Ely Golf Club

Ely Golf Club sits in one of Minnesota's most storied wilderness towns, a jumping-off point for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the heart of the Iron Range's lake country. The surrounding landscape is defined by ancient Canadian Shield rock, stands of birch and pine, and a chain of glacier-carved lakes that shape both the scenery and the playing conditions. Golf up here exists in genuine north woods territory, far from the manicured resort corridors farther south.

That setting inevitably shapes the course. Mature tree lines frame the holes tightly, and the short northern season concentrates play into the warmest months — peak conditions typically run from late May through September, with long summer days giving golfers plenty of light to finish a round.

For visitors making the trip to Ely for the canoe country or wolf center, the club offers a genuinely local round rather than a polished destination experience. It's the kind of place regulars know by name, where a round reflects the town itself — unhurried, surrounded by real wilderness, and refreshingly unpretentious.