Grand Rapids, MN Lake Home and Cabin Living

Grand Rapids, Minnesota

The county seat of Itasca County, Minnesota, has been a favorite vacation destination for over a hundred years.  The area’s one thousand fishing lakes and miles of endless forests provide the ideal environment for the perfect getaway. Just three hours north of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area, Grand Rapids is close enough to be convenient, yet far enough to provide an escape from the busyness.

Grand Rapids is on the southern most tip of the Mesabi Iron Range.  Historically, the economy has been based on timber harvesting, paper manufacturing and other wood products.  It started as a late-nineteenth century logging town, with the Mississippi River providing an optimal method to ship logs to larger population centers. The historic Blandin Paper Mill, which still has its paper making facilities downtown, opened in 1902. Since then, the City of Grand Rapids has grown into a progressive regional center that combines the charm of the north woods with a globally competitive business climate.

Headquarters to the DNR, Grand Rapids serves as the southern gateway to the towering pines, rich wetlands, and pristine waters of the Chippewa National Forest, the home of the largest breeding population of bald eagles in the lower forty-eight states. You can trek into the wilderness for hiking, biking, snowmobiling, fishing and hunting, or drive the edge of the Wilderness National Scenic Byway from Grand Rapids, north, all the way to Effie, MN.

The Mississippi River runs straight through the middle of town.  The Prairie River, the Swan, and the Big Fork, are just a few of the other rivers flowing through the area.

The tourism industry contributes heavily to the local economy. Whether you want room service or toasted marshmallows, there are more than a hundred places to choose from in the county – all within easy access to the area trails and lakes.

Grand Rapids medical facilities are also first class!  They were the first rural city in Minnesota to be served by an Advanced Life Support Ambulance Service. This December, Grand Itasca Clinic and Hospital began a new era in health care delivery with the opening of its new integrated clinic, hospital, and state-of-the-art diagnostics center.

Steady & Strong
Real Estate is heating up…literally! A tough cold winter, with a lot of snow, meant the ice  just went out on Pokegama Lake – at least two weeks later than normal. As a result, real estate sales for the first four months of 2008 are slightly down from the same period last year, but it seems to be mostly due to the weather.

Local realtors are still getting a high volume of inquiries, all asking the same question. “Is the ice out yet?”  The county has just finished their ordinances, making sure the water stays clean, and that there’s good usable space to build on.  Upper end houses are still selling in the six and seven hundred thousand dollar range. 

Patty Gould-St Aubin of Itasca Realty Lakes and Homes, is optimistic. “We’re not doing too bad!  We’ve got good inventory.  We’ve got building going on – the city is issuing permits for residential and commercial building. We’re not lacking in financing up here, and we don’t have the problem with foreclosures like they do in other places. I think it’s going to be a very positive year in 2008!”

Take in the rugged chainsaw art of the Tall Timber Days lumberjack festival.  Or, you can relive the excitement of days past with dance and comedy on the Mississippi Melodie Showboat.

Remember the Harmonicats? Grand Rapids boasts its very own Second Wind Harmonica Band, a volunteer organization that has been providing musical entertainment for all ages and types of events since 1981.

Grand Rapids even has a claim to Hollywood fame, although you’ve probably never heard the name – Frances Ethel Gumm!  Better known as Judy Garland, the legendary singer and actress was born in Grand Rapids. A local museum is dedicated to her life and career, and Judy’s fully restored birthplace is open to the public as well. An annual Judy Garland Festival is held every year, in the fourth weekend of June.

At the Forest History Center you can step into pages from the past and discover the history of the logging era, recreated in a turn-of-the-century logging camp.  Here you can pet the Percheron draft horses, get a bird’s eye view of the forests from atop the 100-foot fire tower, or just wander down to the ‘wanigan’ (a boat outfitted to carry supplies – think, ‘floating pantry’) on the river.

The river is a big part of the city’s heritage. The Blackwater Barge Festival in the bordering community of Cohasset celebrates it annually with the firemen’s annual BBQ, a street dance at Portage Park, a professional canoe race on the Mississippi River, and a weekend of live music, games, and entertainment.

Grand Rapids is home to the International Snowmobile Hall of Fame and winter is truly a paradise. The Northern Wilderness provides frozen lakes for ice fishing and miles of groomed trails for Nordic skiing and snowmobiling. If downhill skiing is more your style head to Mount Itasca, where you can enjoy that and much more. Mount Itasca is one of the only facilities in the country that maintains venues for downhill, snowboard, biathlon, cross-country, ski jumping and Nordic-combined all at a single site. Sled dog racers can participate in the annual White Oak Sled Dog Classic. For family fun, Krystal Kennels offers the chance to take in a scenic and exhilarating dogsled ride on a snow covered northern Minnesota trail. You may even get to drive the dogsled team yourself!

In summer, there’s Thunder in the Pines!  Enjoy dirt track racing every Friday night at the Grand Rapids Speedway located at the Itasca County Fairgrounds. 

Step back in time to the late 18th Century with a trip to the White Oak Fur Post and experience the life of fur traders of that time.  Blast off at the black powder shooting range, or walk the Gil Quail Nature Trail and learn how local plants were used in 1798 for medicines, shelter and survival.

The kids will love the Peter Pan Tree Children’s Festival in downtown Grand Rapids. The last weekend in June is filled with games, scavenger hunts, dress-up, face-painting, loads of fun, and plenty of food!

The glamour and excitement of antique classics, hot rods, and street machines come together at the Itasca County Fairgrounds in the last weekend of July.  Car enthusiasts can dust off and crank up those collector cars for the Northern Minnesota Vintage Car Show, the largest car show and swap meet in the North Country!

If golf is your game, four challenging courses offer you seventy-two holes of championship play.  In August, you can play them all at once in the Grand Slam Amateur Golf Tournament.  

Want a unique alternative to a golf-scramble for your next corporate outing? Go shooting! The Grand Rapids Gun Club offers trap fields, skeet fields, a duck tower, and a Hunter’s Clays five-stand course. Nearby, the Minnesota Shooting Sports Education Center is rated by USA Olympic Shooting team coach, Dan Durben, as one of the finest in the nation.  Guided pheasant hunts are a popular outing at Pheasants Plus, where they have dogs available on site, or you are welcome to bring your own!

Don’t like to kill birds?  Count them!  Over Christmas, you can take part in the century-old Audubon Christmas Bird Count, and help maintain the world’s longest running ornithological database. Of course, there’s always fishing! Pristine lakes offer world-famous fishing for bass, northern, walleye, panfish or bass.

Scenically beautiful, economically vibrant, and plenty to do!  Grand Rapids is the ideal place to own a home, live, raise a family, or retire in an idyllic and magnificent setting.  If you want a town where people will go out of their way to help you, have fun, and make you feel welcome – then Grand Rapids is for you!