Minnesota Winter Getaways

Gunflint Cross-Country Skiing
The 57-mile-long road called the Gunflint Trail threads through the snowiest corner of Minnesota, where winter winds swirling off Lake Superior dump an average of nearly 100 inches of snow each year. That’s great news for cross-country skiers, who flock to the more than 120 miles of ski trails Gunflint resorts have designed, built, and groomed over the years.

The trails traverse some of the state’s wildest and most rugged backcountry, even detouring into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. There are no mountains here, but trails scoot up and down the rugged terrain, following rocky ridges, winding through birch forests, and then ducking into thickets of pine and fir. The wilderness is part of the experience. You’ll see tracks of snowshoe hares, ruffed grouse, and perhaps even lynx and wolf. You’ll spot whitetails and possibly moose.

Bearskin Lodge bills itself as the go-to place for cross-country skiing—and for good reason. Located about halfway up the trail, it’s perfectly situated to take advantage of the area’s best. The 40-mile-long Central Gunflint Trail system begins virtually at Bearskin’s front door. Trails range from easy to difficult. All are tracked for traditional “diagonal-stride” cross-country skiing, and some are groomed for skate skiing. After your outing, take a sauna break in the resort’s small but very hot sauna.

Lodging: Bearskin Lodge (124 East Bearskin Road, 800-338-4170): winter weekend, double occupancy $148–$398 per night, depending on the cabin.

Dining: Bearskin plans to keep its dining room open during winter weekends. Otherwise, year-round restaurants are scarce along the Gunflint. For basic bar food, try Trail Center Lodge (218-388-2214), halfway up the trail. At the upper end is Red Paddle Bistro at Gunflint Lodge (218-388-2294).

Brainerd Lakes Ice Fishing
As winter sports go, ice fishing doesn’t demand a lot—especially if you rent a fully outfitted toasty-warm house, hire someone else to drill the holes, and retire to a plush resort when you’re done for the day. That’s the setup at Cragun’s Resort and Hotel on Gull Lake. Round up friends or family and rent a suitable four-holer or six-holer complete with lights, propane heater, chairs, and rattle reels (to let you know it’s time to put down your hot toddy and land a fish). The houses are located in front of the resort along drop-offs on Gull Lake, one of the most popular and best fishing lakes in this fishing-mad region. At the end of the day, bring your catch back to the resort to be cleaned and frozen.

Ice fishing sound too sedate? Try snowmobiling instead. Bring your own machine or rent a new Polaris four-stroke from Cragun’s. The Gull Lake Lighted Trail runs past the resort and is connected to hundreds of miles of groomed trails in the Brainerd Lakes area. Maps are available at the resort’s snowmobile center. You can even hire a guide to give you an escort. (Drivers born after December 31, 1976 must have snowmobile certification.)

If winter winds turn too cold, retreat to the resort’s 22,000-square-foot indoor sports center, with gym, running track, and basketball and tennis courts. If even that is not enough to warm your bones, head to the spa for the Great Lakes hot-stone full-body massage. Special oils and warm smooth stones will warm you up as if you’re laid-out lakeside on a July day.

Lodging: Cragun’s Resort and Hotel on Gull Lake (11000 Cragun’s Drive, Brainerd, 800-272-4867): winter weekend, double occupancy $129–$199 per night. Lodging ranges from a lakeside cabin to a hotel room with lakeside balcony or a room overlooking the indoor pool.

Dining: Cragun’s main dining room overlooking Steamboat Bay serves a casual menu most of winter.

Rentals: Ice house rates begin at $40 for a four-hole house for four hours. Snowmobiles are available to Cragun’s guests for $215 a day on weekends.

Small-Town Holidays
A quick drive to the college town of Northfield—home to two small, picturesque liberal-arts colleges (Carleton and St. Olaf)—can put you in the mood for the holidays.

First, take in the St. Olaf College Christmas Festival concert, Light of All Creation: Scatter the Darkness, which will be performed December 3–6 in the Skoglund Athletic Center auditorium. The festival, begun in 1912 by F. Melius Christiansen, founder of the St. Olaf College Music Department, is one of the oldest holiday concerts in the country. More than 500 student musicians will perform, including the St. Olaf Choir, the Viking Chorus, Chapel Choir, the Cantorei, and the Manitou Singers. Other holiday events on the 300-acre hilltop campus include a traditional Scandinavian buffet and book signings at the campus bookstore.

Make time for Winter Walk, the first night of the concert (Dec. 3), when downtown Northfield will glow with candlelight from sundown till 9 pm and carolers will stroll the streets. You can even take a ride on a horse-drawn wagon. For details, check in with the Northfield Chamber of Commerce (800-658-2548, or St. Olaf College, 507-786-3811).

To continue the theme of holidays in a time gone by, check into the Archer House River Inn, a refurbished four-story red-brick hotel on the banks of the Cannon River in downtown Northfield. It opened in 1877, when St. Olaf was a new school.

Lodging: Archer House River Inn (212 Division St., 800-247-2235): winter weekends, double occupancy $130–$190 per night.

Dining: If the Scandinavian buffet doesn’t excite you, try something completely different—Chapati Cuisine of India in the Archer House. Otherwise, take your pick of restaurants and bars, some with live entertainment, in downtown Northfield.

Superior Spa
Contrast can be magic. Pair the coldest, most rugged landscape in Minnesota—the North Shore of Lake Superior in winter—with the soothing, warm confines of Waves of Superior Spa (877-668-7772), a tony facility that opened just over a year ago as part of the Surfside on Lake Superior complex in Tofte.

Slip into a cushy spa robe and relax in the water-themed spa rooms. A favorite treatment is the 90-minute Wave Signature massage. You lie on a heated table while your therapist gives you a full body massage and then pampers your hands and feet with warmers and hydrating lotion. The treatment is then topped off with a facial and scalp massage. Another popular treatment is the hot-stone massage—a 60- or 90-minute rubdown with warm, naturally rounded lakeshore rocks placed against your spine, on the palms of your hands and soles of your feet, and rubbed gently into sore muscles. Couples can retreat to a suite to get deep-tissue or hot-stone massage side-by-side.

When finished, head to the locker room for a sauna or to the aquatic center to swim in the lap pool or sit in the hot tub with a view of Lake Superior. Waves of Superior also offers manicures and pedicures. Its Eminence skin care products are organic, handmade in Hungary with bits of fruit, vegetables, and herbs. If being pampered inspires you to venture into the cold, you can explore more than 700 feet of nearby bedrock shoreline.

Once mind and body are one, head up the shore to Grand Marais and check out paintings, photographs, and sculpture of the north at Sivertson Gallery (888-880-4369). Or stay close and enjoy dinner overlooking the lake at Bluefin Grille.

Spa: Waves of Superior Spa is open seven days a week, but hours vary by season. Some spa packages are available only to guests of Surfside on Lake Superior, though visitors with other lodging can make reservations at different rates.

Lodging: Townhomes ranging from a master bedroom suite to three bedrooms are available at Surfside on Lake Superior (877-361-7873): winter weekend, double occupancy, $229–$469 per night.

Dining: Bluefin Grille (218-663-6200) overlooks Lake Superior in Tofte and is open all day, every day. The menu is casual, with an emphasis on seafood.