This marker is located in the Burgen Lake Rest Area along I-94, about halfway between Minneapolis…read moreand Fargo. It is quite dense with a lot of reading, so the large parking area is helpful and if you're looking for something to do while stretching your legs, this is a good opportunity to do that. The marker reads: For some 40 years in the mid-19th century, two-wheeled wooden carts drawn by slow-moving oxen creaked and groaned over the rough trails from colonies on the Red River near Lake Winnipeg to St. Paul, 400 miles to the southeast. The overland trade between the Canadian settlements and St. Paul began in 1835 as an illegal trade bypassing the Hudson's Bay Company monopoly in the Red River of the North region. Within a few years trains of several hundred carts hauled more than $250,000 worth of furs, pemmican, and buffalo robes to St. Paul and carried back food, medicine, dry goods, and other supplies. The six-foot high cart wheels, held together by wooden pegs and rawhide, were ungreased and set up a squeal that could be heard for miles. Driven by the mixed-blood Bois Brule traders in their red sashes, beaded caps and moccasins, the carts traveled about 15 miles a day. Mud and mosquitos were an almost constant plague. Their mid-summer arrival in St. Paul provided steamboat passengers to the frontier city of St. Paul an unexpected attraction. Over the years the trails were changed. Some times alternative routes were used because of weather and at times it was dangerous for the Ojibway-related traders to pass through the Dakota Indian's territory. The first trail used moved south across the plains of North Dakota, turning eastward into the Minnesota River Valley and finally winding northward into St. Paul. A later trail called the Woods Trail moved up the Mississippi River to the mouth of the Crow Wing River near Brainerd, turned west to Detroit Lakes and then north into Canada. Yet another trail followed the Red River to near Moorhead and then turned southeast towards St. Paul. Today's I-94 follows parts of that trail. Traces of the old trails can still be found today in Otter Tail, Wadena, and Crow Wing counties; as well as, in other locations. I found it interesting to learn about how people used to travel before these highways and superhighways came to be. Perhaps you'll also find it interesting. [Review 21146 overall - 177 in Minnesota - 109 of 2024.]

My wife and I were out with my aunt and uncle from California and we needed something to do on a…read moreSaturday before my brother got married. We decided to go see Charles Lindbergh's child house home and it was a treat! It was 7 bucks a piece for a great tour of his residence. The tour was about an hour and a half long and was by far the best historical house tour I have taken, and I have probably done about 15 or 20 of them. It is one of my wife and mine favorite things to do together. Go to lunch in a new town, look around, and tour an old historic place. We learned a lot about Lindbergh and the residence was on a beautiful plot of land right on the Mississippi. The car he had was fully restored in the garage from the 20's and in pristine shape. If you are ever in the St. Cloud area, go 40 minutes north and take this tour! One of the best ever so far in Minnesota.

The facility is supposed to be open for visiting and tours. It wasn't until after we arrived and…read moresaw that the house is not open during the week. Very disappointing

Great museum! I spent an hour and a half browsing their collection of antique and vintage outboard…read moremotors, lures, dark house equipment and more. The attendant was very nice and welcoming. Not much fly fishing equipment, but I didn't mind. Would visit again!

A very unique place to visit. They have an amazing collection of fishing gears. All items are well…read moreorganized and easy to understand. The docent is super nice.

The museum is not on the regular path, but the nearby city is cute, and has good dining options,…read moreeven for vegetarians. It really is worth the time to stop in, enjoy a meal, and take in the tour. Jay Johnson, who was the last owner of the property before it was donated to non-profit company that owns it now, was our tour guide. He does a very good job of it. He covers a lot of history through the history of his family that lived in the house beginning in 1882. The house was built, and expanded by his family, who used it both as a residence, and as a hotel. When Johnson inherited the property as the last, surviving member of the family, he inherited a jumbled mess of boxes stored for many years with items dating back beyond the Civil War. The really interesting part of it all is that he has all the provenance - the pictures, the letters home, and the legal documents - to go with the story. And, there's something for everyone to see there including toys, clothes, furniture, family paintings, antique and obscure pieces of dining implements, and a complete room devoted just to the Civil War. The house/museum is so complete, and so interesting, it has been licensed by local schools as part of their education program, and students are brought here to learn not only about the history of the town and family, but of the country as well. For $8.00, the price can't be beat. Children under the age of five are admitted free with a parent, and students are only $5.00. Of course, they take donations on top of the admission price, and we were so impressed, we left $50.00. It was that good!

First of all the Prospect House is the name of the Hotel that used to be run out of this house…read more One of the owners was a Civil war soldier that took some bullets and traveled around defeating the confederate soldiers. He was good at documenting things and writing letter so the history is well preserved. This is a great grandson telling the stories of the first house in town, they were first for a lot of things, electricity, phone etc. I thought the way that it was organized into different person's items or time frames of history. The basement is the Civil war area with some fascinating things to see. The tour is only $8 and they last about an hour and a half. There are structured times for the tours. Check out my photos. Of course, times may change. The older i get, the more I appreciate the history and the people that made this country great. I enjoyed the tour, the many items and Jay's weird sense of humor. It was a fun lesson and trip back in time. Jay's family didn't get rid of anything. Maybe someone needs to tell American Pickers. He has a LOT of stuff not even on display, just in storage. Lots of history for sure. Very fascinating.

My family and I stopped by this park while on vacation in the area in March 2024. We were thrilled…read moreto see there are hiking trails as well as the fire tower, plus there are a lot of interesting things to read about the tower history and fire history in the area. The whole park is nice - clean, well kept, both paved trails and gravel lined trails, well-built steps, and quality railings where steps are located. There is a paved trail that goes to the tower, as well as an unpaved trail that is a good uphill climb. The tower looks neat, and we would have loved to climb it, but it was closed. There is a big fence with a locked door around it. This was a bummer for me - the websites that I found describing the park had said that the park was open year-round, which I (wrongly) thought included the tower. I do understand - it is an unseasonably warm winter, and most people aren't going hiking or climbing giant towers in March. I was just disappointed. Nonetheless, we enjoyed our time there - both the hiking and learning about fire safety in the area.

Loved my visit to the Runestone Museum! The museum may not be the largest or have the most advanced…read moretechnology but I was really impressed by the density of quality information! It took about an hour to get through the museum. There's a couple of buildings and things to see outside of the main museum. They also have a great gift shop where I was able to get a couple of postcards! There's a free parking lot and in summer they have picnic tables in the courtyard. You can bring your own picnic lunch or they have a list of restaurants that'll deliver to the museum! When I visited the museum in summer 2020, they required your information for contact tracing. Not sure what covid-protocals they have in place now, but they definitely took it seriously! Definitely recommend stopping by if you're in Alexandria!

One thing I'd like to preface this review with is how my wife and I were cautious about coming…read morehere. We didn't know how over the top this place would be as we were excited to visit, but didn't want to be overwhelmed by the narrative of the one and only almighty runestone! I'm happy to report that this museum took a very scientific and historical viewpoint on the stone! We really enjoyed that they presented a lot of evidence for and against the stone while also discussing the research done to determine more information about it! We also really liked the large part of the exhibit pertaining to native Americans, their culture, as well as the native animals to this region. The museum, while centered around the stone does a really great job giving a ton of information and highlighting different cultures which was super cool and a bit unexpected. Obviously we went there for the stone and we're not disappointed! Fort Alexandria was also cool and the Viking ship is a must see. Overall, it's a stop if you haven't been there before and you won't regret it!

This is the best place to go for family entertainment, especially if you have kids. You don't have…read moreto be a sports fan to enjoy a night at North Central Speedway. They have free town nights also. Best family fun around and super affordable. Less expensive than a movie