Our History

The residence at the Gunflint Motel was originally built in 1907 in the Harbor Addition of the little fishing village of Grand Marais. In 1966, a gentleman named Dave Clark built the motel behind the residence to accommodate the increasing number of tourists that had discovered the beautiful harbor town of Grand Marais and the scenic Gunflint Trail.

The motel was conveniently located one block up from the old Ranger Station on the original Gunflint Trail. Back in the 60's there was little tourist activity in the winter months. With that in mind, Mr. Clark built the units with full kitchenettes so they could be rented out on a monthly basis to people coming down from the Trail in the winter.

Jim and Artie Dalbec purchased the motel in 1969 and operated it for 13 years. In 1982 the Gunflint Motel was sold to Dave and Andrea Peterson who operated it for 18 years. In 2000 Stan Poole became the new owner of the motel and operated it for 8 years.

In early 2008 Brian and Deb Bennett purchased the motel and are looking forward to being the new hosts of the Gunflint Motel and wish to continue the tradition of providing year-round amenities to families and friends who come to Grand Marais to fish, hunt ski, canoe or just relax.

,The Bennett's have set forth a goal to create a more environmentally friendly establishment with initial goals of conserving lighting, water, heating following by goals of producing solar electric and solar hot water.