Grand Ely Lodge

Ely...where the road ends. Every since I first heard the late Charles Kuralt speak of Ely I wanted to go there and I did staying at the Lodge and loved it! Kuralt was on target. Ely is a laid back, cool place to be.

Consummate traveler Charles Kuralt calls state town his top spot

After 25 years on the road for CBS, Charles Kuralt was asked to name his five favorite summer places, and Ely, MN [gateway to the boundary waters and the starting point of all Inward Bound trips], came up No. 1.

"It's possible to walk into Ely dressed in a business suit and within one hour be fully charged, outfitted, equipped and paddling a canoe on wilderness waterways," he wrote in a TV Guide issue.

"The people who live here say that you could paddle a canoe for 100 years and visit a different lake every day."