Adam Treeful, owner of Treeful Adventures, runs a six-dog team on Devil Track Lake earlier this season. Adam is one of a handful of mushers that teams up with local lodges, like Skyport Lodge, to offer dog sled tours in Cook County. Photo courtesy of Hunt+Capture
To taste a unique piece of the wilderness, all one has to do in Cook County is hop on a dog sled tour. Numerous local businesses preserve the northern tradition of traveling by dog team. Local establishments like Skyport Lodge and Bearskin Lodge, Gunflint Lodge, and Points Unknown in Hovland, offer primarily tourists—coming up from the cities—a peek into a traditional and alternative lifestyle.
Dog mushing has been around the North Shore for centuries as a way of life. But for Arleigh Jorgenson dog touring emerged in Cook County in the 1970s as a way to make a few bucks after a race in Montana left him penniless. Upon returning to Minnesota with little cash in his pocket, Arleigh decided to put in a trail at Lutsen ski hill and see if anyone was interested in 10-minute dog sled rides. Back then, he only charged 10 bucks. Fortunately for Arleigh, folks’ interest in tours swelled.
Nowadays, the dog touring tradition in Cook County returns through lodge owners like Bob and Sue McCloughan of Bearskin.
“Mushing is so tied into our area on the Gunflint Trail,” said Bob. “I know Bruce Kerfoot, who owned Gunflint Lodge, was a strong advocate for any kind of mushing we could support on the Gunflint. It was good for business because it was all a part of that romantic image that people have of way up in the North Woods.”
Depending on what folks are looking for, tours with the dogs can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a few nights in the BWCA. The dogs primarily run on skinny ski trails or loop around the outskirts of lakes. Most of the lodges lease dogs and mushers for the season. For middle-aged sisters Carolyn and Judy Bastick, who traveled five hours from the Twin Cities up to Gunflint Lodge for a tour, the entire 45-minute process of dog sledding is fascinating.
“Part of it is coming up here and just watching the dogs get hooked up. The excitement… the howling… it is exhilarating.” For many, including the two sisters, sled dog tours are the quintessential North Woods experience.
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