CLEARWATER HISTORIC LODGE:
2021 - 2026
In its hundredth year, Clearwater Historic Lodge remains much as it has for generations—quietly overlooking the waters of Clearwater Lake beneath the cliffs of the Palisades. For over a century, travelers have come here in search of wilderness, solitude, and the steady rhythm of life on the edge of the Boundary Waters.
During my time working here as an outfitter and caretaker, I felt drawn to document the lodge and the land around it during this centennial year. What you see here is a visual record of that effort—photographs and video capturing the lodge, its cabins, shoreline, and surrounding forest as they exist in this moment in time.
More than just images of buildings and landscape, this chronicle attempts to reflect the atmosphere of a place that has welcomed paddlers, hikers, and wanderers since 1926. It is simply a way of preserving a small piece of Clearwater’s story as it continues into its second century on the Gunflint Trail.
artifacts of the past
Stepping inside Clearwater Historic Lodge feels like stepping quietly into another era. The interior holds the character of nearly a century on the Gunflint Trail—walls lined with snowshoes, old photographs, and artifacts that reflect the long tradition of wilderness travel in this corner of northern Minnesota. Moose, deer, and other taxidermy from seasons past watch over the room, while a massive lake trout mounted above the fireplace reminds visitors of the waters just beyond the door. While documenting these spaces during the lodge’s centennial year, I found myself drawn not only to the objects themselves, but to the feeling they carry—the sense that the lodge has simply been collecting stories here for generations.
What truly defines the interior, though, is its warmth. On cool spring mornings, the fire crackles in the stone fireplace while the scent of fresh pies or breakfast drifts out from the kitchen. Sunlight slips through the windows and settles across the old logs and wooden floors, giving the whole room a quiet glow. It’s a space designed for gathering—paddlers sharing stories after long days on the water, hikers warming up after a trail, or travelers simply pausing to sit and watch the lake through the glass. Through photographs and small moments captured along the way, this chronicle attempts to preserve that feeling as much as the place itself.
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THE PORCh
For more than a century, the front porch of Clearwater Historic Lodge has quietly watched life unfold along the shore of Clearwater Lake. Built as part of the log lodge completed in 1926, the building has welcomed generations of travelers along the Gunflint Trail, and the porch has long been a place where people gather to pause, talk, and take in the view of the lake and surrounding forest. 
Over the years this porch has held countless moments—celebrations, quiet conversations, family reunions, and long afternoons where nothing in particular needed to happen at all. On a warm summer day there is little better than sitting in one of the big chairs along the railing, feeling the breeze drift in from the lake while the birds sing in the spruce and cedar around the lodge. From here you can watch paddlers crossing the bay, storms rolling across the water, or the evening light settling slowly over the Palisades.
While documenting the lodge during this centennial chapter, I often found myself returning to this spot with a camera in hand. The porch has a way of gathering stories without ever needing to speak. In winter the scene becomes quieter but no less special—canoes stacked along the lodge walls, snow settling across the boards, and the lake lying frozen beneath the cliffs. Even in the cold, the porch remains a place of shelter and reflection.
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The dock at Clearwater is more than a place to land a boat. Built from heavy timbers and cribbing filled with rock, it stands firm against the constant work of wind, water, and winter ice. Each year the lake pushes and pulls against it—storms roll through, waves crash against its sides, and winter ice grinds along the wood until spring returns again. And yet, season after season, the dock remains, quietly doing the work it was built to do.
During the summer months it becomes a gathering place. Kids leap from its edge into the clear water of the lake, while paddlers pull their canoes alongside before slipping them onto shore for journeys into the Boundary Waters. Much of the rhythm of outfitting begins and ends here—boats tied to the dock, gear being loaded and sorted, and the familiar work of preparing travelers for time in the wilderness.
DOCKSIDE
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Beyond the main lodge, the grounds of Clearwater Historic Lodge are scattered with cabins and small buildings that hold their own pieces of the lodge’s long history. The resort traces its roots back to the early 1900s when Charlie and Petra Boostrom began welcoming travelers to Clearwater Lake, later building the log lodge in 1926 as the Gunflint Trail slowly developed. Over time, additional cabins were built along the shoreline and tucked into the surrounding forest, offering visitors a quiet place to experience the wilderness of Clearwater.
Some of these cabins date back to the early decades of the lodge. Cabin One, built around 1930, remains one of the original structures on the property and still looks out over the lake much as it did nearly a century ago. Constructed from heavy logs and simple materials, these buildings reflect the practical craftsmanship of the early Northwoods resorts that once dotted the Gunflint Trail.
the grounds
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summer
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wINTER
Living here through winter reveals a side of Clearwater few people ever see. Snowfall along the Gunflint Trail can be immense—some winters pushing past one hundred inches—and storms often bury the forest in deep silence. In that quiet, the lodge feels almost timeless, as though the voices and footsteps of those who came before still linger in the cold air. Wildlife moves through the snow as it always has: chickadees and gray jays gathering for a morning meal while the resident blue jays loudly announce their presence from the trees. On heavy snow nights, when the flakes fall thick and steady and the forest disappears into white, the solitude becomes complete. It’s a life that asks something of you—patience, stillness, and comfort with silence—but for those who settle into it, winter here offers a rare and profound kind of peace.
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THE PALISADES
Rising along the southern shoreline of Clearwater Lake are the towering cliffs known simply as the Palisades. These sheer rock faces climb more than 300 feet above the water, forming one of the most striking landscapes anywhere along the Gunflint Trail. From the lake below, the cliffs appear almost vertical, their dark stone walls standing in quiet contrast to the clear water that gives Clearwater its name. From the top, the view stretches across nearly the entire lake and deep into the surrounding Superior National Forest. 
While documenting the lodge and the landscape around it during this centennial year, the Palisades became a place I returned to often. There is a primitive trail that climbs the western Palisade—a steep half-mile route that gains more than 300 feet in elevation before reaching the overlook. The hike is short but demanding, and the reward at the top is a sweeping view of Clearwater Lake far below. 
Beyond the established trail, the ridge continues eastward where the terrain becomes far more rugged. There is no marked route here. Reaching the top of the eastern Palisade requires climbing straight up the steep slope and carefully following the narrow ridgeline until the forest opens again to the sky. The overlook from this side is, in many ways, even more remarkable—higher, quieter, and rarely visited.
In every season the Palisades offer something different. Spring brings new growth and mushrooms scattered through the forest floor. Summer reveals the deep blues of Clearwater Lake far below the cliffs. Autumn paints the hillsides in red and gold. And in winter, when the lake freezes solid beneath the rock walls, the view becomes stark and silent. No matter the season, standing on the edge of those cliffs never fails to remind you just how vast and wild this place still is.