Bemidji, Minnesota

Our family to a trip to Bemidji with aspirations of seeing Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.  It was a bit of a drive from central Minnesota to get to Bemidji, but our stops along the way for food, stretching and playground breaks, and a quick visit to Itasca State Park helped to break up the trip. 

This aerial photo shows downtown Bemidji, located on the west side of Lake Bemidji. You can just barely make out the bright blue of Babe the Blue Ox in near the lake in the light colored little paved triangle near the bottom right side of the lake as viewed in this picture.

Lakefront Park with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox

We used to live in Bemidji before the kids were born, and were amazed at how much the area around Paul and Babe has changed over the years.  Paul and Babe are located in downtown Bemidji on the south shores of Lake Bemidji.  The property has become a City Park, complete with a rather nice accessible playground. 

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox

The statues are larger than life – and leave quite an impact on children in particular.    The statues themselves are somewhat crude and boxy, dating back to 1937 and the Bemidji Winter Carnival that year.  It has become part of history as it is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places as of 1988.

Chamber of Commerce Mini-Museum

At nearly the feet of Paul and Babe is the Bemidji Chamber of Commerce, which we recalled from a prior visit has a nice display featuring Olympic Curling memorabilia from the Bemidji players that were fairly recently part of Team USA at the Winter Olympics.  The Chamber was closed during this visit, so we will have to wait to revisit them another time.  We recall that they had lots of brochures available and even sold post cards.

Bemidji State University

Bemidji State University is one of the most beautiful campuses. It is nestled up close to the waters of Lake Bemidji. So close in fact that when the lake water freezes in the winter, students park on the lake and walk to class from there.

Lake Bemidji State Park

Located on the north side of Lake Bemidji is Lake Bemidji State Park. It is a very popular campground. It has a nice beach for swimming and area for boats. The campground itself is very wooded. There seem to be a fair number of mosquitos during the summer, so bring your bug repellent if you go.  

Bemidji KOA

Another campground option is the Bemidji KOA. There is a stark contrast between the KOA and State Park, but one or the other will be perfect for you, depending on the goals of your trip.

The KOA is located near town, and has a wide open feel compared to the woodsy feel of the State Park.

One of the nice parts about the KOA is that they have cabins, which they cutely call Kamping Kabins available for rent.

Most KOAs have small cabins available with no running water and a bathroom down the street.

Come Explore Bemidji

No matter where you go or what you do, you can’t go wrong with a trip to Bemidji. The weather is typically comfortably cool all summer long. There are a few warm days, but not too many. Just enough to help you appreciate the cool days better.

The winters might be cold but the summers make it all worth it. Head out to Bemidji and have a grand adventure.