Minnesota's Wild Rice Season

Wild ricing on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation.

The Bois Forte Heritage Center, a wonderful and overlooked Native American museum near Tower, Minnesota, beautifully tells the story of how their band of Ojibwe came to Minnesota. After being forced from the East Coast, a guiding spirit told them to go where food grows on the water.

That food--wild rice that thrives in the shallows of Minnesota and Wisconsin lakes--sustained them and remains a cherished part of their culture.

Celebrate the Wild Rice Moon

In late August and early September--the time of the Wild Rice Moon--tribal members and others head across the state to ricing lakes.

Raw wild rice from the Crow Wing lakes.

They pole through through the grasses, rhythmically using cedar ricing sticks to sweep the grasses over the canoe and gently knock the ripened grains into the bottom. I was fortunate enough to ride along with Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe conservation officer, Frank Bowstring, a few years ago. During his childhood, kids could get out of school to help with the rice harvest which could pay for school clothes.

We watched a few ricers head onto Nature Lake. They expertly captured wild rice grains with skills passed through the generations. Later, we watched water-rich green rice meticulously parched in iron drums that rotated over wood fires in Cass Lake. Once it dried and chaff was removed, bags of processed rice piled up with the name of the ricer written across burlap bags.

Hand-harvest wild rice vs. cultivated

The thick, plump mottled earth tones of hand-harvested wild rice is clearly a different product than cultivated rice. Cultivated rice, with its shiny, thin ebony grains are bred to be machine-harvested. With the tough hulls, it takes 45 minutes to cook. True wild rice takes only 20 minutes. The White Earth Band of Ojibwe has long fought to highlight the differences and to maintain this sacred crop.

Green wild rice ready for processing

I consider myself a harvest junkie, but will leave wild ricing to the experts. And I'll more gratefully invest in bags of wild rice knowing the labor that's involved.

Wild rice across the state

Anyone can rice, and many people do it as a seasonal passion. A license is required through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which can also help you find accessible rivers and shallow lakes. (Only tribal members can rice on reservations.) Following waterfowl helps, too--the rice is their equivalent of an energy bar for the long migration south.

Wild rice on a stalk.

The DNR estimates there are more than 60,000 acres of wild rice among more than 700 lakes --the most of any state in the country.

When you're out and about this fall, look for authentic Minnesota wild rice at gift shops, grocers, and up-north convenience markets. Buying a bag or more helps support this $2 million crop and celebrates one of the state's best culinary treasures. Add wild rice's rich, nutty flavor to salads, casseroles, side dishes, breakfast entrees and Minnesota's famous wild rice soup.

More on wild rice: Best places to dine on wild rice plus two excellent wild rice recipes for the holidays.

Watch bears and wolves in Minnesota

Ginormous Ted, possibly the world's largest black bear, lives at Ely's
North American Bear Center.

Here's a little-known fact: Not only can you watch black bears in the wild in Minnesota, but August is the best time to view them. Why? They're packing on the pounds for the winter, foraging for enough to get them through long hibernation.

The tiny town of Orr, Minnesota, on the cusp of Voyageur National Park vacation territory, is home to the 360-acre Vince Shute Wildlife Sanctuary, a one-of-a-kind wildlife stop. The late Mr. Shute, a former logger, used to shoot scavenging bears before he finally decided to  feed them and became known as "The Bear Man."

The platform at Vince Shute Sanctuary.

These days, dedicated volunteers bus visitors into the woods each evening, letting them off on a spacious elevated boardwalk where you can watch the bears climb trees, wrestle if they're feeling playful or eating at logs and other places around a meadow that the sanctuary staff loads up with seeds, fruit and juice.

A hub for hungry black bears
Up to 80 bears come here seasonally, with 15 of them featured on the web site with clues into their character and interesting individual histories. Schwinn, for example, has survived with just three legs and is a favorite for the way he sits Buddha-style in the meadow. Uuno, with his almost-comical woe-is-me look, was tracked covering 232 miles when he was 4 years old.

You can stay all evening to watch the bears and hear about them from volunteers, or keep it a short visit and hop the bus back. We saw a few adult black bears and a cub while we were there one June. Volunteers did a great job keeping younger kids busy with bear-themed coloring pages and naturalist activities. Newer programs include photography workshops, yoga workshops or spending the night and learning how to safely camp in bear territory.

You'll leave with a whole new appreciation--and affection--for these gentle giants of the woods.

Playing at the North American Bear Center.

See more bears or watch wolves in Ely

It's about a 45-minute drive to Ely, where the International Wolf Center and North American Bear Center bookend this chic outdoorsy town. It's an ideal place to learn more about bears and all about wolves.

The Bear Center, which opened in 2007, has displays and videos that demystify bear behavior and seating that faces the backyard where the resident bears hang out and tussle for fun. You can also stand outside on the deck to watch the bears in action.

Talk to staff, and they'll give you the affectionate low-down on the quirks of Ted, Honey and Lucky's personalities. Honey can be impatient with the boys and Ted's usually sweetheart, especially when Lucky wants to play.

While the bears hibernate in the winter, the center remains open. You may be able to watch at least one of the bears in hibernation. Last winter and spring the center's groundbreaking in-the-den webcam on Lily, as she gave birth to Hope and got the new cub used to the world.

Howl with the wolf pack

Resident wolves at Ely's International Wolf Center.

Interactions get even more complex at the International Wolf Center with the resident pack's chain of command and intricate social roles.

And while the bears go into hibernation by late fall, winter is one of the more intriguing times to visit the wolf center. The wolf center has several excellent family learning vacations throughout the year. There's a Halloween-themed slumber party the weekend before trick-or-treating. Winter events may include dogsledding and listening for howls in the wild. There are even  grandparent-grandchild programs, which is an excellent option for those once-in-a-lifetime vacation memories.

We were lucky enough to visit the International Wolf Center in 2008 when two new pups were being integrated into the pack. The adults were anxious and eager to meet the little ones, and started howling like that come-and-go sound of a tornado siren. It was both chilling and thrilling to hear primal howls up close. It's an experience that stays with you.

Travel to Minnesota's dogsledding destinations

Riding behind a dogsled team with brisk winter air rushing into your face should be on every Minnesotan's bucket list. You don't even have to spend much. For $10 a person, you can get a 10- or 15-minute dogsled ride around Gull Lake or across a golf course most snowy Saturdays at Cragun's Resort in Brainerd, Minnesota. All you need to do is bundle up and hang on for a winter vacation experience like few others.


Chaos, cacophony, quiet
Earplugs might help, too, especially if you're the first dogsled rider of the day. Be prepared for cacophony. A team of huskies jacked up for a run ranks at the same excitement and noise level of a classroom of ADHD boys with baseball bats, trampolines and pinatas. They are charged! The handlers have a major job trying to hook up dogs bouncing up and down, scrapping with each other and yelping and howling with joy.

Then you're bundled up in the dogsled, the leader yells "Gee!" and barking turns off like a switch. The dogs, in all shades of brown, black and cream, strain forward and quickly gain momentum. There's a beautiful shooooosh of movement and a magical silence barely touched by a few creaks from the wooden sled and whispered rhythm of running dogs.

Contagious exuberance
Sitting behind the Minnesota dogsled team, I wondered if their feet even touched the ground as they flew across snow, tongues flapping to the side of their mouths, mismatched eyes focused forward. It was a rush to recline into the sled and watch bare trees and thick pines spool past. On one ride, we hit a sharp corner and tipped into the shrubs. We laughed and got back on. The dogs' exuberance was contagious to the point of epidemic. After the ride was over, it was just as much fun to watch the canine team--barely winded--take off with more first-time riders in tow.
Where to have a dogsledding vacation
Cragun's Resort, Brainerd has the best deal I've found if you're short on time and money. Guests can sign up for a slot when they check in. It does sometimes book up, or need to be canceled depending on weather. Brainerd, Ely, Duluth, Lutsen-Tofte and Grand Marais are all good places to find dogsledding outfitters who will arrange a private half-day or full-day. Prices typically start at $90-$100 per person and go up from there depending on the length of the dogsled ride and whether meals are included.

Other good bets for a shorter sample: Plan ahead for Cook County's annual Volks Ski Fest. It hosted dogsledding in Tofte and at Bearskin Lodge on the Gunflint Trail last Saturday. The festival runs all this week, celebrating winter fun with sleigh rides, snowshoeing and the chance to try some of the area's 400 kilometers of groomed trails.

Further down the Gunflint Trail, historic Gunflint Lodge has three dogsledding weekends each winter with two left: Feb. 3-7 and March 3-7. Prices range from $345 per child for a three-night option (lodging/meals/activities) to $596/per adult for a four-night package.

Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge in Ely ranks as Minnesota's nationally known dogsled experience, with options ranging from $1200 all-inclusive, multi-day trips to affordable half-day trips starting at $100/person. They have one weekend a year devoted to a parent-daughter experience, with an emphasis on writing in addition to learning about dogsledding. The International Wolf Center in Ely has four spots left for its annual Mush with Dogs, Howl with Wolves program Feb. 19-21 ($470/night).

Finally, if you want to soak up the energy and excitement of the sport, travel to Duluth for next weekend's annual John Beargrease Dogsled Marathon, a prequalifier for Alaska's legendary Iditarod. There's a cutest puppy contest noon to 2 p.m. at the Fitger's complex Saturday, Jan. 30. The race begins Sunday, Jan. 31, and runs through Wednesday, Feb. 3.