A week at the lake changes things.
Northwind Cedar Point is a small lakeside resort on the northern shore of Birchwood Lake in northern Minnesota. Twelve cedar cabins, a dock, a fire ring, and not much else on purpose.
How Northwind Cedar Point came to be
I bought this property in the fall of 2009 from a retired schoolteacher named Harold Voss, who had run it as a fishing camp since the early 1970s. There were eight cabins then, most of them in rough shape, and a dock that listed badly to the east. I had been working as a landscape architect in Minneapolis for eleven years and had spent most of my vacations driving north to rent someone else's cabin on someone else's lake. When Harold's daughter posted the listing on a regional real estate board, I drove up on a Thursday, walked the shoreline twice, and made an offer before I drove home. I have never been entirely sure that was a rational decision. I am entirely sure it was the right one.
The first three years were mostly construction. I hired a crew from Ely to re-side the original eight cabins in northern white cedar milled at a small operation outside Cook, Minnesota. We added four more cabins between 2011 and 2014, each one set a little further into the tree line so that no cabin looks directly into another. I learned a lot about what guests actually need during those years. They do not need a hot tub. They do not need a game room. They need a kitchen that works, a bed that is genuinely comfortable, a porch with a chair that faces the water, and firewood that is actually dry. Getting those four things right took longer than I expected.
The twelve cabins
- The Wren Our smallest cabin, one room with a sleeping loft, a full kitchen, and a porch just...From $185/night
- The Spruce A one-bedroom cabin with a separate sitting room and a screened porch that faces...From $215/night
- The Loon A two-bedroom cabin set slightly further into the tree line than the others, which...From $275/night
- The Birch Our largest cabin, three bedrooms and a great room with a stone fireplace that was...From $395/night
- The Tamarack A two-bedroom cabin with a sauna, which is the only cabin on the property that has...From $295/night
Reading it slowly, one chapter per evening on the porch, which feels right.
Contact us
We are on the northern shore of Birchwood Lake, about fourteen miles east of the town of Ely, Minnesota. The last two miles are gravel road. It is a good gravel road.
Email: hello@northwindcedarpoint.com · +81 3-3731-7056
News & Announcements
Fishing Birchwood Lake for Walleye: What Actually Works
Dale Erickson has been fishing Birchwood Lake since 1987, which means he has been doing it longer than I have owned the property. When I first asked him to guide for us in 2010, he said he would think about it and called back three days later. He has guided every summer since. What follows is a mix of what Dale has told me over the years and what I have picked up watching guests come back from morning trips with fish and with stories.
Read more →What to Actually Pack for a Northern Minnesota Cabin Trip
Every summer, guests arrive at Northwind Cedar Point with a cooler full of food, a bag full of clothes, and approximately zero bug spray. Or they bring the polite kind, the kind that smells nice and does nothing. Northern Minnesota in July is beautiful and it is also, in the evenings especially, a place where the mosquitoes have opinions. This is a practical list, built from seventeen summers of watching people arrive and depart.
Read more →Why We Build With Northern White Cedar
When I started re-siding the original eight cabins in 2010, I had a choice between several materials. Vinyl siding was cheaper and would have required no maintenance. Engineered wood was an option. I chose northern white cedar milled at a small operation outside Cook, Minnesota, and I have not regretted it. Here is what I have learned about the wood over fifteen years of watching it age.
Read more →What makes a stay here different
Twelve cabins, no more
We have never added a thirteenth cabin and we do not plan to. The property holds twelve comfortably, and keeping it that way means you can actually hear the loons at night.
The dock is yours
Every cabin has a reserved dock slip. Bring your own canoe, kayak, or paddleboard, or borrow one of ours. The lake is spring-fed and clear to about fourteen feet.
No resort fees
The rate you see is the rate you pay. Firewood, dock access, use of the canoes and kayaks, the fire pit, the outdoor shower by the boathouse. All included.
Cedar, not vinyl
Every cabin was built or fully re-sided with locally milled northern white cedar. It weathers to silver-gray over time and smells like a forest after rain.
Who you are buying from
Margaret Calloway
I am Margaret Calloway, and I have been running Northwind Cedar Point since I bought the property from Harold Voss in the fall of 2009. Before this, I spent eleven years as a landscape architect at a firm in Minneapolis, mostly working on commercial projects that paid well and meant very little to me. I grew up in Duluth, which means I have always had a complicated relationship with the cold and an uncomplicated love of the water. I am currently reading my way through a stack of books about the ecology of northern Minnesota lakes, which is either research or procrastination, depending on the week. In winter I cross-country ski the trails behind the property and make a lot of soup. I am working on a short guide to Birchwood Lake for guests, which has been "almost finished" for about two years now.
Common questions
Is there Wi-Fi in the cabins?
There is a single Wi-Fi network in the main office building, which is about a hundred yards from the nearest cabin. Most guests find they stop checking it after the first day. The cabins themselves do not have their own connections, and cell service on the property is one bar on a good day. We think this is a feature.
Can we bring our dog?
Yes, in four of the twelve cabins. The dog-friendly cabins are the Wren, the Spruce, the Tamarack, and the Birch. There is a $25 per night pet fee. Dogs must be leashed on the dock and in the common areas. We have a hose and a towel station by the boathouse for muddy paws.
What is the cancellation policy?
Cancellations made more than 30 days before arrival receive a full refund minus a $50 processing fee. Cancellations within 30 days are non-refundable unless we can rebook the cabin, in which case we refund 75 percent. We strongly recommend travel insurance for holiday weekend bookings.