With the Labor Day weekend already in full swing for many, my timing here isn’t optimal. But I realized just now that for anyone vacationing in northeastern Minnesota, there’s a great (and cheap, i.e. free) little day trip or half-day trip worth taking, either on Labor Day weekend or anytime before the leaves fall. Best of all, it’s lost-golf course-related.

Tucked inside the Chippewa National Forest, about 30 miles north of Grand Rapids and on the western shore of Trout Lake, are the remains of the Joyce Estate, which for much of the 20th century was owned by an ultramegawealthy lumber family from Chicago. The Joyces constructed a remarkable complex of log homes and buildings and recreational areas — yes, including their very own quaint little golf course — on 4,500 acres. Many of the buildings are still standing, on grounds maintained by Chippewa National Forest staff.

There is one small issue, however, with visiting the place, though this issue actually constitutes part of the appeal in the visit. The Joyce Estate is accessible only via a three-mile walk through the northwoods on a hiking trail (or you can ride bicycles in).

I visited Joyce Estate last fall for the purpose of finding out about the golf course, which turned out to be less than, say, the northern Minnesota prequel to the Quarry Course at Giants Ridge. But I knew that coming in. Still, I could not have enjoyed my walk through the woods and my lakeside visit more, and it turned into the fodder for one of my favorite chapters in “Fore! Gone.”

I’ll offer a few photos, below. Feel free to chuckle at their composition and/or quality. They are what they are. Happy Labor Day weekend.

(Vintage photo above right  — it’s the old golf clubhouse.)