We’ve literally put sweat (and occasionally, some blood – ouch!) into this region. If you already live here, and are considering building your dream home here, congratulations! You know how wonderful it is to live here, and you’re making an investment that you and your family will enjoy for decades to come.
If you are considering moving to the area, we can assure you: you’re going to love it.Brainerd is the largest town in the area, with an official population of 13,592—per the 2010 census. The town has no doubt grown, as have many of the area’s charming villages, but the area is in no danger of overcrowding. In fact, it’s all that space—and all those lakes—that draw people here, especially seasonal visitors. The population of the area in the summer can double or triple from tourists, which makes for a lot of action and a lot of fun.
The lakes area has everything. If you like fishing, the area offers incredible opportunities to go after a wide variety of species. Walleye probably head the list (they are the MN state fish, after all), but you can go after pike, bass (smallmouth and largemouth), crappies, bluegills, and perch. Then there are tullibee and eelpout, too—those are among the fish most frequently caught at the Brainerd Jaycee’s annual Ice Fishing Extravaganza, a dead-of-winter fundraiser that sees 20,000 holes drilled into Gull Lake’s frozen-over Hole in the Day Bay. (Ice fishing and snowmobiling mean there’s plenty of tourism in the area in the winter, too.)
The area’s lakes offer lots of other activities: boating, waterskiing, tubing, zooming around on personal watercraft. But not all of these activities require gasoline. The lakes are great for swimming, sailing, windsurfing, and paddling anything you can think of: kayaks, canoes, stand-up boards boats. Don’t want to get wet? Great news: where there’s lake, there’s usually also beach. Set up a chair and crack a good book. Just be sure to look up every now and then to soak in the view.
For land-based recreation, the Brainerd Lakes Area is incredible. There are miles of bike trails, both paved and not. The Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area alone has 30 miles of mountain bike trails. There are lots of places to take all-terrain-vehicles, too—you don’t have to go far to see four-wheelers spattered with mud. Maybe you prefer the thrills of high-speed car-racing? Head over to the Brainerd International Raceway, and you can watch racers fly around the track, or test your own nerves and skill.
Fewer than 150 miles from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, the Brainerd Lakes Area is an easy drive to and from the metro. Though once you get here, you’re not likely to want to leave.
This 11x17 art print can be downloaded and printed for framing. Use a print service of your choice such as vistaprint.
