Where Beauty & Nature intersect

Snow and ice are the only ingredients we need for a weekend of fun. The trails are humming with snowmobiles and fish houses pepper the lakes. With Valentine’s Day, a three-day weekend and some great special events on February’s menu, plan a winter getaway to our beautiful north woods. The days grow longer and quiet, […]

Trail Report courtesy of Forest Riders Snowmobile Club – 1-26-16 (Click on the link above to visit the club’s website.) The groomers are out on the trails and all of Forest Riders trails should be completed by Wednesday. The temperatures are looking favorable for another weekend of good riding and enjoying the outdoors! Photos from […]

Trail Report courtesy of FOREST RIDERS SNOWMOBILE CLUB – 1-19-16 (Click on the link above to visit the club’s website.) The groomers are out and all the Forest Rider’s Trail should be done by Thursday. Itasca State Park is being groomed today. The trails will be in great shape by the weekend and the weather […]

Forest Riders Snowmobile Club – (Click on the link above to visit their website.) Groomer heading out this morning after receiving 5-6 inches of new snow.

Forest Riders Snowmobile Club – (Click on the link above to visit their website.) January 14, 2016 Trails where groomed last week and the cold weather made it a good base. We have received new snow of 4-5 inches this morning and this will make for great riding and allow the groomers to hit the […]

Where the woods are still lovely, dark and deep As a new year begins, we count our blessings. It’s common for people who live here to tell their friends about their early morning commute: “I saw four white-tailed deer on the Heartland Trail. They just watched the car passing by as they enjoyed a morning […]

                Report submitted by Josh Severtson of Smokey Hills Outdoor Store December 30, 2015 Outside temperatures are finally dropping to below zero many nights and ice is being made twenty four hours a day. Within the last week we’ve had the rest of the bigger lakes completely ice […]

Report submitted by Smokey Hills Outdoor Store December 16, 2015 Ice conditions are shaky in the Park Rapids area. Lakes such as Fishhook, Long Lake, and Potato are still open enough to launch a boat! Some of our smaller lakes have anywhere from 3-6 inches of ice. These lakes include Portage Lake, Straight Lake, Lower […]

If your Christmas wish list includes peace and quiet, the thrill of chasing through the pines, angling through the ice or all three, find them all on a visit here. At the beginning of December, we have a dusting of snow and the ice is beginning to thicken. The weather forecast promises more snow and […]

A friend says Halloween feels like the run up to northern Minnesota’s four major holidays: the Firearms Deer Hunting Opener, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. You’re invited to our place for all of them. After an uncommonly warm October, the days just ahead are filled with preparations for the deer hunting opener. Hunters site in […]