cabins, sandy beach, docks, rowboats, a swim raft, lawn games, and garden space, it feels more like a shared family lake compound than a formal resort. That quieter feel is the draw: it gives guests Pelican Lake access in a more private, low-key setting.
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Kavanaugh’s is a long-running, family-owned resort on Sylvan Lake with a reputation for quiet, comfortable family vacations. Established in 1969, it has grown from a small cabin operation into a larger resort with a broad mix of accommodations and amenities while still keeping a family-run identity. It is a good fit for travelers who want a polished but not overbuilt resort setting, with lake access, pools, trails, and enough space for multi-generational trips.
| /kavanaughsresort | @kavanaughsmn
Sullivan’s Resort works especially well for mixed groups because it offers both cabins and RV/camping options on North Long Lake. Guests can swim on shallow sandy shores, rent boats, paddle, fish, use the indoor pool and sauna, and settle into a more casual resort-campground rhythm. It is a practical pick for families, reunions, and groups where not everyone wants the same kind of lodging. | Search "Sullivans resort and campground"
Campfire Bay Resort is one of the better picks for families who want organized activities and a quieter lake setting. Located on Fish Trap Lake, it offers cabins close to shore, a sandy beach, fishing, boating, kids’ activities, campfires, lodge treats, and larger units that can work for reunions. It has the feel of a classic family resort where the daily schedule still matters: beach time, contests, crafts, games, and evenings by the fire. | /campfirebayresort | @campfirebayresort
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Ruttger’s is the historic anchor of the Bay Lake side of the Lakes Area, with roots stretching back to 1898. It combines old Minnesota resort heritage with lake lodging, golf, dining, and access to the growing Cuyuna recreation scene nearby. Recent ownership changes and redevelopment attention make it a historic property in a new chapter, which gives the resort an interesting mix of nostalgia and reinvention. | /Ruttgers | @ruttgersbaylakeresort
True North Basecamp represents the newer Cuyuna lodging style: outdooradventure focused, design-conscious, and built around trail access. With modern cabins, campsites, lake views, hot tubs, and direct access to Cuyuna’s mountain bike trails, it feels different from the classic lake resorts elsewhere in the guide. It is best for travelers who are coming for biking, paddling, hiking, mine-lake scenery, and a more active, modern version of the up-north getaway. | /truenorthbasecamp | @truenorthbasecamp
Cuyuna Cove is one of the signature boutique lodging properties in the CrosbyCuyuna area. Its stilted cabins, trail-connected location, private-feeling design, sauna, and proximity to Main Street Crosby make it especially appealing for couples, solo travelers, and adventure-minded guests who still want comfort and style. Opened in 2020, it is part of the newer wave of lodging shaped by Cuyuna’s trail boom rather than by traditional resort culture. | /cuyunacove
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Izatys is the major golf-and-marina resort option on the south side of Mille Lacs. With championship golf, lakeside lodging, beach villas, townhomes, hotel rooms, marina views, and big-water access, it works well for travelers who want Mille Lacs without choosing a purely fishing-camp experience. It is a strong fit for golf weekends, lake retreats, group stays, and travelers who like the idea of big-water scenery paired with resort amenities.
Eddy’s Resort is one of the best-known names on Mille Lacs, with modern lodging on the lake’s western shore. Its guest rooms, private cabins, and Launch Bar & Grill make it a convenient base for travelers who want lake views, dining, and access to the Mille Lacs experience without a rustic cabin-camp feel. Reclaimed wood tied to the resort’s launch-boat heritage gives the newer property a connection to the lake’s fishing culture.
| /IzatysResortMilleLacs
| /EddysResort
| @izatysresortmillelacs
| @eddysresort
Appeldoorn’s Sunset Bay Resort is a family-friendly Mille Lacs option with a broader vacation feel than a strictly angling-focused property. Its mix of rooms, cabins, suites, townhomes, beach access, activities, and event space makes it useful for families, reunions, weddings, and larger groups. As the name suggests, sunsets are part of the identity here, giving the resort a softer, more leisure-focused personality on the big lake. | /Appeldoorns.SunsetBay
Red Door Resort is a north-shore Mille Lacs property with a strong fishing and family-resort identity. Its cabins, motel rooms, RV options, harbor access, sandy beach, pool, sauna, and proximity to productive fishing structure make it especially appealing to anglers. Compared with more polished golf or event-focused resorts, Red Door feels directly connected to Mille Lacs fishing culture and north-shore lake life. | /thereddoorresort | @thereddoorresort
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AMY THIELEN’S
NORTHERN TABLE By Brady Drake
O
n the drive from Fargo toward Park Rapids, the landscape starts to change in ways that are familiar to anyone who has ever pointed the car east for a lake weekend. The horizon tightens. The trees gather. The small towns arrive with gas stations, bait, burgers, and the promise of someone’s cabin road just ahead. For Amy Thielen, that country is home. Thielen lives northwest of Park Rapids, not far from the roads Fargoans travel when they cut across toward Two Inlets, Itasca, and the surrounding lakes. She grew up in the area, left for college and New York City, cooked in some of the country’s most demanding restaurant kitchens, wrote awardwinning books, hosted a Food Network show filmed in her own home, and then she returned north and took Midwestern food seriously. That might sound simple now, after years of regional cookbooks, farm dinners, and renewed interest in old food traditions. But Thielen has spent much of her career insisting that the food of this place has always been worthy of attention. Potatoes, pie, venison, sausage, kohlrabi, brown butter, garden vegetables, lake-country grocery stores, church-supper practicality,
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and the instinct to make use of what is in front of you. Her first cookbook, The New Midwestern Table, helped make that case nationally. Her memoir, "Give a Girl a Knife," traced the path between rural Minnesota and New York restaurant kitchens. Her most recent cookbook, "Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others," turns its attention to hospitality, menus, and the art of making people feel comfortable at your table. Thielen is a two-time James Beard Award-winning writer and chef, and she was the host of Heartland Table on Food Network. But when she talks about how she learned to cook, Thielen does not start with Manhattan. She starts at home. “I just sat across the counter from her and watched,” Thielen said of her mother. “She was like my personal food TV.” Her mother taught her how to shop, how to notice the difference between a good lemon and a green one, how to sear meat and then build a small sauce out of the browned bits left in the pan. That kind of cooking— pulling every bit of flavor out of what you have—is still central to Thielen’s way of thinking. In New York, that foundation turned out to matter. Thielen attended cooking school and then worked in intense, exacting kitchens, including those of David Bouley and other major chefs. At Danube, Bouley’s Austrian restaurant, she found some of the same flavors she had
grown up with in Minnesota—brown butter, potatoes, kohlrabi, sausage. She sent some of her family’s cold-smoked sausage from Thielen Meats in Pierz to the restaurant and cooked it for Austrian chefs. They loved it. That was when she became sure that the food she knew from home could stand up anywhere. “I was basically just a big crusader for Midwestern food,” she said of those years. “I defended it to anybody who had anything to say about it.” Eventually, after the 2008 financial crash and the birth of her son, Thielen and her husband, artist Aaron Spangler, moved back to their place near Park Rapids. What had once been a rustic cabin became a home. There was a garden, an orchard, room to cook, and the quiet pressure of distance. When town is 25 minutes away, dinner is not something you casually outsource. You cook. These days, Thielen said her energy changes with the season. In spring and harvest time, the garden takes over. Her day-to-day cooking is often simple and responsive to what is ready, what is in the refrigerator, and what needs to be used. She likes the creativity that comes from resourcefulness. “That’s kind of how I develop recipes,” she said, “out of necessity and the innovation that comes out of having to be resourceful.”
Photographs and recipe excerpted from “Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others”. Copyright (c) 2023 by Amy Thielen. Used with permission of the publisher, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
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BUY AMY'S BOOKS!
A RECIPE FROM THE BOOK
DEVILED EGG DIP If you’re the sort of person whose inner child sucks the yellow part out of the deviled eggs and the white cream from the oreos, licking the chocolate shells clean, I think you’ll forge a real pact with this dip. Discovering that I could poach the eggs instead of hard-boiling them the usual way, since they’d be pureed anyway, made this dip 200 percent easier. But if hard-boiling is your habit, go ahead and follow your favorite method for just-cooked boiled eggs with flaky, powdery yolks. (I prefer a cold start, adding the eggs to a pot, covering them with cold water, and bringing to a high simmer for 2 minutes before steeping them off heat, covered, for 12 minutes.) Serve with bread or crackers (or Bran Crispbread, page 94) or thinly sliced radishes, carrots, and kohlrabi for dipping.
INGREDIENTS (Serves 6 to 8) • 8 large eggs • 1 teaspoon white vinegar (rice, wine, or distilled) • 5 tablespoons mayonnaise • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt • 1 tablespoon salt-packed capers, soaked in cold water and drained • Aleppo pepper or paprika for garnish • Extra-virgin olive oil for garnish
Partly fill a deep wide-bottomed saucepan with cold water and bring to a boil. Add the vinegar and a pinch of salt and, one by one, crack the eggs into the simmering water. Gently troll the bottom of the pan with a spoon to make sure the eggs don’t stick, and cook just until the yolks feel hard to the touch, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel–lined plate. Drop 2 whole poached eggs into the bowl of a food processor. Pop out the rest of the yolks and add them to the processor as well. Finely chop 2 of the egg whites for garnish; reserve the rest for another use. (I’m sorry I couldn’t incorporate the extra whites into the recipe; I hope you’ll find a use for them.) Process the whole eggs and yolks to a fine fluff. Add the mayonnaise and process again until smooth, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper and pulse to combine. Don’t overmix, or the mixture will become tough—you want it to be soft and luscious. Spoon the deviled egg dip onto a platter. Chop the capers, and sprinkle across the top. Scatter the reserved chopped egg whites over the dip and garnish with a few strong shakes of Aleppo pepper or paprika and a thin swirl of extra-virgin olive oil.
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That same spirit runs through her current project, Ham Radio: Cooking with Amy Thielen, a KAXE/KBXE radio show and podcast she hosts with producer Heidi Holtan. The show celebrates rural home cooks, food thinkers, foragers, cookbook authors, and callers with recipes and stories to share. KAXE describes it as a show about “the creativity and resourcefulness of rural home cooks,” which might also serve as a neat description of Thielen’s entire body of work. Ask Thielen what makes a good meal for company, and she begins with the plate. She thinks about juices, textures, ratios, and how vegetables, starches, and meat work together. Her mother often served a protein, a starch, and several vegetables, and Thielen still believes that balance can make almost anything feel complete. Not every dish needs “bells and whistles.” Sometimes the thing that holds a meal together is a bowl of green beans boiled in very salty water and finished with garlic butter. Sometimes it is fried chicken cooked outside on a portable burner and served with creamed corn. Sometimes it is hash browns—properly made from par-cooked russets, grated, chilled, and fried in clarified butter until crisp. Her hospitality extends beyond food. Thielen lights up when she talks about interior design, color, lighting, tile, and the flow of a room. In her kitchen, she has an Italian wood cookstove that she keeps going through the winter, using the dry heat to roast squash, bake potatoes, or burnish the tops of coffee cakes. For her, a good gathering is not just about what is served. It is about creating a room where people can settle in.
I LIKE CREATING A SPACE WHERE PEOPLE FEEL COMFORTABLE” She can talk about the exact moment soy sauce should hit a stir fry, the right way to preheat cast iron, or why water on a vegetable changes what happens in a hot pan. But she is just as interested in the mood around the table, the caller with a family recipe, the gas station with a great burger, the local smokehouse, the garden row, the old skills that never needed rescuing so much as recognition. Northern Minnesota, she said, certainly feels northern. The accent gives it away. So does the food.
CONNECT WITH
AMY THIELEN | amythielen.com | /amythielencook | @amyrosethielen
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An Art Adventure Through
here are road trips, and then there are road trips where the landmarks are 40foot otters, 20-foot turkeys, scrap-metal tractors, giant loons, and a prairie chicken that weighs as much as a small elephant. That is the charm of the Giants of Otter Tail County tour. The new campaign invites visitors to explore Minnesota’s Lakes Country by tracking down a collection of larger-than-life sculptures spread across the county. It is part scavenger hunt, part small-town tour, and part reminder that some of the best travel memories happen when you pull over for something unexpected. Otter Tail County is already known for its lakes—1,048 of them, to be exact—but the Giants tour gives travelers a different kind of reason to wander. Instead of heading to just one destination, the experience encourages people to move from town to town, stopping for photos, food, shopping, parks, and whatever else they find along the way. The giants themselves are wonderfully different from one another. In Fergus Falls, Otto the Otter stretches 40 feet long in Grotto Park. Built in 1972 by Fergus Falls high school students under the direction of Steve Jaenisch, Otto was created to commemorate the city’s centennial and has since become one of the area’s most recognizable landmarks. 116 | JULY 2026 | MEETFARGO.COM
In Rothsay, the Prairie Chicken stands as a concrete tribute to the town’s identity as the Prairie Chicken Capital of Minnesota. Built in 1976 for the U.S. Bicentennial, the statue is 13 feet tall, 18 feet long, and weighs 9,000 pounds.
with scrap metal. Others were born from school projects, civic pride, or community celebrations.
Pelican Rapids has its own towering bird in Pelican Pete, a 15-foot pelican created in the 1950s through a community effort led by the Pelican Rapids Chamber of Commerce. Vergas is home to a 20-foot loon overlooking Long Lake. Frazee has Tom the Turkey, a 20-foot-tall roadside favorite installed in its current location in 1998 after the original wooden statue was destroyed by fire.
The experience is also intentionally simple. Visitors can print a Giants card or pick one up at participating locations around the county, then start checking off stops. The official campaign encourages travelers to visit at least five giants, making the tour easy to build into a weekend getaway, a day trip, or a summer challenge with kids.
The tour also includes several works that show off the region’s creative side. New York Mills features a massive “Art Tractor” made by Ken Nyberg from more than 1,100 pieces of scrap iron. Nyberg’s work also appears in Ottertail, where a scrap-steel otter greets visitors, and in Vining, where a giant watermelon pays tribute to the town’s annual Watermelon Day. In Battle Lake, Rusty the Fish brings another splash of character to the route. Created by artist Sue Seeger in 2015, the 15-foot fish was made from scrap metal with support from a Lake Region Arts Council grant. Ashby rounds out the tour with its giant coot, built in 1991 by Steve Morgan for the Ashby Coot Feed. What makes the tour work is not just the size of the sculptures. It is the way each one points back to the place that built it. Some celebrate mascots. Some honor local traditions. Some came from artists working
Together, they create a loose, playful map of Otter Tail County.
And that may be the real appeal. The Giants of Otter Tail County tour is not about rushing from one stop to the next. It is about giving yourself a reason to take the scenic route. It is about visiting towns you might otherwise drive past. It is about finding a good lunch spot, walking through a park, stopping at a local shop, and taking the kind of photo that will probably make someone ask, “Where was that?” In a county filled with lakes, trails, small towns, and summer traditions, the giants add one more layer of fun. They are quirky, local, and proudly oversized. They also prove that sometimes the best way to explore a place is to look for the biggest thing in town.
Get Ready for a Big, Bold,
OF OTTER TAIL COUNTY Otto the Otter - Fergus Falls Prairie Chicken - Rothsay
Pelican Pete - Pelican Rapids Big Loon - Vergas
Tom the Turkey - Frazee Tractor - New York Mills Big Otter - Ottertail
Watermelon - Vining
Rusty the Fish - Battle Lake Big Coot - Ashby
CARD DROP-OFF LOCATIONS
Explore the byways of beautiful Otter Tail County while discovering the towering, larger-than-life sculptures that make our region truly unique.
START YOUR GIANT JOURNEY Snap a photo with a Giant-sized smile Share and tag #findyourinnerotter Check off the Giants you visit on the card
DROP-OFF YOUR CARD TO WIN Visit at least 5 of the Giants and bring this card to one of the drop-off locations by Aug. 31st, 2026 to receive:
Otter Cove Children’s Museum, Fergus Falls* Ben’s Bait, Battle Lake Strand Ace Hardware, Pelican Rapids Billy’s Corner Bar & Grill, Vergas Thumper Pond, Ottertail
• FREE Otter Ears • 1 FREE adult admission to Otter Cover Children's Museum • 1Entry in the Grand Prize Drawing
*See the Giants of Otter Tail County interactive exhibit
Print or Pick Up A Card Here:
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OF OTTER TAIL COUNTY
59 The Big Loon in Vergas
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Pelican Pete at Pelican Rapids
dent 108 Maplewood State Park
Erhard The Rothsay Prairie Chicken
Elizabeth
Otto the Otter in Fergus Falls
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UNDERWOOD
DALTON
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The Big Coot in Ashby
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The Rusty the Fish in Battle Lake
Tom the Turkey in Frazee
The Tractor at New York Mills
Perham
10
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Richville
BLUFFTON The Big Otter in Ottertail
29 108
DEER CREEK
Glendalough State Park The Watermelon in Vining
WADENA
210
HENNING
CLITHERALL
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Print or Pick Up A Card Here:
Inspiration Peak Wayside State Park
URBANK
PARKERS PRAIRIE 119
RHO Art
Meet The
By Ashley Morken, Owner, Unglued
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Photos provided by Ashley Morken
O
ur Brewhalla Craft Market jury went wild when we presented them RHO Art by Rachel HovelsonOlek last year when she applied with her nature guardians and tiny ceramic houses! We’ve been so excited to learn more about this maker and what inspires her and such a unique handcrafted business right here in town.
Tell us a bit about yourself! I was born and raised in Minnesota by parents who nurtured and supported my passion for art from a young age. Since I was a kid, I always loved drawing, and then in college, I took ceramics and fell in love with clay as well. I graduated from college with a degree in Studio Art, and currently work full-time for a local sign company. While my day job helps to support my family, my art supports my need to be creative. When I’m not in art mode, I’m playing games with my wonderful kiddo or watching shows and movies (especially spooky stuff) with my amazing husband. I also enjoy tending to the plants in my yard and reading (fantasy and horror are my favorites). Though I don’t get to do it as often as I might wish, I like to travel with my loved ones, especially to places with plenty of nature to see and explore. Describe what type of products you create as RHO Art. My artwork is often whimsical, sometimes kind of weird, and occasionally a little dark. My ceramics are mostly hand-built, with some wheel-thrown elements. Small-scale sculptures are my favorite things to create. My sculptural work ranges from detailed Tiny Dwellings like haunted houses, cozy cottages, and even outhouses to more surreal themed pieces. I also make plant accessories called Nature Guardians, fun little knickknacks, pins, ornaments, and magnets. Two-dimensional art is my original art form, and I still enjoy it today. Pen on paper drawings are something I always seem to go back to, and I also make collage type mixed media drawings. I like the slight dimensional quality of lots of little drawings layered together to create a single image. I also have giclees of original drawings and collages. Tell us how you got started with your handcrafted business? What inspired you? I’ve loved art since I was a kid. I was always creating something and took as many art classes in school as I could. Drawing and
ceramics were the classes that I loved the most. Once I was done with college, I got jobs that didn’t really satisfy my artistic side, so I made a point to still be creative in my free time. In my 30s, I was doing very little ceramic art, and as I was approaching 40, I began thinking that I wanted to get back into ceramics (I missed it). So with encouragement from friends and support from my family, I started playing with clay again, and I was loving it. I eventually made a small batch of ceramic trinkets, which I brought to work to show a friend. Other coworkers expressed interest in them and asked if they were for sale. It was then that I started to realize that I was making things people seemed genuinely excited about. That was definitely an inspiration for me to take a chance on turning my art into a side gig of sorts. So last year I made a bunch of stuff, both ceramic and two-dimensional, and decided to participate in a small market to see how it would go. That first market went well, which boosted my confidence a little. So here I am now, seeing if I can maintain a forward momentum. Where does your inspo come from for new pieces? Nature inspires me. I have a deep respect and love for the natural world. The texture of bark on a tree, moss in a forest, mushrooms sprouting from a dead log—it all sparks new ideas. Fairy tales, children’s stories, fantasy, and horror are also very inspiring. Within these genres, anything is possible, which allows my imagination to be as whimsical or weird or dark as it wants to be. A house can be haunted, a cactus can grow on top of a whale, a cute little gnome can be murderous, and tiny dwellings can exist in bizarre landscapes.
a handful of favorite tools that make creating all those little details pretty easy. Despite the amount of detail in each piece I create, I actually find the building process much easier than the glazing process. What has been the most challenging part of this handcrafted business? I’ve never been the type of person to put myself out there and be the center of attention. Up until a few years ago, I had never even been on any social media platforms. So, having to be okay with putting myself out in the public eye in order to promote my art has been a challenge for me. What has been the most rewarding part? I love seeing people smile and get excited because of something that I created. It’s a rewarding feeling to know that people like my art enough to want to have it in their lives. Where can people find your work or connect with you? I’m on Instagram @art_rho. Some of my art can be found at Unglued in Fargo, ND. I periodically have work in exhibitions at the Rourke Art Gallery + Museum in Moorhead, MN (I currently have a piece in their annual Midwestern). I’m hoping to keep participating in an occasional small market—follow me on Instagram for future details on such things.
RHO Art | @art_rho
A lot of your work is so miniature and so detailed! Can you tell us something surprising people might find about working with either miniature or detailed work like this? I find that making many of the fine details isn’t actually that hard. Don’t get me wrong, it can be tedious, but it’s not hard. Finding the right tools makes a huge difference in how efficiently specific details can be made. I have
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Hi! I'm Jay, and I'm so excited to be working at Folkways this season! I'm an incoming senior at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, majoring in English Writing and minoring in Environmental Studies and Theatre Arts. On campus, I'm the Vice President of the Exotic Animal Care & Husbandry Club and the Sexuality & Gender Alliance. In my free time, I enjoy hiking at Minnesota's beautiful state parks, working on one of my various craft projects, and hanging out with my friends. One of my favorite things in summer is to visit Duluth, MN, and hike all of the great state parks along Lake Superior! There are tons of gorgeous tree-lined paths, waterfalls, and wildlife to see. Summertime for me also means lots of picnics with friends on the beach and cooling off in the lake on a hot afternoon. I also enjoy sunbathing on the sand while reading a good book!
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My name is Adele Kennison, and I grew up not far from here in Jamestown, ND. I recently graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead with a bachelor's degree in Communication Studies. During the summer, I love spending time at the lake with my family in Jamestown and enjoying downtown Fargo with my friends. Of course, I love summer in North Dakota—we finally get to enjoy the outdoors without freezing. My favorite place to spend time is the Jamestown Reservoir. Smokey’s Campsite is a great spot with live music, a lively atmosphere, and the chance to meet people from all walks of life. I love swimming, jet skiing, and paddle boarding on the reservoir, and you can’t beat a classic North Dakota sunset over the water. One of my favorite lake memories was turning a giant tarp into a homemade slip-and-slide and racing down it with my friends and family. It was definitely one of my best birthdays. I've always been a fan of water activities. As a kid, I loved tubing behind the boat, although these days the recovery time is a little longer than it used to be!
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I will be a senior at Concordia this fall, majoring in communications and political science, with a minor in international affairs. I am originally from Melrose, Minnesota. At Concordia, I have embraced the motto, “A busy Cobber is a happy Cobber.” I am involved in Student Government, the campus news station On-Air, Orientation, the student literary magazine AfterWork, and the Campus Events Commission. In my free time, I enjoy going to Ulta, talking about Ulta, and online shopping at Ulta. When not “Ulta-ing,” I love a sweet treat, laughing with friends, and playing Dress to Impress. For as long as I can remember, my family has stayed in Grand Marais on the north shore of Lake Superior in July. I vividly recall the endless car rides, packed into the back seat of my grandparents’ pickup truck with my cousins, all of us clamoring over who would get to use the iPad next. Part of what made Grand Marais so special was the way my cousins and I strutted around that campground with our new T-shirts from Moose Tracks, a bag of fudge from Beth’s, and our ‘Sydnamis’ from Sydney’s. As little kids, the whole town felt magical. As I’ve gotten older, the mystique of Grand Marais and Lake Superior has never truly left. I still get excited about going to the same shops year after year, even though I’ve walked through them hundreds of times. Every year, I must have some fish and chips from the Fisherman’s Daughter, and of course, a trip to Grand Marais is not complete without spending hours on the beach reading, skipping rocks, and hunting for agates. Lake Superior and Grand Marais will always hold a special place in my heart.
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I think I'm most looking forward to our Night Bazaars this season! Our next Night Bazaar is circus-themed and will take place at Broadway Square on July 30th from 5-10 pm. I love the energy, costumes, and unique vendors that are offered at the Night Bazaars! As an intern at Folkways, I get to do a little bit of everything, though I've been most involved with outreach for the Red River Market's SNAP program. Besides that, I've really enjoyed learning about marketing and social media, as my background in that field is limited.
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As a Folkways event intern, I help support the planning, flow, and execution of community events. I am especially looking forward to helping with the Night Bazaars throughout the summer, particularly the Circus Night Bazaar because I love any opportunity to dress up and get into the theme. I am beyond excited to work with Folkways and become more involved in the Fargo-Moorhead community. I look forward to learning more about placemaking and seeing firsthand how events can bring people together, create connections, and strengthen a sense of community.
My experience at Folkways has been heavily shaped by my own interests. I have started taking on more projects in marketing and social media content creation, which has been so exciting. I am also the intern spearheading much of the volunteer outreach and management for our events! I had an absolute blast at our first Night Bazaar, and I am so excited for the rest of this season.