Northwoods lodges offer nostalgic getaways Spider Lake Lodge, Hayward
If you’re a curious traveler and gravitate to historical places in hopes of uncovering stories of long ago, Wisconsin’s old log lodges are wonderful destinations.
I love old inns with decades of pine and cedar aromas, funky log furniture and vintage scrapbooks and memorabilia to pore through.
Northwoods lodges were often built as fishing camps and family retreats where affluent families came by train to spend weeks taking in crisp air, woods and water.
Today, there are fewer classic log lodges in Wisconsin than in the camps’ heyday in the first half of the 20th century.
Here are two places that will give you a window into Wisconsin’s recreational past. Each offers a smorgasbord of activities that speak to guests’ interests today.
Rejuvenate, slow down, recharge. If it’s peace and quiet you’re after, Spider Lake Lodge, a classic Northwoods log retreat about 15 miles east of Hayward, is that sort of place.
Open the door here and you’ll be ensconced in a quintessential Northwoods ambiance of birch bark tables, antler chandeliers, timber logs and plaid blankets draped about.
This grand old log lodge features a large fireplace and tree-top views of Spider Lake, a Class A musky fishing lake and one in a chain of five lakes. There’s an experienced fishing guide on staff, too, to help guests find where the fish are biting.
Robert and Carolyn Wollan, new owners of the lodge as of this month, said they’ve seen the need for family time together without phones and electronic screen time in their own lives.
“We believe in investing in memories and experiences together, and Spider Lake Lodge is just the place for our guests to do that together,” Carolyn Wollan said.
Over the years, the lodge has had several owners, but it remains relatively unchanged.
“You can build a log building today, but you can’t replicate a lodge with 100 years of history it represents,” Carolyn Wollan said.
Robert pointed out if you listen closely you can almost hear the fishing stories being told in front of the fireplace. “The history is palpable in the knots of the old logs and high beams of the great room.”
If the walls could talk, they might also tell intriguing tales of the inn’s beginnings.
Legend has it that in 1923, Ted Moody, purported to be Al Capone’s auto mechanic in Chicago, moved to the Northwoods for health reasons. He chose Spider Lake to build a grand lodge called Ted Moody’s Camp for fishing and boating guests.
Moody, a crew of lumbermen and a local Ojibwe carpenter built the lodge from logs harvested from the surrounding forest. Inside, you can see the use of chinking — the art of fitting wood pieces between logs by hand.
Monstrous tamarack and cedar beams used to create the retreat still give it a feeling of rustic splendor.
The lodge is open year-round and has access to ATV trails, a golf course, a riding stable and berry-picking farms.
More information: Spider Lake Lodge has seven cozy rooms, with rates starting at $169 per night, which includes breakfast. Find it at 10472 Murphy Blvd., Hayward, about 360 miles northwest of Milwaukee. For more, call (715) 462-3793 or see spiderlakelodge.com.
Gateway Lodge, Land O’ Lakes
The Gateway Lodge, celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, has a multitude of stories to tell.
The massive hand-built fireplace in the lobby and hand-hewn log construction were part of the vision that John King, a radio and theater magnate from Detroit, had for his playground for many famous guests.
“Many celebrities and Hollywood stars of the past spent time here, like Bob Hope, Lawrence Welk, Abbot
and Costello and Mitzi Gaynor,” said Gateway manager Lynn Forry.
She noted that swimmer Wendy Lansbach Boglioli trained in the lodge’s pool as a child. “She went on to win a gold medal in the 100 relay at the 1976 Olympics,” Forry said.
Apollo 8 and 13 astronaut Jim Lovell also used the Gateway as a secret retreat after his moon mission.
In 1937, construction began on the buildings that made up the lodge. Over the years the grounds included a dance floor, bowling alley, ski jump, ski hill and airport. Memorabilia at the lodge says it also had nightly entertainment and gambling.
In addition to how and why it was built, where it was constructed adds interest to the story. Different parts of the lodge were constructed in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
“The Gateway Golf Club next door has holes in both states,” Forry said.
Today, guests are drawn to the nostalgia of the lodge as a place to unwind from daily life.
“People feel so comfortable here we’re used to seeing them come down to breakfast in their pajamas,” Forry said.
Unwinding comes in different forms. The area has wild rivers, and one of the most picturesque collections of waterfalls in the Midwest.
Others come to explore the Ottawa National Forest and the unspoiled Sylvania Wilderness area.
For those looking for tales of magic, a mystery nearby has taken on a life of its own: the Paulding Light in the Upper Peninsula.
The story goes that starting in 1966 some teenagers reported seeing an eerie light in the forest at the same location every night outside Paulding, Mich. The strobe-like glare is similar to a lighthouse beam guiding ships in the distance.
Cars have backed up on Robbins Pond Road for over 50 years trying to see the phenomenon speculated to be a ghostly apparition, the Northern Lights or extraterrestrial beings.
In 2010 engineering students investigating the area found it to be a naturally occurring phenomenon. But those who want to believe in folklore and legends won’t have it any other way.
As Gateway Lodge’s name implies, this is a gateway to an area of many magical treasures.
More information: The lodge features studios and suites; rates start at $79 during the week. Find it at 4103 Highway B, Land O’ Lakes, about 260 miles north of Milwaukee. For more, call (715) 547-3321 or see gateway-lodge
.com.