One of Minnesota’s Quirkiest Towns Is Still Flying Under the Radar

Next time you plan a trip up the North Shore, you'll probably picture the usual stops: grabbing a slice of pie at the Rustic Inn (or Betty's Pies or Judy's Cafe), fighting for parking at Gooseberry Falls, or jostling with the crowds in Grand Marais. I love all of these places and am right there with you—usually several times a year. Sometimes, though, sticking with the crowd can make you feel like you've missed out on something, like you may be too late to experience what made a spot feel special in the first place. This is why I love one quirky town in Minnesota, surrounded by state and national forests, that combines Cold War history, mobster stories, Scandinavian sensibility, and the celebration of a fictional saint into one community. If you've never visited Finland, Minnesota, you're definitely missing out.

Where Is Finland and Why Is It So Unique

If you've never been, but, for some reason, Finland sounds vaguely familiar to you (and not just because it's named for a Scandinavian country), it's likely because you pass within a few miles of it every time you drive up the North Shore beyond Tettegouche State Park. Unlike many of the unique small towns in Minnesota that you may associate with this part of Scenic Highway 61—Silver Bay, Schroeder, Tofte, Lutsen—Finland isn't on the lakeshore. Rather, it sits up in the Lake Superior Highlands, 3 miles inland and about 700 feet above the Big Lake (or about 10 minutes of drive time up Minnesota Highway 1 from the shore). It's tucked into the Finland State Forest near the edge of the Superior National Forest, so the community is literally surrounded by woods. This location also helps make it one of the snowiest towns in Minnesota, and it holds the official record for the most snowfall in a 24-hour period, 36 inches in a 1994 storm. (In winter 2026, Hovland—a town east of Grand Marais—anecdotally received 38 inches, but Finland's official record still stands.)

The unincorporated town is home to around 250 residents, many of whom remain fiercely proud of their Scandinavian roots. Incredibly, the town punches well above its weight when it comes to idiosyncrasies. Finland's biggest annual festival celebrates a fictional saint, and Al Capone was rumored to have a hideout in the nearby forest. For nearly 30 years, the town was home to Finland Air Force Station, a Cold War radar installation, atop nearby Lookout Mountain—so for a while there, Finland did, in fact, fly under the radar. Oh, and its post office is a gas station—if that doesn't make it an unusual town in Minnesota, I don't know what would.

The Quirky Attractions That Define This Town

While two of the town's most fascinating quirks are either off limits or difficult to find, other attractions are readily accessible to visitors. The abandoned Air Force station is now in private hands and is closed to the public. For more than 40 years, development rumors have surrounded the site, and it is listed for sale every so often. Apparently, issues with making the old base habitable have proven insurmountable, so it remains gated and abandoned atop Lookout Mountain near an old DNR fire tower, which has been repurposed as a cell tower.

West of town, at an unpublicized location in the woods off Heffelfinger Road—I don't know where it is, but I've seen photos—are a pair of stone fireplaces, an overgrown foundation, and other remnants of a long-gone resort. This place is rumored to have been one of Al Capone's old bootlegging hideouts that he used when he was running liquor down the shore from Canada. There's no confirmatory evidence, but it certainly adds even more quirk to Finland's already-quirky patina.

For a deeper dive into the history of this hidden gem town in Minnesota, you'll definitely want to visit the Finland Heritage Site, with its collection of cabins, buildings, and artifacts that document the early days of settlement in Finland and eastern Lake County. For more information about the museum, including its hours and special events, visit the Finland Minnesota Historical Society website.

If you visit in late winter, on the Saturday that's closest to March 16 (notably the day before St. Patrick's Day), you can celebrate St. Urho's Day with the community and fellow revelers. The day celebrates, as you likely guessed, St. Urho, a fictional patron saint of Finland, made a hero for chasing grasshoppers away from the Finns' grape harvest. Although Finland (Minnesota) has celebrated the saint for more than half a century, Urho, himself, had no real connection to Finland (the country) at the time he was concocted by a couple of Finnish immigrants from Virginia, Minnesota, in the mid-20th century. A wooden carving of St. Urho stands tall near the center of town, and you can visit any time of year.

What It’s Like To Visit This Underrated Town in Minnesota

When I visit Finland, I'm always reminded of the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska, from the old TV show "Northern Exposure." Maybe it's because I saw my first moose in Minnesota just outside of town, or maybe just the unique vibe of this remote town in the Bold North evokes that quirky program for me. Visiting Finland for more than a day can be a bit challenging, as there's not a ton of lodging right in the area.

There are a few resorts with cabin rentals, as well as the Finland State Forest campground, which is basically right in town on the banks of the beautiful Baptism River. You'll find food, gear, and supplies at the town's historic cooperative general store (which also has a sweet mural). As far as dining out, a couple of restaurants with bars, Four Seasons and Our Place, serve up good food and drinks at decent price points.

Outdoor adventure is the star of the show in this part of the world, and Finland is right at the hub. In addition to the state and national forests, one corner of Tettegouche State Park practically buts up against the town—the Illgen Falls Trail is just a couple of minutes down Highway 1—and Finland is the gateway community for rugged George H. Crosby Manitou State Park, one of Minnesota's wilderness parks, which is hike-in only and largely undeveloped.

I know it's tiny, but Finland is one of those places with a character that just charms you right into loving it. I can honestly say that it's one of my favorite small towns in Minnesota, and while it's no longer really under the radar—literally or figuratively—it's far enough from the heavily-beaten path of Highway 61 that it still feels like a hidden gem.