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Minnesota East/West Tour

1-3 Day Tour Across Bemidji's Northwoods
Travel through Bemidji's northwoods at Itasca State Park. Go back in time with a stop at a pioneer village and discover Minnesota's resources with a variety of factory tours including Bemidji Woolen Mills, a commercial fishery, Arctic Cat, and aerospace science center.

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Featured stops for this tour could include…

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Day One

    • 7:30am: Depart Duluth

 

    • 10:00am: Refreshment

 

    • 10:30am: Depart Walker

 

    • 11:00am: Forest Edge Winery

 

    • 12:30pm: Itasca State Park

 

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Day One

    • 3:00pm: Depart for Bemidji

 

    • 3:45pm: Lodging Check-in

 

    • 6:00pm: Dinner

 

    • 8:00pm: Paul Bunyan Playhouse

 

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Forestedge Winery - Laport, MN

Located on the edge of the Paul Bunyan State Forest, Forestedge Winery and Farm offers it's visitors a peaceful setting in the woods. Enjoy the gardens and cobblestone patio with a taste of Minnesota fruit wines. Art Gallery.

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Itasca State Park - Park Rapids, MN

Stop at the Visitors Center to see interpretive displays and exhibits on the history of the forest and wildlife. "Step on" tour with the park naturalist along Wilderness Drive with a stop at the Headwaters area. Board the "Chester Charles" for a narrated tour of Lake Itasca, where the Mississippi River springs from.

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Paul Bunyan Playhouse - Bemidji, MN

The Paul Bunyan Playhouse is Bemidji's professional live production theatre. Nationally recognized as the oldest professional summer stock company in Minnesota, drawing actors from across the country. Located in the historic Chief Theatre, downtown Bemidji.

Bemidji Evening Entertainment Options

  • Paul Bunyan Playhouse Live theatre productions June through Mid-August.

  • Native American Flute Performance and narrative on the history of flutes.

  • Timeless Traditions An ensemble that blends the Native

  • American flute and Celtic folk harp in ethnic and contemporary music.

  • Alabaster Falls An acoustic "folkgrass" band. Dinner performances or evening entertainment.

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Day Two

    • 8:30a: Photo with Paul & Babe

 

    • 9:00am: Tour Bemidji Woolen Mills Factory & Store

 

    • 10:30am: Buena Vista Logging Village

 

    • 1:45pm: Big Bog Recreation Area

 

    • 3:00pm: Refreshment

 

    • 3:45pm: Return to Bemidji

 

    • 5:15pm: Lodging Check-in

 

BEMIDJI, MN

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Paul Bunyan and Babe his Blue Ox

Stop for a photo opportunity with the legendary lumberjack statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe his Blue Ox. Visit the Tourist Information Center for Paul's memorabilia and view the Fireplace of States.

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Bemidji Woolen Mills & Outlet Store

Part of a long and rich tradition, Bemidji Woolen Mills & Outlet Store is a 5 generation operation home to the Bemidji Paul Bunyan Plaid. Individually made, high-quality woolen clothing, garments and blankets have been made here in Bemidji for nearly 100 years.

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Buena Vista Logging Village

Board horse-drawn covered wagons at the Lumberjack Hall of Fame building in the Buena Vista Village to ride to the "Top of the World." The narrated tour follows the Leech Lake - Red Lake Trail, the same route traveled by Native Americans, early explorers and pioneers

WASKISH, MN

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Big Bog Recreation Area

Identified as Minnesota's last true wilderness, this 500-square-mile peat bog is the largest of its kind in the lower 48 states. A mile-long boardwalk offers visitors a first-hand look at unique plant and animal life.

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Day Three

    • 8:30am: Depart for Red Lake

 

    • 9:00am: Commercial Fishery Tour

 

RED LAKE, MN

Commercial Fishery Tour

Tour a commercial fishery operated by the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe since 1917, where fish are hand-harvested, hand-processed and fresh-shipped daily. Red Lake is the only commercial hook & line walleye fishery, and one of the largest freshwater commercial fisheries in the US.

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Day Three

    • 10:15am Depart for Thief River Falls

 

    • 11:15am
        • OPTION 1: Tour Arctic Cat Factory

       

        • OPTION 2: Peder Engelstad Pioneer Village

       

       

 

    • Noon Lunch

 

    • 1:00pm: Depart from Grand Forks
        • OPTION 1: Warren Pioneer Village

       

        • OPTION 2: Ralph Engelstad Arena Tour

       

        • OPTION 3: Aerospace Science Center

       

       

 

THIEF RIVER FALLS, MN

Arctic Cat Factory Tour

See where Arctic Cat Snowmobiles, ATV's, and Side by Sides are created. From design thru manufacturing, it is an interesting factory tour.

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Peder Engelstad Pioneer Village

A relocated turn-of-the-century village, your tour takes you through 19 buildings, including a museum, Victorian house, 2 railroad depots, schoolhouse, church, blacksmith shop, machinery and automobile building, and 7 log houses.

GRAND FORKS, MN

Ralph Engelstad Arena Tour

Many have named this the finest hockey facility in the world! Tour the Olympic arena, club rooms plus the suite, main and ice levels, as well as the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center home to UND basketball, volleyball and soccer teams and considered by many as one of the finest facilities in the nation.

Aerospace Science Center

Tour one of the premiere aerospace programs in the country with simulators, pressure chamber, airport and Aerostop Store.