Every year I go up north with a couple of buddies to canoe/kayak the beautiful lakes of Minnesota. We have stayed at a good number of resorts. This year, we decided to try Barney's Resort & Lodge.
The cabins were extraordinarily nice for the price! They were immaculately clean and looked like they had just been built. The living quarters were spacious and inviting.
I enjoy cooking and very few cabins offer the kitchen amenities that the cabins at Barney's offered. The cabin we stayed in featured a gas range, full size refrigerator and almost every cooking utensil you could ask for including a full set of kitchen knives (which were razor sharp) and a crock pot! It is very nice to be able to cook what you want to without fretting that you forgot something important back home.
Most "resorts" feature only 1 or 2 canoes that are available on a "first-come, first serve" basis. Not at Barney's! In addition to at least 2 canoes that I saw, there were also half-a-dozen kayaks including a DOUBLE kayak! This was especially convenient as there were 3 of us and 3 people in a canoe doesn't work out too well. This was perfect since it was exactly what we wanted to do all weekend and we never had any trouble getting access to this equipment.
Barney's water access takes you to Little Sand Lake and Sand Lake with connections to other lakes in the chain. The area is strikingly beautiful with plenty of places to explore. Also, there were bald eagles everywhere - we actually lost count of how many we saw. We spotted numerous eagle's nests in trees just off-shore and eagles often flew over us as we navigated the waters.
The only "negative", if there is such a thing, to Barney's is that the area immediately surrounding the cabins is not very rustic. However, the great value, fantastic accommodations and water access easily make up for this.
I would highly recommend Barney's for your next "up north getaway!" read more
