Gunflint Lake skating course draws visitors up the Gunflint Trail, boosting winter business

Grand Marais residents and visitors are venturing up the Gunflint Trail to enjoy ice skating on Gunflint Lake this winter.

After Gunflint Lake froze smoothly, providing ideal conditions for ice skating, Gunflint Lodge and Outfitters owner John Fredrikson began crafting a six-mile-long skating course on the lake. The course includes a loop in front of Gunflint Lodge and connects to nearby Gunflint Pines Resort and Borderland Lodge.

Given the minimal snow conditions at the beginning of the winter, the ice skating course has helped draw in visitors and guests to Gunflint Lodge and the neighboring businesses.

Although snow conditions have greatly improved on the snowmobile and ski trails recently, Fredrikson said winter business is still slow but slightly better than last winter.

“Things are starting to stabilize a bit now and pick up, but they’re not that much better than they were last winter,” Fredrikson said.

To maintain the six-mile-long skating course, Fredrikson spends three to four hours in his tractor, plowing and brushing the course. Some days, it’s easygoing with no wind and blue skies, and on some days, where there are 20-40 mph winds, clearing the course can be quite challenging.

Gunflint Lodge owner John Fredrikson clearing the skating course of drifted snow amid windy conditions | Photo by Kalli Hawkins

John Fredrikson in tractor | Photo by Kalli Hawkins

Despite the challenges and time commitment, Fredrikson said he intends to keep the skating course open primarily on the weekends, hoping more visitors will venture up the Gunflint Trail to partake in the winter activity. “It’s fun to see folks out there enjoying it.”

Over at Borderland Lodge, owner Stephanie Shea said the Gunflint Lake skating course has “been wonderful” and significantly helped draw in dinner and lodging guests. “We’re seeing multiple groups out skating around the lake daily, and it has definitely shown up in our winter business,” she said.

Shea said during a weekend in early January, “80% of our dinner guests and 100% of our lodging guests were here to enjoy the wild ice skating.”

Ice skaters at the intersection of the skating loop outside Gunflint Lodge on Gunflint Lake | Photo by M Baxley

Overall, Shea said the winter season is off to a better start than last year. The skating course and the addition of dining service in December have helped. “We decided to open up our dining in December while most of the other Gunflint Trail lodges were closed. That proved to be beneficial,” Shea said.

Looking ahead toward the remainder of the winter season, Shea said Borderland Lodge bookings are “the most full it’s been since we first opened the lodge back up for winters in 2022.” With plenty of winter yet ahead, Borderland Lodge will continue dinner service on Saturdays from 4-7 p.m. through March.

A video of the Gunflint Trail skating course produced by M Baxley is below. 

Kalli Hawkins February 2, 2025