Birch Haven Resort

This Is How Family Reunions Work

2011-06-19T17:02:00.005-05:00

We spent a week at Birch Haven Resort with members of my mom’s side of the family. There was a small concern when planning the reunion: What would we do? Some in our family researched the area to see if there were tourist attractions or small-town events. We had backdoor plans of visiting friends in the area, just in case things got ho-hum.

These alternatives fell to the wayside. We left the resort once — reluctantly — to pick up some groceries, but that was it. Birch Haven Resort had everything: fishing boats, a small swimming beach, pontoons and paddle boats, playground, volleyball net, horseshoes, a bike rack of old bikes, a tire swing and two swing sets, etc. All sorts of things hanging about waiting to be enjoyed.

The cottages were built in the 1950’s and border the lake shore directly (it is no longer legal to build so close to Minnesota lake shores). We caught a ton of fish that led to families sharing their favorite fish recipes. The grills lit up every evening and the families brought their favorite salads, potato dishes, and desserts. The picnic tables were filled with chattering adults as kids ran from their half-eaten meals, content to play with half-full tummies.

As the days trickled by, conversations deepened. Talk evolved through the week. We’re so glad that we all were just “hanging about.” Fishing, eating, talking, enjoying one another. These are what reunions should be made of.

2009-03-19T22:14:00.004-05:00

Hello to all of you out there! We have survived the winter and hope you all have too. It has been a long cold one ~ and snowy, but what can one expect in Nothern Minnesota. But the snow is melting and the smell of spring is in the air...kinda. Last week was 30 degrees below zero and this week we hit 52 above, crazy.
But with spring there are sportsman's shows and Jerry and I are heading to Iowa tomorrow to promote the resort in Fort Dodge. We were there our first time last year and it was great. A lot of friendly conversations with visitors, vendors and the people putting on the show. If you're in the area we'd love to see you there!
The picture is Jerry with Minnesota's Favorite Outdoorsman, Ron Schara of Minnesota Bound ~ it was at a show in St. Paul. He is a great guy and we hope someday he may make it up to Birch Haven.
We have trees tapped for sap, so I'm sure we'll be letting you know how that goes.
Take care,
Kate & Jerry

Don & Family

2008-08-05T20:55:00.004-05:00

Here we have Don, the patriarch of the family - does everything he can to bring everyone together for this one week out of the year. Don takes his daily walks down the driveway and hops from cabin to cabin where his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren stay. (They feed him - as they should!) The picture is of Don, son Jerry, and great grandson Zaden. Generations of fun. They have been coming to Birch Haven for about 17 years - creating a lot of memories. We look forward to having this group every year - they are so much fun. Volleyball, tether ball, using the game room (wink,wink)...they are active on the lake and the resort and enjoy every minute here.

39th Year at Birch Haven Resort

2008-07-29T20:31:00.003-05:00

Bob and Alice and their family have come up for the 39th year. This year they had all the grandchildren up - never a dull moment! We love hearing Bob's stories of how the resort used to be and all the memories they have created here.

Terri's Big Catch

2008-07-29T20:22:00.002-05:00

What a catch - caught on the their last day here. Terri was beaming! It is so much fun to see guests pull in something like that! Terri, Fred and their boys have been coming up for about 9 years, enjoying the fishing and other families that have been coming for years.

Fish Cleaning House - THANK YOU!

2008-07-29T20:07:00.004-05:00

Time to catch up with the BLOGS! We'd like to thank all you guy that helped raise the fish cleaning table this year. We now have a back friendly fish cleaning table - a great contribution to Birch Haven Resort history.

Family Tradition of 50 Years

2008-07-09T21:48:00.006-05:00

We are so proud to say that it is the 50th year for Ruth and her family to vacation here at Birch Haven Resort. Ruth comes for two weeks a year - the first week to relax and inhale the therapeutic tranquility. The second is to enjoy her family, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We couldn't ask for greater guests and love that they love the resort as much as we do. We look forward to many more years with Ruth and her family. As we're told, it's a hard place to leave.

Happy Fishermen

2008-06-28T12:25:00.002-05:00

Hard to believe it is the end of June already! We have been having so much fun watching everyone fish and enjoy the resort. The weather has been great...along with the fishing. Here's a picture of Bob & Steve - just another great day fishin'.

Nice Northern

2008-06-09T21:29:00.003-05:00

Look at the 33 inch northern pike our guest, Mike from Montana, caught tonight.. His family has had fish fries every night since they arrived. With cooler weather the fishing this year has been exceptional. This is just a great way to start a vacation!

Birch Haven in the middle of it all

2008-05-09T08:35:00.004-05:00

My family is making plans to get up to Birch Haven Resort the week after Memorial Day. Traveling all the way from Colorado, we're looking forward to some great fishing, relaxing and good Minnesotan boating. Lakes like Gull Lake aren't around much in Colorado.

In anticipation for our vacation, the kids and I pulled up Google Earth and got this aerial shot of the resort. You can even see Tenstrike on the map.

See how the resort is central in Gull Lake? We are able to get comfortably to any fishing spot in the lake from Kate and Jerry's pontoon. We are SO looking forward to the relaxing trip!

Kate and Birch Haven on the Iowa News

2008-01-28T15:15:00.000-06:00

Kate emailed me with a link to the Iowa Boat Show, quite a trip south for she and Jerry. A clip of her take on Birch Haven Resort was captured on the local news. Check out the following link:

Cedar Falls Boat Show TV Clip

You have to wait through the first couple minutes...Kate is at the end. She's quoted:
"We have a lot of guests from Iowa, and I guess they are attracted to Northern Minnesota. It has different scenery...it's almost like a different country, really." - Kate Gaslin

Cabin 8's new look

2008-01-24T11:32:00.000-06:00

When ever you start doing something to an old building, you just never know where it will lead. Cabin 8 was no exception to this rule. This is Kate's dad, and I thought it would be interesting to old & new visitors alike to hear "the saga of cabin 8."

Last fall, Jerry & I decided we should replace the ceiling, which had been damaged by a leaking roof. We had plenty of help taking down the ceiling. What a mess! Then entered Uncle Rich. "Gee, we should redo the wiring while we're at it." This lead to a few holes in the walls - and some turned out to be too big to patch, so - off came the walls! Which revealed some really rotten windows. No, we didn't really take the windows out - they just sort of fell out!

The end result should be just short of awesome! Four new 5'x5' slide-by windows offer a beautiful view of the lake. The walls in the living room, dining room and kitchen are weathered knotty pine, there will be new carpet in the living room & dining room, and - oh yes, what we started to do in the first place - a new ceiling in the living room, dining room & bath room.

The warmth of the knotty pine, the field stone fireplace and the beautiful view of the lake should make this a very popular cabin for future guest. The cabin is shut down for the winter now, but early spring will allow us to finish the project. We'll post more pictures at that time.

Welcome (from Kate's brother)!

2007-12-23T23:51:00.000-06:00

Hello! This is Jerry and Kate's web developer (and Kate's brother from Colorado). I'm so excited to post the first Birch Haven Resort Blog Posting. We have been making quite a few modifications to the website, such as...

New photos of the cabins (see the Cabins Page)
Easier layout of slideshows (see new Photo Gallery)
Cool Google Map for interactive directions (see Find Us Page)
Some new testimonials (see Testimonies Page)

I'll be showing Kate and Jerry how to use this blog. I hope they find this to be an easy way to let friends know of developments at the resort. Visitors planning their summer vacations will appreciate the up-to-date posts from the owners of one of the greatest fishing resorts in Greater Minnesota. I'm looking forward to bringing my family back up to Birch Haven Resort soon!