Welcome to Wintergreen!
Wintergreen is the most experienced dogsled outfitter in the business and the only lodge operation devoted exclusively to dog sledding. As noted by National Geographic, you’ll “Mush with the Best!” at Wintergreen. Click the highlighted links below to visit everything on our site from this page.

For nearly thirty years, Wintergreen has provided lodge-to-lodge dogsled vacations suited for complete beginners of all ages, including our 4-night “ Good,” “ Better” and “ Best” options, our 3-night trips, our Parent-Daughter Dog Sledding Vacations with New Moon magazine and our Photo Workshop Dogsled Trips.

We also offer both Beginning and Advanced Dogsled  camping trips and – for those seeking the adventure of a lifetime – our Arctic Treks.  Aso available are Day Dog Mushing Trips and any of our trips can be booked for your own Private Dogsledding Group.  We're happy to help you in Choosing Your Trip.

Wintergreen is located near Ely, MN, the nation’s “Sled Dog Capitol” and gateway to the Boundary Waters wilderness which ranks among the “Top 50” most scenic places in the world. Ely is easily accessible by car or air (How to get here). Ely is also home to the world renowned International Wolf Center where our guests can observe timber wolves in a woodland enclosure with complimentary admission provided by Wintergreen.

Wintergreen’s founder and director Paul Schurke is an outdoor educator, author and arctic explorer who has received numerous awards for his adventures and environmental efforts and has hosted many films on winter skills (Wintergreen’s history). His wife Susan Schurke founded and directs Wintergreen Northern Wear, an outdoor apparel line designed and produced in Ely. We’re the experts on winter comfort and Clothing needed for our trips is available for rent or discount purchase to our guests.

The “Wintergreen team” includes our expert guide Staff, our French chef Bernard Herrmann and our 60 beloved Canadian Eskimo Sled Dogs. The “ Sherman tanks” of the mushing world, these dogs absolutely love to pull yet are friendly and affectionate with persons of all ages – and strikingly handsome. Wintergreen features a complete “hands-on” experience where you’ll not only get to drive your own team of dogs but you can harness, feed and care for them as much as you’d like as well (you just can’t take them home with you!) 

The Lodges we use including Wintergreen are all small, intimate facilities in lovely lakeshore settings that feature fireplaces, featherbeds, full bathrooms, private bedrooms and lots of character. The meals are wonderful -- our food service director ranks among the Master Chefs of France – and we’re more than happy than to accommodate any dietary requests. Our guests range in age from 5-85, most are in their 30s-60s and are an equal mix of men and women. Each trip includes a mix of singles (20%), couples (40%) and groups of friends and family members (40%). Many come back year after year and rave about their Wintergreen experience (Guest Comments). So does the media – Wintergreen has been subject of dozens of films, TV special and major magazine feature stories (Wintergreen in the News)

Our guests offer many reasons why their Wintergreen experiences are so special. Many say "it's the great dogs and the sledding!" Some find the fabulous winter wonderland scenery most compelling. Others say it’s the people - both our fine staff and the other guests on your trip - with whom you'll share exhilarating days on the trails, hot hearty meals in cozy lodges and relaxing fireside gatherings filled with learning and laughter. Perhaps it’s the combination of these that leads our guests time and again to say their Wintergreen experience is the “most fulfilling and enjoyable vacation” they've ever had!

Our "F.A.Q." page will answer your questions, or feel free to Contact Us.  Be sure to visit our Photo Gallery as well.

“We had an incredible experience!  Wonderful people, happy well cared for dogs, delicious and plentiful food, great place to stay, beautiful scenery, good weather. There wasn't anything that could have been better.  We had so much fun and enjoyed every minute.  It was clear that our guides genuinely enjoyed the experience as well. They were confident, caring, patient, kind and had great sense of humor.  They made things that would have been scary, fun! We could tell they genuinely love the dogs. They let us know if we were doing anything that might impact the dogs’ safety (or our own). Deb S., OH