Family

Activities

The Red Door Resort Delivers Year-Round Family Fun

When it comes to family getaways, there may be no better or more versatile destination than The Red Door Resort on the beautiful and secluded north shore of Lake Mille Lacs. If you’re looking for things to do in Minnesota, you’re in the right place! With a variety of accommodations and parks, a plethora of things to do, and incredible views right outside your door, it’s easy to see why – no matter the season – families love choosing us for their family excursions. Let’s explore all that our year-round resort offers!

Summer in Minnesota

at The Red Door

The Red Door Resorts offers endless opportunities to make a splash with your family. Bring your boat and enjoy unlimited lake access included with your lodging, as well as the option to rent a slip in our sheltered harbor. Spend your days with your family out on the water – fishing, waterskiing, or just anchored and relaxing. If you don’t have your own boat – no worries, as we have pontoon rentals available.

Prefer to stay closer to land? Enjoy a calm afternoon fishing on the docks or swimming out to our lily pad rafts, enjoying the sandy bottom lake and shallow depths for a long way off shore.

One of the best aspects of escaping to The Red Door Resort is that we have a wide variety of family getaway activities. We offer an onsite playground for the little ones. For the bigger kids and young at heart we have a basketball court, cornhole boards, and a Gaga ball pit for some friendly competition!

If there’s rain in the forecast, you’ll find puzzles, board games, and other fun options available in our office. You can also head off the property to discover several nearby State Parks or take a little day trip into town to explore small-town Minnesota. After dinner, bust out the marshmallows for a classic s’more – what better way to end the day than sweet treats and the crackling of a campfire?

Fall in Minnesota

on Lake Mille Lacs

Looking for things to do in Minnesota in the fall? Warm(ish) days and cool nights bring about a dramatic change of colors on the lakeshore and in the nearby woods. It’s the perfect time to introduce the kids to the amazing fall foliage of Minnesota. Sure, the leaves change colors all over the world, but Mother Nature reserves some of the most vibrant colors for our own northern backyard. Plus, there are so many trails that wind through Red Door’s nearby forests – you’re likely to even see some wildlife, as the animals are busy preparing for the cold weather they know is coming.

Don’t forget that Autumn also boasts the final months of each year’s open water season on Mille Lacs – and the fish are usually hungry! Pack a picnic basket, get the kids up early, and head onto the lake for one last day of fishing. If you can make it all day on the water, you will be stunned by Autumn sunsets against the orange, yellow, and red backdrop of the trees surrounding the lake.

Of course, fall brings hunting, as well. It’s the one time of year you can spend the morning hunting and the evening out on the water. You can even head out to one of the many nearby lakes with the kids trying to catch a final panfish dinner before the snow falls.

Winter in Minnesota

at The Red Door

Minnesota is beautiful year-round, but winters are where we earn our reputations as hardy Minnesotans. The sometimes-brutal temperatures never deter the anglers who dot the icy landscape with their fish houses. We like to fool our brothers and sisters from warmer climates by conveniently failing to mention the luxuries of an ice house when we describe ice fishing at 20 below zero.

And speaking of the luxuries of fish houses, what a fun way to introduce your kids to ice fishing! Most first-time kid anglers think sleeping in a shack on the ice in the middle of a huge lake is worthy of show-and-tell at school.

Of course not every kid likes fishing, and that’s OK – there’s still plenty to do at The Red Door Resort in the Winter. Snowmobiling, cross-country-skiing, pond hockey, and broomball come to mind, but kids also love climbing the snow mountains we create when plowing our ice roads. If your little ones think the pile of snow at the end of the driveway at home is awesome, they won’t know what to do with themselves on Lake Mille Lacs!

Listen, we get it: not every family is an outdoor family, right? That’s why we provide puzzles, board games, and other fun options in our cafe, where you can sip hot cocoa and munch on a snack while creating memories together. And if your kids like to simply lay around and read, do crosswords, and listen to their iPod, we’ve got you covered there as well. A quaint cabin on Lake Mille Lacs will empower them to sit by the fire and draw, paint, or write. A secluded getaway cabin is precisely what a lot of aspiring young artists want, so why not give it to them?

Spring in Minnesota

at The Red Door

For some, spring is the ideal time to visit Mille Lacs – by March the ice houses are off the lake, but the ice is still plenty thick, making it perfect for family activities like snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, ice skating, boot hockey, and broomball. How about a family tournament for bragging rights? Broomball is perfect for 2-on-2; pond hockey (with boots or skates) is best played 3-on-3.

If you want to stay off the ice, Wealthwood State Park is right around the corner. And within a half-hour drive, there are close to a zillion hiking trails. If you haven’t seen central Minnesota in late-winter/early-spring, you don’t know what you’re missing: think of an icicle version of fall foliage. It’s so beautiful, even your kids will show interest!

And the very coolest thing you can do at The Red Door Resort in the Spring? On-ice bonfires with marshmallows and s’mores. Sitting around the campfire on land is nice, but there’s something magical about being out on the ice and roasting marshmallows as the sun goes down. Your kids will be talking about it long after you get back home.

Oh, and of course there’s Minnesota’s Springtime “State Holiday” – the Fishing Opener! Why not share this near-religious experience with the whole family?

Enjoy the Best of
Lake Mille Lacs Resorts