Logging camp

Explore a recreated 1900 logging camp and learn about Minnesota's forests of yesterday and today.

Tours

Daily guided tours of the logging camp are offered at 10:15 am and 2 pm. This is included with regular admission.

Guided tours include an overview of the entire logging camp. Feel free to stay after and interact with interpreters and ask questions.

Self guided tours are available during open business hours.

Highlights

The logging of the forests was the most dramatic event in the relationship between people and the environment of Minnesota. White pine logging was done in the winter. Logging camps were usually used for one or two seasons until the timber was cut, and then moved to another location.

As you tour the camp, some of the things you will discover:

The date is December 15, 1900. (Logging camps existed in the winter.)
Loggers worked so hard that they needed to eat 5,000 calories per day.
Ice roads enabled a team of draft houses to pull a sleigh with up to 50,000 pounds of logs.
A medium-sized camp like ours had about 24 horses and 80 men. A draft horse can weigh up to 2,000 pounds!
These replica buildings were built from the blowdown from Itasca State Park in 1978.

Visitors are welcome to explore the visitor center on their own, and take a short walk to the moored river “wanigan” — the floating cook shack and bunkhouse used by river drivers when moving logs down river to the mills.

For multi-day itineraries, hotel, and dining options, visit the Grand Rapids Convention and Visitor Bureau.