Burntside or Shagawa?

[buzzsaw]

Steve,

Which is a nicer like to rent a cabin on/get a resort on? I'm looking for sandy beaches for the kids.

If you have any other nice ideas in the area, I'd be open to looking at them as well.

Thanks,

Mike

[Steve Foss]

Mike, not much in the way of sandy beaches at Burntside resorts/rental cabins. There are some very nice stretches of sand beach up in some of the shallow arms and bays, but not by the resorts, to the best of my knowledge.

Shag has better beaches where the resorts are, which will please the kids.

But there are resorts all around Ely on a dozen other lakes, some of which might suit better, and my knowledge of those is limited at best.

I'd suggest you post this inquiry over on the BWCAW-Duluth-Range-Ely board here on FM, and you'll get some responses from people who really know the various resorts. It's a pretty common question over there, and if you give some detail about what you're after you'll get some informed reports.

You can also contact the Ely Chamber of Commerce, where they field hundreds of these questions every season. They're at http://www.ely.org.

Sorry I'm not of much help, man.

[buzzsaw]

That helps! Don't sell yourself short.

I really want to take a week vacation up there the week of August 17th-24th. The wifey [PoorWordUsage] kinda wants to do the Brainerd area... we'll see who wins out I guess.

[finnbay]

Buzzsaw,

There are many great resorts around. Can't go wrong with any of 'em. Timber Bay on Birch Lake is a beautiful resort with a huge sand beach. Fishing on Birch in August can be a tough proposition if you're hoping to spend time hanging onto a fishin' pole, but it's close to a lot of photo opportunities. Be glad to show you around if you were up this way.

[Steve Foss]

Thanks for chiming in, Ken. I knew you'd know of other good possibilities.

Buzz, Timber Bay is less than a half hour from Ely, so if it's Ely or the wilderness you want you're closer to it on Birch Lake than you are to a Vikings or Twins game from your home.

[buzzsaw]

Thats beautiful! If there is a pre-season game Vikes game going on that weekend, I'll be giving those season tix away.... much rather be up in paradise with my family.

Ken, I'll check out that place on-line and see what it looks like, I appreciate the help.

On a side note, the wifey [PoorWordUsage] is now sending me e-mail links to area's around Hayward, WI... another tough area to combat.

I would also love to be able to bring my dog "Bailey" along, but most of these cabins don't allow dogs... so I'm kinda thinking something more rustic will allow me to bring my buddy along.

[finnbay]

Again, dog wise, check out Timber Bay. I've done a couple of family shoots there where the people have their dogs on vacation with 'em.