A perfect time to come up to Northwind Lodge and enjoy the beauty and still social distance!
We’re a Mom & Pop resort, not a gargantuan center on a highly populated lake. We have no public access to Jasper Lake. We are surrounded by the BWCA. Bring your canoe. Go take a day trip. Hang out on Jasper. Grill a steak on the Weber. Live the simple life in the woods. Come look at art or take an art lesson. Enjoy the soothing sounds of jasper creek, the loons calling, the birds singing or just relax for a moment.
Please practice social distancing when in the presence of people outside of your group. (yes – we know, we don’t like it either but it’s ridiculously easy here).
Aug 15th through 29th
Cabin 5 Weekly Rate $1049.00 Special Price $899.00
Nightly Rate $169.00 special Price $129 a night (3 night minimum) for 2 people
Aug 8th through 15th and 20th- 29th
Treetop Haus Weekly Rate $819.00 Special Price $699.00
Nightly Rate $169.00 special Price $129 a night (3 night minimum) for 2 people
Aug 10th through 15th and 22nd – 26th
Cabin 6 Nightly Rate $169.00 special Price $129 a night (3 night minimum) for first 4 people and $10.00 night up to 6 people
Give us a call. It’ll most likely be me answering. If I’m not in, please leave a
I don’t believe there are many resorts in Minnesota whereupon the guests can learn how to paint AND go fishing. Northwind Lodge is one of the few places that this is possible. Hats off to jobs well done by Jim and Terri Rhoads of Iowa! Jim last touched an artist’s paint brush in 3rd grade. It’s been a while and yet his artwork today would say otherwise. Terri has a bit more experience and her painting is lively and appealing. Frames are going to kick both paintings to another level. Both Jim and wife Terri had a great time as did I. Art lessons are ALWAYS fun for me as well. Painting, telling stories, and concentrating REALLY hard make learning to paint a lot of fun! Two to three hours feels like an hour. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jim and Terri took up painting when they return home. It’s a great activity any time of the year.
When not in class, they are on the water, baking pizza on the Weber outside of the cabin, going on hikes, and of course, catching fish. This is the greatest way to socially distance out of all the options available.
Now’s the time to come up to the northwoods with your family and take an Into The Brush Art Lesson in the Fernberg Gallery at Northwind Lodge! Everybody is having a good time!
Rock paintings are where its at!
We all need a break from Covid-19. While we all struggle with getting back to normal, we do have an advantage out here in the woods. Unlike every metro, or big commercial operation, we are not an overdeveloped facility with large numbers of people moving around, big meeting rooms, etc. Social distancing is very easy. If you don’t have mask on when you leave your cabin, nobody’s going to shame you if you even see anybody. That’s the nature of living in the woods when the closest cabin is 100 feet away through the woods.
Jasper Creek in early May with Cabin 3 in the background – at Northwind Lodge
Our guests arrive to relax and enjoy themselves here at Northwind Lodge, a traditional, “ma & pa” Minnesota resort. I was once told by a MN state official that small resorts are a dying breed and our relevance was fading as to our importance in tourism. I wish I could find that dude now. I wonder how his big convention centers on over-populated lakes with a spas, restaurants, and golf courses are doing right now? Sorry, but after that insult to our type of lodging experience for many years by people who were supposed to be helping, I feel the need to rub this new truth into his face just a bit. Don’t worry, I’m working through it….
New for 2020 – Personal Shoppers!
If you feel you don’t want to go shopping, we can do that for you. Put together a list, work with us over the phone or email, and for a cost 10% of your bill at the grocery store, we’ll get your groceries for you. (If your total bill is $200, your Personal Shopper cost is $20) We have good groceries in Ely with two stores available. We’ll put them in your cabin fridge for you. If you need an item that you forgot from your main grocery list, (if you can wait a bit) we’ll take a run to town for you at our earliest convenience if we don’t have the item here. Hey, gas is cheap and we want you to have a good time. Just know that this is Ely and we may not have hydroponically-grown arugula and radicchio. You might have to settle for romaine. Once you get here, you can be on your own, enjoying your exotic salad and listening to the loons. They have been here for about two weeks at this writing. Yes, they are noisy right now as you would expect to hear from a jaded dweller of the north woods who is writing this blog post. Every day at Northwind Lodge is like watching a Tarzan movie, whereupon deep in the jungles of Africa, a hired loon from northeastern Minnesota is calling hauntingly in the background just before the drums begin their chant of danger. Cue the loon! (That loon looks silly with all that bling and those blue sunglasses he wears inside all the time…and, what’s with that five pound wristwatch, anyway!? Actors….SMH…)
Note the clarity of the water here in NE Minnesota.
So, let’s get back to normal together.
We know times are tough on many fronts for all of us. We are feeling it all too well. But Northwind Lodge is here for you to provide an escape that won’t break your bank account while giving you some respite from the new, untamed, wilderness out there. We’ve been doing this since 1944 officially and actually a bit earlier than that. That’s 76 years, now! How many places do you know have been around for 76 years and run by the same family in the same spot on the same lake? Apparently, we are NOT fading away.
Beginning May 11th through May 26th – Rate special!
Cabins for 2 people at only $89.95 a night. Three (3) night minimum stay requirement, and $10.00 per night for each extra per person. Personal Shopper fee is 10% of your grocery list bill. Of course, should you have a question about any of this, give us a call or message us in Facebook under our “Northwind Lodge” page
Our intention is to help get back us all back to normal so you can buy your own beans & weenies – not that we mind one bit. We’d love to have you come stay. Our only request is that you minimize your human contact on the way here and, of course, please stay home if you are ill. If you have a mask and want to wear it, please do. Please bring your own bath towels, personal effects and fishing gear. We do have some tackle here for sale. Motors are available for rent on request. Kayaks and beach canoes are free to use. Have a fire by the beach or waterfall but give everybody some space. It’s pretty much common sense for the times. Campfire conversation from 6 feet away is optional and doesn’t spread anything but maybe some humor and good cheer.
The deposit required is $300 or the cabin total, which ever is less at the time of the reservation. Sorry, but we cannot refund deposits for any reason. Please be able to commit to the time you have reserved. Thank you for understanding.
Call now 218-365-5489 to book your respite at Northwind Lodge. (you may need to leave a message – we’re running around outside, in and out. We’ll call you back.)
Painting Classes
Get your creative juices going by taking a painting class during your stay. Classes are scheduled for Tuesday evenings. Also, depending on schedule availability, classes can be held at other times and for private groups. We paint rocks and Christmas ornaments in the two-hour sessions. Other longer classes and programming is available at different price rates as well. For more information about our regular art programming options, please visit intothebrush.org our non-profit art education organization.
Wednesday Campfire
It’s S’mores time, come to the fire ring by Jasper Creek Falls to enjoy an evening sitting around the campfire. Bring your s’more components. Wiener sticks – the whittled kind – are provided.
NEW – Thursday Potluck
New for 2020! Potluck Dinner on Thursday evening! Get to know some of the guests at the lodge and join us for dinner! Bring a dish, bring dessert, bring yourself. Dress is casual, conversation entertaining, dining is outside.
What a fun way to get together to greet and eat! Joe will be cooking as well. Who knows? It may be gastronomical adventure! That’s why “luck” is part of the word used to describe it!
Winter is breathtaking in the Ely, MN area! It is less crowded and you have the freedom to move about as you like and at your own pace! Come up and stay just 5 miles south of the border for a Wilderness Art Retreat at Northwind Lodge! It’s a great way to explore your creative side either by yourself or with small group of friends or family. It is Art Classes and Vacation all wrapped into one unique experience at Northwind Lodge.
Our forests are covered in white and our frozen lakes are your invitation to explore your creative side in art. Listen to the quiet. Howl for wolves at night. Then, let the thrill of wilderness living be your guide during Into The Brush art session! After classes, round out your vacation by doing outdoor activities like cross-country skiing, ice fishing, snowshoeing, dog sledding, visiting the Fernberg Gallery (on premises), going to town (watch for wolves) or just relaxing. The entire experience is fun and and something you probably don’t do all the time at home. Plus, we are only about 4.5 hours from the Twin Cities (for perspective)!
The retreats are held all winter Northwind Lodge located 15 miles northeast of Ely, MN, 2267 Fernberg Rd. The 2-Day Program includes: 8 hours of instruction, all painting supplies, after-class independent painting time if desired. Meals not included. Class participants may want to bring snacks but can also return to their apartment very easily. Basic kitchen facilities provided in the apartment.
Apartment Housekeeping Unit – Comfortable, housekeeping, apartment-style unit with private driveway and entrance. Sleeps up to 4 in two bedrooms. One double bed in one bedroom, One double and one twin bed in the second bedroom. Located about 150 feet from the art studio building. This unit comes with satellite TV, gas range, refrigerator, microwave, basic cooking and eating utensils, bathroom with shower, toilet and lavatory. Bedding is provided. Please bring your own towels. Many of our guests request this rental year after year.
This 4 day/3 night Art Wilderness Art Retreat is only: $499.00* for up to the first 2 people*
*and $100.00 extra per person up 4 people
*Plus MN sales tax (6.875%) and local lodging tax (3%)
Call now for availability. Dec 13th 2019
1-218-265-5489 or 1-800-280-1078
Retreat Instructor Joe Baltich will be your instructor. He is an accomplished, commissioned artist proficient in acrylics. For a quick sampling of his works of the past 3 years, please visit instagram.com/joebaltich. For more details and other art programming for summer, please visit intothebrush.org.
We have art AND good fishing in the wilderness! Offering beautiful works of art by Joe Baltich and other local artists, Northwind Lodge is by far one of the most unique vacation experiences in northeast Minnesota!
If you appreciate art, come take a look at the Fernberg Gallery. If you want to live in art for a bit, come stay at Northwind Lodge and you can have it all!
Into The Brush is an art program to teach people how to paint using our fabulously beautiful Boundary Waters wilderness as our subject. Lessons taught by Ely artist, Joe Baltich.
In appreciation for your checking us out, we’ll deduct 10% from the cost of all regular programming options except the Micro Art Classes (first-time students to Into The Brush) when you reserve. Just mention the promo code “Reduce your Stress” at the time of reservation.
Into The Brush is the honored to be recognized as the local winner of Minnesota’s Touchstone Energy Community Award by Lake country Power for its work with Stones Of Uplifting Light (SOUL) in providing emotional support for those who become unexpectedly terminally ill. SOUL operations in April of 2017 as a new program designed to share art on stone with people who are suddenly in the final stages of their life by working with an intermediary (family member, friend, acquaintance, etc) to find out some details about the afflicted individual and a more joyous time in that person’s past. Joe Baltich, lead SOUL artist, then paints that moment on stone and sends the art to the individual. No fees are charged for SOUL stones. Donations to Into The Brush are accepted but not required. SOUL recipients are generally not acquainted with SOUL artists and there is no contact between either party. SOUL founder and artist, Joe Baltich wanted SOUL to represent the kindness of strangers through sharing art. Although feedback has been non-existent (neither expected, encouraged, nor required) from SOUL recipients, Into The Brush has been gratified to hear through a few intermediaries that the various recipients were very moved by the gesture-in-stone-art and their families also very appreciative of the lasting mementos. A small, positive effect in a most difficult time is the goal all Into The Brush with SOUL. If you know somebody who is having a rough time and faced with harsh realities, Into The Brush encourages you to contact them at intothebrush@gmail.com
Into The Brush thanks Lake Country Power for their recognition of the SOUL program and is pleased to be a part of the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives!
