The North American Bear Center in Ely, Minnesota offers a welcoming sanctuary for captive bears and their mission is to educate visitors and advance the long-term survival of bears worldwide. With a welcoming interior full of educational displays, here visitors will learn about the conservation of bear habitats, stopping the poaching of bears for body parts, plus they offer rehabilitation of injured and orphaned bears back into the wild. The North American Bear Center offers black and brown/grizzly bear mounts in natural poses, a bear enclosure with its pond and waterfalls, background sounds of bears foraging, cubs nursing, and birds singing, video footage of wild black bears and wild brown/grizzly bears a cub room for the kids, plus it's the home of three captive black bears. There's so much to see and do here, it's a bear watching paradise.READ MORE

The Jasper Company in Ely, Minnesota offers stunning lodging, wilderness trips with guided fishing and camping adventures and fall and winter day trips including hunting, dog sledding and fishing, and self guided trips are available. Accommodation options include a stay in their downtown guest house on Jasper Lake or camping on a remote wilderness lake, or in the Jasper Inn which is an old world hostel full of charm, they also have Jasper Loft rooms, and a lake house with modern stainless steel kitchen and porch with breathtaking views and 800 feet of private shoreline and a private dock. The Jasper Company bake shop is where guests check in and pick up their picnic lunches and baked goods including the best scones in town and a full variety of pastries, rolls, cookies and breads enjoyed with gourmet coffee, here they also have gift items, gourmet foods and home entertaining supplies available. Day trips include a Northwoods shore lunch, classic guided fishing, a family canoe trip, dog sledding, ice fishing and more, plus they have outfitting and equipment rental for camping trips and a tow boat service, it's all here.READ MORE

Fenske Lake Resort Cabins in Ely, Minnesota is a secluded and peaceful vacation resort with beautiful knotty pine cabins right on the water's edge, surrounded by woods, wildlife and nature, with Northwoods charm and private docks, and all are fully furnished for a truly comfortable stay. The main lodge has a retail area for clothing, tackle and bait, as well as a pool table, foosball table and assorted games, and a wood burning fireplace, there's also a remote wilderness yurt for unique overnight lodging and cabin comforts, and wilderness day trips are available. Each cabin comes with an aluminum fishing boat and canoe free, and motors are available for rent, cabins also have own private docks and a campfire pit and fire ring and an outdoor grill, there's also a lovely sandy beach and sauna for guests to enjoy. Fenske Lake Resort Cabins offers hiking trails and mountain biking trails, and are ideally located close to museums, shopping, attractions and activities, come for the perfect stay.READ MORE

Cliff Wold's Outfitting Company in Ely, Minnesota can help with every aspect of your canoe trip in the wilderness and that covers all lightweight camping and canoeing equipment plus a delicious menu of custom packed meals, they also have partial outfitting services available. With complete outfitting packages they've thought of everything from the sleeping bags and pads to the portage packs, cookware, utensil, stove, rain ponchos, detailed maps, fire grate, compass and more, your ultimate wilderness adventure starts here. They are strictly a canoe trip outfitting company, and have a campground for overnight stays before or after the canoe trips complete with sauna bath and shower facilities, modern bathrooms, open-fire cooking facilities, as well as private bunk room and campsites to pitch tents. Cliff Wold's Outfitting Company also offers free transportation for full outfitting packages and will bring the food and equipment to group members within a 22 mile radius.READ MORE

The Dorothy Molter Museum is located just outside Ely, Minnesota and is a memorial to this colorful lady known by some as the Root Beer Lady and others as the Nightingale of the Wilderness. Dorothy Molter spent most of her life living on Knife Lake and is the legendary last non-indigenous resident of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, where many a canoeist would stop and enjoy her hospitality and famous home made root beer. After her passing, her cabins were dismantled and transported first to Moose Lake, then to Ely, where volunteers restored them to become the Dorothy Molter Museum. This wonderful lady, a nurse by profession treated many an ailing visitor and animal, and she paddled, hiked, fished, skied and snowshoed this pristine area, until her death in 1986, she was visited by as many as 7,000 people a year. Today the museum preserves and interprets Northwoods wilderness heritage through learning opportunities inspired by Dorothy Molter, and visitors can view the many exhibits, the bird feeding area, enjoy tours and programs with knowledgeable guides and groups are welcome, there's also a gift shop with souvenirs and more, serving ice cold root beer and a picnic area under the pines.READ MORE

Rockwood Restaurant and Lounge in Ely, Minnesota is the perfect spot for lunch, dinner and drinks and to enjoy live music on the patio complete with rocks and waterfall. This family owned and operated restaurant offers an upscale atmosphere with casual dining and relaxing fun, and delicious made from scratch dishes using only the finest ingredients. The menuy includes local wild rice encrusted Walleye, fresh ground burgers, hand carved steaks, sandwiches, specialty items, pastas dishes and more with daily specials. Rockwood Restaurant and Lounge also has a full bar with excellent wine list, unique cocktails and a beer list, so come for indoor or outdoor dining, while enjoying the sounds of the waterfall, and they are well known for their great food and friendly service.READ MORE

Moose Track Adventures Outfitter and Guide Service in Ely, Minnesota specialize in fishing and fly fishing trips targetting walleye, small mouth bass and northern pike, and they have newly remodeled lakeside housekeeping cabins close to the waters edge on a quiet bay. Enjoy eco tourism canoe trips and learn about the fauna, flora and history of the Boundary waters as well as guided fishing and fly fishing adventures, and with an entry point to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness just across from their docks, you can explore various lakes and exit points. Moose Track Adventures Outfitter and Guide Service offer full and partial outfitting packages, and also have resort and campground amenities, a fishing cleaning facility, guide service, free docking for personal boats, boat, motor and canoe rental, live bait, ice, wood bundles, a selection of tackle and so much more, it's all here for a fabulous wilderness adventure.READ MORE

Babe's Bait and Tackle Shop in Ely, Minnesota is the best little bait and tackle shop here and the place to begin for your fishing adventures whether you are after giant northern pike, massive lake trout or walleye. For live bait they stock leeches, rainbow minnows, suckers, chubs, shiners and nightcrawlers, and as they say, if they don't have it, you don't need it. They have Ely's largest selection of tackle and fishing gear products, from tackle boxes to nets and bait buckets, various rods and reels, hooks, spin and casting rods, fly rods and reels, jigs, knives, spinners, terminal tackle and so much more, it's all here. Babe's Bait and Tackle Shop also offer canoe rentals and carry Alumacraft and Grumman aluminum canoe for singles or groups all fully outfitted, plus there's an in-house guide service available, or they can refer you to one of the other local professional guides, so let them tailor a trip to you, half or full day, or week long adventures exploring the back country, let the fun begin.READ MORE

Riverside Resort and Island Campsites in Ely, Minnesota offers beautiful island campsites and a wonderful Northwoods experience on a privately owned island on White Iron Lake with excellent fishing and wilderness adventures. Here spacious, deluxe and unique tent camping accommodations await for an unforgettable glamping experience, and they come with personal Finnish saunas and spectacular sunrises and sunsets over the lake and are luxuriously furnished, plus there's a fully screened cook tent with everything you need for a great meal at the end of a wonderful day. Riverside Resort and Island Campsites is the perfect base for exploring the Boundary Waters Canoe Area for day trips or overnight excursions, and in winter enjoy snowshoeing, dog sledding, snowmobiling, and cross-country skiing, it's all here for a fantastic vacation getaway on a private 10 acre island.READ MORE

Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters in Ely, Minnesota are Boundary Waters Outfitters and are centrally located to service all Ely area Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness permit entry points. Services include complete and partial outfitting BWCA and Quetico permits, canoe and kevlar rental, a towboat service, camping gear, fishing tackle and live bait, outdoor clothing and footwear from their one stop shop as well as canoe repair and reconditioning and so much more. Spirit of the Wilderness Outfitters also offer fishing seminars to learn simple techniques and host to catch the main fish species and what bait and tackle to use, and their camping facilities include mouthwatering meals from select menu choices, tents, sleeping bags, cooking equipment, complete outfitting gear and so much more, come for an unforgettable adventure with them, it doesn't get much better.READ MORE