Itasca County · Northern Minnesota
Groomed trails and a lake you can walk on
The county grooms hundreds of miles of trail and the lakes become the largest room on the property.
- · ~20 min to downtown Grand Rapids
- · Hwy 38 corridor
- · Pet friendly
Plan around this
One scheduling fact shapes almost every trip here. Check it before you build a day around it.
Judy Garland Museum & Birthplace
Oct 1 – May 25 · 9am to 5pm
- Sunclosed
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May 26 – Sep 30 · 9am to 5pm
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Ruby Slipper Theft Tour. Fridays and Saturdays, 11am · Pre-registration required · 218-327-9276
Judy Garland Museum & Birthplace. 2727 US-169 S, Grand Rapids, MN · $12 adult, $10 under 12, guided tour +$8 · 218-327-9276 · Last admission 30 minutes before close
Leave your name on the road. Ask at the front desk
The Oz pilgrimage
Ruby Slipper Theft Tour
A 2005 heist, a lone sequin left behind, thirteen years cold, and an FBI sting. Told by the man who was running the museum the night they disappeared. This is the thing to build the trip around.
Fridays and Saturdays, 11am · Pre-registration required · 218-327-9276
~20 min from the cabin
Judy Garland Museum & Birthplace
The actual house Judy Garland was born in, restored and moved onto the museum grounds. Alongside it, the largest collection of Garland and Wizard of Oz material anywhere. She was born here in 1922 and the town has never once let anyone forget it.
2727 US-169 S, Grand Rapids, MN · $12 adult, $10 under 12, guided tour +$8 · 218-327-9276 · Last admission 30 minutes before close
~20 min from the cabin
Leave your name on the road
The museum's yellow brick road is made of engraved pavers, and you can add one. Quietly arranging this ahead of time is the best gift anyone in your party is going to give.
Ask at the front desk
~20 min from the cabin
About the slippers themselves
The stolen slippers are not on display. They were recovered by the FBI in 2018 and sold at auction in December 2024, well past what the museum's campaign could raise. Say so before you get your hopes up, then take the theft tour, which is the better story anyway.
Out in the woods
Edge of the Wilderness Byway
Highway 38 north from Grand Rapids through Marcell to Effie. Roughly forty-seven miles of national scenic byway that starts more or less at the end of our road. The single best half-day here in any season.
Starts ~10 min from the cabin
Groomed ski and fat-tire trails
The county grooms cross-country trails for every level, and the fat-tire network runs all winter. Rentals are available in town.
Several within ~30 min
Snowmobile country
Hundreds of miles of maintained trail running through snow-packed forest, with connections that reach most of the Iron Range from here.
Trailheads within ~15 min
Ice fishing
Walleye, crappie and northern once the lakes lock up. Local outfitters rent houses and will put you on fish if you would rather not guess.
Minnesota fishing licence required
Wabana is out the back door
Town, dinner, and a night out
Ravenstone Abbey
A historic church converted into a food and events venue, with axe throwing in it. Odd, memorable, and the most defensible choice for a celebration dinner within fifty miles.
Reserve ahead on weekends
~20 min from the cabin
Klockow Brewing
Downtown taproom. Solid list, non-alcoholic options on tap, and usually someone playing.
36 SE 10th St, Grand Rapids, MN
~20 min from the cabin
Rapids Brewing Co.
The other downtown brewery, a short walk from the first one. Doing both in an evening is the accepted local itinerary.
~20 min from the cabin
The Reif Center
A multi-theater performing arts center that punches well above a town this size, with touring acts and local productions.
Check the calendar before you assume there is nothing on
~20 min from the cabin
MacRostie Art Center
Rotating exhibits from regional artists, plus classes. Twenty unhurried minutes and a good place to buy something you will actually keep.
~20 min from the cabin
Old Central School
An 1895 Romanesque schoolhouse saved from demolition and filled with local shops and history. Worth walking into even with no plan.
~20 min from the cabin
When the weather turns
Forest History Center
A re-created 1900 logging camp on the Mississippi, with a fire tower and river trails. The trails stay walkable year round.
The staffed living-history portion is seasonal. Call before you drive out. · 218-327-4482
~25 min from the cabin
Thunder Alley XL
Bowling, arcade and mini golf under one roof. Unglamorous and exactly right when the weather has made your plans for you.
~20 min from the cabin
Escape room
Downtown, ages 12 and up, groups up to ten.
Book ahead, it is a small operation
~20 min from the cabin
Stay put
Six bedrooms, fourteen acres, and a fire pit. Plenty of guests decide halfway through that the driving was the part they did not need.
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Know before you come
- Groceries
- Stock up in Grand Rapids on the way in. There is no full grocery store between town and the driveway, and the drive back for one forgotten thing is forty minutes round trip.
- Winter weather
- Subzero mornings are normal and wind chill is the number that matters. If you are not from here, assume you have underpacked.
- Ice safety
- Never assume the lake is safe because someone else drove on it. Check with a local outfitter before you take anything heavier than yourself onto the ice.
- Deer at dusk
- The stretch of highway between town and here is heavily wooded on both sides. Slow down after sunset. This is the most common way a good trip goes sideways.
- Call ahead
- Small-town hours drift, especially off season. A two-minute phone call saves a forty-minute drive.