Hosting lake country vacationers since the 1930s
Carlson Cabins is a small, family-run property on the southeastern shore of Leech Lake. We rent out four cabins in a tranquil setting ideal for family gatherings, fishing trips and summertime R&R. Guests tell us they come for the fishing, the sand-bottom swimming area, outings to nearby Walker and Longville, and the wildlife, sunsets, and northwoods magic of one of Minnesota’s largest lakes. It’s a great place to kick back and enjoy the lake-country summer.
Staying at Carlson’s is like staying at a friend's cabin. We don't maintain full-time staff, but do keep the cabins and the grounds in tip-top shape, and someone’s always in reach to answer questions. With only four cabins, it’s a great place to come with friends and family and take over the whole place. More than half of our rentals come from groups, many of whom have been returning each summer for decades.
Facilities
Common areas include a casita, a small playground, a fish-cleaning hut, and full use of waterfront accessories including a Rave raft, an Aqua Lily Pad, canoe, kayaks, paddleboat, and various floats and toys. Lifejackets and fishing nets are available in the boathouse. We also have picnic tables for outdoor dining, and expansive, grassy areas perfect for volleyball, badminton, bocce ball, and other yard games.
The waterfront features a small sand beach and a swimming area with a sand bottom just beyond the end of the dock.
Guests are welcome to bring their boats up and tie up in our harbor. For put-ins and takeouts, there’s a public landing about a mile away.
History
Carlson’s began life in the 1930s as the barebones fishing resort of August and Mettie Carlson. August, from Sweden, and Mettie, from North Dakota, hosted families and fishermen from across the Midwest, renting out two cabins (today’s #1 and #2) and fishing boats with 10-horse motors. August ran a store at the top of the hill and acted as a fishing guide, taking guests to troll for Northern Pike and Muskie in Headquarter’s Bay and the waters around Bear Island. Mettie was postmaster of the local Brevik post office, which was set up by Charles A. Lindbergh, a Minnesota congressman and father to the famous aviator of the same name.
The annual visitors included the Van Werdens, an Iowa family that fell in love with the resort during their summertime fishing trips in the 1950s. When the Carlsons retired in the 1970s, the grown Van Werden children and their Otto in-laws joined together to buy the resort, and they’ve been running it ever since. Their families have grown considerably since then, with children and grandchildren and new in-laws spread across the country and around the world, but Carlson’s is still a place they return to each summer.
Carlson’s has modernized over the years, and it’s moved on from its former full-service resort days, but it still retains much of the charm of the lakeside fishing retreat it was in the 1930s. We added hot water, showers, and kitchen sinks in the 1980s, and in 1985 we shut the door on the old outhouses for the last time. Cabin 1 was rebuilt in 1995, followed by brand new Beach Cabin in 2010. In 2012 we dug a new deep well and added a water system, bidding a fond farewell to the little red pump that served us without fail for more than 50 years. In 2019, the property’s largest and most comfortable cabin made its debut, replacing August and Mettie’s original cabin that had stood for nearly 100 years.
Above, August Carlson with Chief White Cloud circa 1950s.
Owners
Nelson Otto
Gretchen Otto
At front, Dotti and Larry Van Werden