Ely - BWCA Minnesota Articles

Sunshine Beach

Sunshine Beach—Eagle’s Nest 3—Soudan, MN—Map

St. Louis County Planning and Zoning board recommended approval for this development on Feb. 8, 2007.

Sunshine Beach is a proposed 3 lot development located on the southern edge of Eagle’s Nest Lake in the Eagle’s Nest Township, St. Louis County. The three proposed lakeshore lots are fairly similar in size and dimension, ranging from 1-2 acres with lake frontage between 207 and 281 feet. The western and easternmost lake lots (Lots 1 and 3) are covered with a significant portion of wetland causing the zoning commission some concern over the environmental impact of building on these lake lots. Because of the wetlands in the surrounding lake lots, Lot 2 has irregular borders to ensure that those zones are protected.

Lake Acreage: 1,001
Max Depth: 49ft
Fish: Walleye, White Sucker, Northern Pike

Cedar Beach

Cedar Beach—Shagawa Lake—Morse, MN—Map


St. Louis County Planning and Zoning recommend approval for this development on Feb. 8, 2007.

Cedar Beach, a former lake cabin resort, it is to be converted into a 5 lot development on Shagwa Lake in St. Louis County. Three of the lake lots will have lakeshore access while the remaining two lots are to be zoned for septic purposes. The northern half of the property is undeveloped while the southern half contains the resort and other outlying buildings.

Each of the three lakeshore lots are approximately ½ to 1 acre and size and each has about 200ft of lake frontage. All the lake lots have pre existing buildings on them, leftover cabins, sheds and support buildings from the old resort. St. Louis Planning and Zoning is debating whether the new owners may keep the existing buildings on their property as outbuildings or if the new owners should have to remove them before any new construction begins.

Lake Acreage: 2,307 ft
Max Depth: 48 ft.
Fish: Northern Pike, Walleye

Lakefront Specialist: Jeff Hway, Ely MN

Jeff Hway's Minnesota adventure began almost 30 years ago. As a young man, this native Chicagoan made the move north to start a resort and outfitter business out by Moose Lake, about 20 minutes outside his present home of Ely. He ran his business for 20 years all the while gaining a special knowledge and appreciation of the lakes and the land around him. After he sold his business in 1997, it seemed natural to him that he moved into real estate so he could help others share in the wealth of natural beauty that Ely has to offer.

Jeff has been with Bear Island Land Co. since 1997 and is having the time of his life living and working in this wilderness paradise. LakeshoreDreams.com had a chance to sit down with Jeff to learn a little more about his work and life at the end of the road.

LD: What kinds of properties does Bear Island Land Co. handle?

Hway: Our company deals with all kinds of property. However, the lion's share of what we work with is lake cabins, recreational land, country cabins, and raw land. We deal in raw land because we have our own surveying office here. Bear Island Surveying is our sister company and it is the only surveying company within an hour of this area. What clients often do is have their piece of property surveyed and then split, and then we help them sell the pieces of them after we do the survey.

LD: Where are the majority of the lake homes you sell located?

Hway: The more popular lakes for homes in the Ely area are Burnside, White Iron, Birch, Snow Bank and a few others. Most of our buyers are coming up from the Twin Cities area. These people usually have been up here for a fishing trip or a ski trip or something like that and they just fall in love with the area. They want their piece of the rock, so to speak, getaway homes and cabins for fishing and hunting among many other things.

LD: Besides the lakes, what does Ely have to offer?

Hway:  There are many places in Minnesota where you can find a nice quiet place on a decent lake, but there is no place like Ely. We are literally at the end of the road here. No roads and no motors allowed north of here. Everything north of here is wilderness and water and it's likely to stay that way for a long, long time. The government owns 90% of the wild lands in this area and prohibits building of any kind to ensure that the natural beauty is preserved.

LD: What about the city of Ely itself?

Hway: Well, not only do you have the wilderness, you have this great town filled with people wanting to get away from the city. You got everything here that you need and more, without the cramped big city feel.

It's a popular town with close to 5,000 to 8,000 people living here at a time, the total doubles in the summer, but the majority of them are seasonal, so there is no real danger of overcrowding. The town has all the amenities you would need for trip out into Quetico or the BWCA. Outfitters are ready to provide you with any gear you might need and guides to take you where you want to go.

LD: What's the most important obligation you have toward your client?

Hway: I want to make sure that I match the person with the correct property. People that approach me are asking me to find them a piece of property that works for them, and I try to do just that.

For more information on properties in the Ely/BWCA Lakes region please visit Jeff Hway's listing page on LakeshoreDreams.com.

Ely/BWCA MN Region Profile

Ely has been described as an outdoorsman's paradise. Whether you're an angler, adventurer, or just a weekend warrior, you'll be sure to find something to set your spirits soaring in this stretch of Minnesota North Country. Camping is the way to go if you want to appreciate the rugged beauty of this area. Pitch a tent or rent a rustic lakeside cabin and soak in the view.

Burntside Lake is located nine miles west of Ely, near the western edge of St. Louis county. Surrounded by the majestic woods of the Burntside State Forest, Burntside covers 7,139 acres and is 126 ft. deep at its lowest point. The water is so clear that on an average day a person may see close to 20 feet down in the water. Anglers will find an abundance of walleye and small mouth bass as well as some deep water species like rainbow smelt and lake trout.

Snowbank Lake is approximately 18.5 miles northeast of Ely. At 3,303 acres, Snowbank is one of the smaller lakes located in Boundary Waters Canoe Are or BWCA for short.  Canoers and campers will find that this is a very popular spot to enter the BWCA with ample room to camp and stow gear provided they have the proper permits. There are three resorts with about 30 cabins and about 25 private homes or cottages (many of which are on Federal leased land on the southwest corner of the lake.

Basswood Lake is a behemoth covering 22,722 acres and dipping to 111ft. at its deepest point. The shorelines of Basswood Lake are dominated ledgerock, boulder, and rubble, interspersed with sand. The water characteristics vary depending on which end of the lake one is on. The eastern half has clearer and harder water than the western end because each is fed from a different major inlet. The east is fed by the mineral rich Knife Lake and Moose Lake from the southeast, while the west end is fed by the Kawishiwi and Range Rivers to the south and west.   About half of the lake, mostly to the northeast, lies in Ontario.

Saganaga Lake lies on the US-Canada border separating northeastern Minnesota (Cook County) from the Rainy River and Thunder Bay districts of Ontario. The US side of the lake tops out at about 17,930 acres with a maximum depth of 280 feet. To prevent the spread of the spiny waterflea, all anglers should be sure to empty all their bait buckets, livewells, and bilges before transporting their boat to another lake.

Ely is an outdoorsman's' paradise, but if you're partial to "roughing it" in style, there are plenty of resorts in Ely that offer gourmet meals, play areas for the kids, and even whirlpools and hot tubs.

Ely is the gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area or BWCA for short. The BWCA was established in 1978 by Congress through the BWCA Wilderness Act. This Act restricted logging, mining, and most motorized access to this 1,000,000+ acre area in northern Minnesota. Known for its rugged, yet pristine beauty, this area is visited by over 200,000 visitors a year who travel the more than 1500 miles of canoe routes and stay in over 2,000 possible campsites.

The Canadian counterpart to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA), is the Quetico Provincial Park.  The wilderness area, know for its beautiful lakes and superb fishing, has 2200 backcountry campsites accessible through six entry points, five of which are by water only. The park encompasses 4700 km of wilderness without development of any kind.  No motors and no firearms are allowed.

For Lakeshoredreams.com, the counties grouped in Ely\BWCA MN include:

Partial St. Louis County MN, Partial Lake County MN, Partial Cook County

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