Lake Pepin Golf Course

Lake City sits on the western shore of Lake Pepin, the widest natural lake on the Mississippi River, where the bluffs of southeastern Minnesota drop toward the water in some of the most dramatic scenery in the Upper Midwest. This is the birthplace of water skiing — Pepin's broad, calm surface drew Ralph Samuelson to strap on boards here in 1922 — and the town carries that easy, unhurried character that comes with life on a big lake.

Lake Pepin Golf Course plays against that backdrop, an 18-hole layout where the landscape does a great deal of the work. Courses in this part of Minnesota tend to reward patience over power — the rolling, wooded terrain typical of the Mississippi bluff country creates natural contour and plenty of opportunity for the land to push back.

For golfers making the trip, the setting alone justifies the round. Lake City is a small town, and this is the kind of community course that anchors it — a place where locals play and travelers passing through on Highway 61 pull off the road and stay longer than they planned.