About 10 years ago, my family lost the modest lake cabin we had enjoyed all through my childhood. It was located on leased land and the unthinkable happened when we suddenly lost the lease after more than 30 years of memories. We were all terribly sad to lose the cabin after all those years. Worse yet, my family had scattered around the country and the cabin was the location of our annual “homecoming.” What would we do now?

We gradually resigned ourselves to the idea of renting a cabin for a week or two each summer as a gathering place for the family and looked at several small lake resorts as options but none of them seemed quite right.  And then one day we discovered Northern Pine Lodge on Potato Lake. Staying at Northern Pine Lodge is like stepping back in time. It is the classic old school Minnesota lake cabin resort with about twenty modest but clean and comfortable cabins on one of the best lakes in the state. The resort itself sits on a sort of dead-end peninsula of Potato Lake with no noise or thru traffic of any kind. It has a super-safe swim beach, paddle boats, kayaks, bicycles, mini golf, an old clay tennis court, docks for fishing and several row boats for rent. The heart of the resort is a beautiful 100 year old log building with pool tables, just enough arcade games and an impressive stone fireplace for those rare chilly mornings.  There is also a log sauna building.  A favorite activity is to swim to the raft after dusk and warm up in the sauna.  Every day at a certain time, an old school bell rings and kids run from all over the resort to take part in that day’s special activity which may include making a craft, going on a nature walk or scavenger hunt or activities at the beach.  In the evenings, there are family-centered activities like Bingo Night and Movie Night in the lodge.  It truly is an idyllic place for kids as they roam the property in packs with countless things to do. On rainy days, it’s only 5 minutes from shopping and movies in Park Rapids.  

We’ve met at Northern Pine Lodge nearly every year for the past decade and recommend it to anyone who wants a quiet, family oriented, back to basics lake resort experience. Northern Pine Lodge is truly one of a kind.  All of this is made possible by the great proprietors, John and Kelly Schupp.  It is a family run business with a wonderful staff.

- Amy Hagen, Northern Pine Lodge Guest

PUBLISHED IN THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE ON JUNE 10TH, 2012