3 Kid-Friendly Stops On A Weekend Getaway to the Iron Range

As the story goes, a pair of 10-year-old boys headed home on their hickory skis after a day of hunting rabbits and, even better, dreaming about shooting moose. Then, much to their surprise, they came upon one of the majestic creatures in the town stables.

What luck! Except this particular moose looked sad and hungry and made a pathetic honking noise.
After much discussion among the grownups about what to do with the animal, the boys devised a plan to care for their new friend through the winter.

The heartwarming story of Honk The Moose sounds like a tall tale. But the Newbery Honor-winning 1935 children’s book is based on a true story from Minnesota’s Iron Range. In fact, characters in the book still have family members living in the area. Even Honk is still around, memorialized by a life-sized fiberglass moose right along Main Street in Biwabik, a Scandinavian golf and ski village on the Range.

Visiting Honk, The Moose makes for a memorable experience on a family trip to the Iron Range. Plus, both Biwabik Pizza Co. and Vi’s Pizza and TNT Bar are just a block away for some kid-friendly food.

It all makes for a great start to a family adventure you could have this weekend! Here’s a few more things to do and sights to see for your Iron Range itinerary:

Giants Ridge Recreation Area in Minnesota’s Iron Range

Experience Minnesota’s most family-friendly ski resort at Giants Ridge Recreation Area where you’ll find 35 alpine runs, two terrain parks and three snow tubing lanes along with groomed and lighted Nordic ski and snowshoeing trails and routes fat tire biking, too. Giants Ridge is consistently chosen as the Best Ski Resort in MN with downhill runs for all ages and skill levels and a covered Disco Tube conveyor belt on the beginner hill. There’s a ski school with private and group lessons as well as adaptive ski programs for all abilities. Plus, Giants Ridge is more affordable than other ski areas and kids ages 6 and under ski free!

Off the slopes, kids love the resort’s new Pool and Sauna Haus with indoor swimming pool, outdoor saunas and cozy fireplace lounge. And the on-site restaurant features menus with something for everyone in the family, along with live music most every weekend.

In summer, the ski hills at Giants Ridge turn into a lift-served mountain biking park that’s fun for all ages with miles of cross-country trails and purpose-built gravity trails, not to mention spectacular scenery overlooking the Superior National Forest. You can rent bikes on site and even take a mountain bike class to learn the ropes.

Giants Ridge is home to two of Minnesota’s top ten golf courses including The Quarry, the best public course in Minnesota. Resorts amenities also include a 32-foot-high climbing wall, lakes for fishing and paddling, the longest disc golf course in Minnesota, hiking trails, the paved Mesabi Trail for bicycles and lots more family-friendly outdoor recreation.

An all-suites lodge and private condos are available for rent at Giants Ridge and there’s a range of places to stay in nearby communities including Aurora, Biwabik, Embarrass, Eveleth, Gilbert, Hoyt Lakes, Palo, Soudan and Virginia.

Explore Giants Ridge: A Resort Experience Area Like No Other

Family Fun at Minnesota Discovery Center

About a half-hour drive from Giants Ridge and Honk the Moose, the Minnesota Discovery Center in Chisholm is the state’s largest museum complex outside the Twin Cities and it’s full of both indoor and outdoor activities for the whole family year-round.

The 660-acre property offers exhibits that highlight the native peoples who first settled on the Range and the European immigrants who came to mine the unique geology of the region. Outdoors, you can ride a vintage trolley to an old ghost town, play putt-putt on a mining-themed miniature golf course and explore hiking, biking and snowshoeing trails or go paddling in a kayak or canoe in season.

What To Expect At The Minnesota Discovery Center in Winter

Sweet Adventures Await At Minnesota’s Oldest Candy Store

In between Giants Ridge and the Minnesota Discovery Center, a stop at Canelakes Candies in Virginia, Minn. always gives the kids a boost of energy. The state’s oldest candy store dates to 1905 and serves up some of the same treats people loved back then. You’ll find an endless array of handmade chocolates on the counter such as truffles, toffee, fudge, caramel apples and chocolate-covered fruit, plus glass jars full of hard-candy treats on the shelves above and the shop’s famous hot air candy!

Of course, ice cream cones are a specialty and there’s even an old-fashioned soda fountain. Just sit on the red vinyl barstools and feast your eyes on the colorful selection of goodies and take home made-on-the-Range souvenirs you can’t find anywhere else.

Speaking of souvenirs, parents will love to browse the gorgeous Scandinavian imports at Irma’s Finland House right there in town, while kids will lick their lips picking out beef sticks at F&D Meats.

More Fun Family Activities On The Iron Range

Getting To Minnesota’s Iron Range

Range Regional Airport in Hibbing serves the Range, and Duluth International Airport (DLH) is the major commercial airport. Both offer connecting flights at MSP. The Iron Range is about an hour’s drive from Duluth and about 3 hours from the Twin Cities and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Drive times from nearby cities are 4 hours from Thunder Bay, Ont. and 5 to 6 hours from both Green Bay and Madison, Wisc. as well as locations in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula including Houghton and Marquette.

From Chisholm and Giants Ridge, it’s only about a 90-minute drive to Minnesota’s only national park, Voyageurs National Park.

Discover Minnesota’s Iron Range and learn more at ironrange.org.