The Gunflint Trail branches off Highway 61 just north of Grand Marais, past where a pair of entry markers built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937 and 1938 used to be, and climbs north into the kind of country that takes your breath away. Sixty miles of road pass through boreal forest, past lakes that don’t have a house or cabin on them, ending at Saganaga Lake on the Canadian border.
It started as a foot path used by American Indians traveling to Grand Marais, became a wagon road for prospectors chasing mineral wealth that never materialized, and was gradually improved as loggers moved in and the county needed fire protection for the timberland. The road reached Seagull Lake in 1929. Even then, “road” was generous. Just two dirt tracks with weeds growing between them. But it was enough. Almost as soon as the road reached a lake, people followed.
By the 1930s, the name Gunflint Trail had taken hold, and resorts and private cabins began appearing as soon as a new section of the trail was built. The pattern has repeated ever since. People drive up, not always sure what pulled them there. As they talk to the locals, they find themselves drawn in by the stories and the stillness. For some of us, memories of the trail stay with us even after we return home.
Cindy and Tony Faras were like that. They’d been visiting the Gunflint area for years before they decided to make it home. In 1992, Cindy traded a hair-design career in Minneapolis for a chainsaw and a new life with her husband in the Northwoods.
Rather than buying one of the existing resorts when they came up for sale, they built their own business from the ground up with a new vision about what a vacation resort could be along the Gunfling Trail.
Boundary Waters Adventures offered guests private cabins on individual parcels on Saganaga and Seagull lakes. One of those cabins had been built in 1934 by Bill and Margarite Henton. Cindy and Tony bought it from their son in 1995, restored it with care, and kept the Henton name on the cabin as a tribute to their family.
While Boundary Waters Adventures has closed, these Faras family recipes remain.
Recipes from Boundary Waters Adventures
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