The Spread:
Adjacent to the enormous Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Gunflint Lodge is located lakeside in Minnesota's North Woods near the Canadian border. Framed by rocky cliffs and towering pines, Gunflint proffers what owner Bruce Kerfoot calls environmental recreation. "Resorts have the pools and the parties," notes Kerfoot, "we have the outdoors." In winter, ice skate and ice fish on the blue-white expanse of frozen Gunflint Lake, one mile wide and seven miles long, as well as cross-country ski on groomed trails, and—our personal favorite—dog sled through the glistening, snowy woods. In summer, Gunflint Lodge is all about canoeing. Year-round, 23 one- to four-bedroom cabins with saunas and full kitchens are available. There are an additional 12 rustic cabins available in summer.

Why Families Love It:
In summer the lake is the focus for fishing, canoeing, and hiking. Newbies can take introductory paddling lessons. For an easy outing, head to Gunflint's coves, often the site of beaver dams. On guided trips, canoe through fields of water lilies, along chains of lakes, past islands dotted with pine trees and rimmed with pebbly shores, as well as portage around waterfalls and rapids. Hiking trails rim the lake, and also lead to rocky overlooks, through woods, and to spots where you can pick wild strawberries and blueberries in June.

Although Gunflint doesn't have daylong kids' programs, selected activities in summer engage the biggest to the littlest. Ages five and older go on naturalist-led hikes, try to catch rainbow trout on the lake, go on scavenger hunts, make boats to race on a creek, and enjoy pizza and movie nights.

Special Events & Activities:
Join your kids for evening Great Lakes ghost stories about haunted lighthouses and the lives of the fur-trading voyageurs who plied the area's waterways in the 18th and 19th centuries.