The Red Lake Area

The town of Red Lake is the product of one of the biggest gold rushes of this century. In 1926, Red Lake was accessible only by airplane, foot, dog sled or by water from Hudson Ontario. At the peak of the gold rush, there were more aircraft takeoffs and landings in Howey Bay than O’Hare, briefly making it the busiest airport in the world. Though mining is still a big part of the economy, logging and tourism are major players.

As a tourism oriented community, there is a high level of courtesy and a true willingness to help visitors to the district. The businesses offer a whole host of souvenirs and there are numerous public park areas in town. The most prominent of these is the “Norseman Park” located at the end of Howey Bay (Turn right at the lights).

The Norseman Airplane (Red-Lake-Ontario-Canada) was and still is an important plane in the North, and Red Lake bills itself as “The Norseman Capital of the World” because there are still numerous craft flying in the area. The plane located in the park is permanently mounted on a pedestal and is in running order! Each summer the community hosts a huge festival and pilots bring their Norseman from all over North America.

The Tri municipal area has about 5,000 to 8,000 residents depending on the season and has numerous recreation centers, arenas, curling rinks, an indoor pool and a golf coarse to mention just the major facilities.

One really great thing about traveling to the district is the fact that there are no really “bad” bugs or plants. There are no ticks of any kind that survive the long winters here so Lyme disease is not a concern. There are no poison oak or ivy plants and there are also no poison snakes or spiders. The woods just don’t get any better than this!