ALONG BIRCH LAKE – At a time when many small resorts are being sold for the value of their waterfront properties and converted into condos or lake houses – there are less than half as many small family resorts in Minnesota as there were 50 years ago – Sean and Jill Leary are bucking the trend.

The Learys are building North of North from the ground up, a three-cabin resort on 11 acres of undeveloped land at 12265 State Highway 1, 10 miles east of Ely.

Contributed / North of North Resort

The first cabin was ready for guests last week, the other two were almost finished, and their website went live this week to accept reservations.

“It’s taken a little longer than expected, but we’re almost there,” said Jill Leary as she unpacked steak knives from a box for one of the cabin’s kitchens. “There used to be nothing here. No driveway. … When we first came to the property, we had to come by boat.”

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It was hard work and a lot of driving back and forth from their home in Minneapolis. They made their way from Highway 1 to the property and slowly considered how the cabins would fit into the landscape.

North of North is a completely new destination for lovers of the Ely Experience, Superior National Forest and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness – just a stone’s throw up the Kawishiwi River. But it is also perhaps unique in the Northland forests in that it was built from the ground up to be fully accessible to many people with disabilities.

Sean and Jill Leary were not the only ones involved in this project. It was a family affair, with daughters Annika (10) and Britta (7) also helping out and looking after the family’s sled dog, Freya.

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The Learys were on their first post-pandemic family vacation in the Yellowstone National Park area a few years ago when they decided they wanted their own destination in the north woods of their home state. In addition, they wanted a place where people with disabilities — Jeff has been in a wheelchair for 23 years — could enjoy Minnesota’s “far north” like everyone else.

They came up with the idea of ​​building a small resort using accessible design principles to allow people at every stage of life, from the elderly to families with toddlers and strollers, to get around. Even the waterfront lot they chose was chosen for its relatively flat topography and easy access to the lake.

From the gentle slopes between the driveway to the cabins and the paths to the lakes, to the height of the counters and tables in the cabins, to the wheelchair-accessible showers, the 400-foot wooden boardwalk, and the floating dock on the lake, everything at North of North is designed to be accessible according to Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines.

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Little things like lowered light switches and shower controls and an opening under the sink so that a wheelchair user can wash the dishes are the icing on the cake.

Even the doors of the barrel saunas were widened to make room for wheelchairs.

“People throw the term ‘accessible’ around pretty loosely,” Sean said. “Everyone has a different definition. … Hopefully we’re there for most people.” He’s also been visiting restaurants and other attractions in Ely to learn about accessibility and offer tips to his future guests.

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It’s about breaking down barriers, from the thresholds of cabin and sauna doors to getting into a kayak on the lake. The Learys’ goal is to create a place that is not only welcoming and accessible to everyone, but also provides access to the great outdoors for people who haven’t always had the opportunity to get out.

“You really don’t have to put much thought into making it work for people in wheelchairs,” said Sean, 41. “Yet most of the time people don’t think about it when they build something.”

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Sean Leary was 18 when he was driving home one evening during the summer before college after a long day at work. He fell asleep and his truck went off the road. The accident left him without the use of his legs and he has been in a wheelchair ever since.

But it wasn’t long before Sean moved on. Before his accident, he had been an avid wilderness paddler and snowboarder, and adapted his outdoor activities to his newfound skills, including off-road handbikes. He traveled throughout the U.S. and Europe, trying scuba diving and adaptive wilderness canoeing. He met Jill when she was a canoe guide, and the two St. Cloud natives married in 2010.

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Sean’s theory is that if you build it right, they can and will come – anyone with access issues.

If you build it right for people with mobility issues, it also makes it easier for others to access it, Leary notes. He calls it the “curb drop effect.” Curb drops on sidewalks allow people in wheelchairs to cross streets, but also children on bikes and tricycles, parents with strollers, seniors and people with other, less obvious physical impairments.

Jill considers the resort a destination for family reunions and group travel.

“We hope this will be a place where families can bring grandma and grandpa to the lake again,” Sean added. “But anyone can come here. … Do you think disabled people just want to be around other disabled people?”

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The Learys had to clear up some confusion about the resort. Since they have a mortgage of over a million dollars in their name, the resort itself is for-profit and needs to pay the bills and at least break even.

“We don’t expect to make any money from this,” says 39-year-old Jill. “The resort has to do it on its own, but we’ll both keep our jobs.” Jill is a teacher in the Minneapolis school system, Sean is an environmental project consultant.

“We put everything we had into it,” Sean said.

The 1,100-square-foot cabins aren’t cheap. At $550 a night, they rival the area’s nicer resorts and VRBO properties.

And they’re top-notch, offering panoramic views of the forest and scenic Birch Lake, individual saunas (with lake views) for each unit, sleeping for up to eight people, screened-in porches, a patio with a grill and campfire pit, a dishwasher, washer and dryer, televisions, high-speed internet and Wi-Fi.

Contributed / North of North Resort

Through their nonprofit organization, Adaptive Wilderness Within Reach, the Learys hope to accommodate people with physical disabilities in the cabins while they participate in a variety of wilderness experiences, including kayaking, canoeing, fishing, biking, dog sledding and more.

To that end, AWWR (say it quickly so it sounds like a howling wolf) has already received $16,000 from the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation — more state money is expected soon — to purchase accessible kayaks and build an accessible kayak launch at the end of their unusually long jetty/dock that is also fully accessible. Canoes and kayaks are available for rent, and Sean said he hopes to get into BWCAW’s accessible amenities in the future.

Motorboats and other watercraft can dock at the resort free of charge or can be rented from Ely Outfitters and delivered to the resort.

The Learys partner with local guides and companies such as Piragis Northwoods (kayaking and canoeing) and Wintergreen (dog sledding) of Ely to provide training and guidance to participants.

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They have also organized a wild rice harvesting demonstration this early fall by a member of the local Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe and pointed out that their waterfront area is full of manoomin.

The Learys decided early on in the construction to buy local suppliers. Their general contractor, Reed Alan, has a property on nearby Snowbank Lake. Most of the contractors were local. The Learys hired Dave Sugg of Ely to manage the day-to-day work. Much of the lumber came from sawmills in northern Minnesota.

When Jill needed an indoor space to stain the wood paneling that would be installed in the cabins, her plumber offered his shop for free.

The project received financial support from several sources, including Minnesota-based Sunrise Bank, the Northland Foundation, Lake Country Power and the Entrepreneur Fund.

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“A lot of people are involved here now. … We’ve had such great cooperation and buy-in from virtually everyone in and around Ely,” Jill said. “I now go to the hardware store at least once every time I shop. … They know me by name.”

Sean said the new resort and the nonprofit’s goals are being embraced by local residents as well as the money they spend in town.

“People with limited mobility have not been able to take full advantage of the natural resources we have here, the Boundary Waters and the lakes,” Sean said. “And I think the people here support our efforts to open that up and attract new people who haven’t had the opportunity to experience all of that yet.”

For more information about North of North Resort or to make a reservation, visit northofnorthresort.com. For more information about the nonprofit organization Adaptive Wilderness Within Reach, visit awwr.org.

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