Visit Grand Marais, Minnesota

About the Festival
Grand Marais is crazy for Moose Madness! It's rutting season, and signs of moose are all over town - especially in shops, cafes, lodging facilities and many locations outdoors. Our favorite alces alces, Murray, will be around town for the much sought-after photo opportunity, and moose-related activities are planned for all!

Moose Madness is always held during the teachers' statewide convention, a great time for a long weekend before the snow flies. Enjoy the natural beauty of our harbor, our scenic vistas, as well as our great food, fun shopping and comfortable lodging. Make Moose Madness an annual event for your family, if you haven't already.

Moose Central is usually known as the Grand Marais/Gunflint Trail Visitor Information Center, 13 N. Broadway Avenue. It's where you'll find the schedule for the weekend, contest entry forms, instructions, maps for downtown Grand Marais and Cook County, Moose Medallion Hunt clues, Moose Bucks and prizes! Hours: Friday & Saturday 9am - 6pm and Sunday 9am - 2pm.

Moose Medallion Hunt

The Moose Medallion search begins Friday morning at 9am and continues throughout the weekend until the medallion is found, worth 2 nights' lodging at a local motel or resort and a local restaurant certificate. Clues are released at Moose Central and via email to all lodging, shops and restaurants in downtown Grand Marais during the festival. The first clue will be printed in the Moose News and Tribune and will appear here a few days before the festival begins. Additional clues will be generated at these times until the medallion is found: Friday at 3pm; Saturday at 9am, noon and 3pm; Sunday at 9am and noon. Turn in the medallion at Moose Central to be declared the winner!

During the festival, test your writing skills with the moose poetry contest, sponsored by Northern Wilds, or create a moose cartoon - you might get published! The secret word scavenger hunt runs both Friday and Saturday, which takes you into several of our downtown shops. Drury Lane Books features the Muffin Man and Moose-a-Rama, and the Grand Marais Art Colony offers a special art project.

The Lake Superior Trading Post is running a trivia game for ages 4 and up called Camp - try it! Make a moose kite on Saturday afternoon and fly it if the wind is just right. Remember that the Pie Place becomes the Mocha Moose Cafe and Poetry Salon - a free slice of pie awarded to those who read some poetry aloud. Joynes Ben Franklin (America's most unusual BF) sponsors the coloring contest, and Sivertson Gallery and Lake Superior Trading Post both have Count the Moose Droppings contests...nice! Details from 2009 are found on the Schedule page, just to give you a good idea of the madness.

We've got some suggestions for Moose Quest routes up the Gunflint Trail, if you'd like to search for the real thing. Dusk and dawn are the most likely times, though not the only times you could spot these awesome creatures.

For additional information, call the Grand Marais/Gunflint Trail Visitor Information Center: 1-888-922-5000 or 218-387-2524