Black's Cliff Birch Bark Blog

Excerpt: It was a beautiful weekend in the Northwoods. We have extended Eagles Nest being open through October 22nd weekend. We may keep it open through Halloween if the warmer weather holds. It is open starting October 19th Over three days we had hundreds of people through the resort to see the sock shop for the Northwoods Art Tour. It... Read more

Excerpt: John and his dog Sammy up enjoying the fall colors. Sammy almost blends in with the colors. The colors have been amazing this fall Woods by Bear Den bonfire with yellows Troy and Steve busy at the office taking out a few more boats. Troy gets tired of keeping the paddle boats clean of falling acorns and debris. They... Read more

Excerpt: My sister Katie out enjoying fat tire biking on our mountain biking trails in the area. This time she was on the zipline trail 10 min from the resort. Fat tire bikes are amazing to do trails with year round. She loves her bike Back at the resort it was a misty morning at the lake Back up the... Read more

Excerpt: Peeks of color are popping up around the resort. Colors will be exploding in another week We had some big rain come through. Troy had had enough of bailing all the boats and we started taking out some of our extra boats. Key here is not letting Steve take out to many. He starts towing them to Hilltop to... Read more

Excerpt: The tale of bluegill fishing. You always hear the story about the big one that was hooked while bluegill fishing but got away. Always a big tale and do you believe it when they say it was a big fish..... People ask me where are the muskies. My response is always look for the bluegills and the muskies are... Read more

Excerpt: Troy and I had to pick up Grant in California to get him back to school. We debated all summer how to get him back. We finally decided to just do it and leave for 6 days to drive to California and back. We had coverage for the resort with Jake and Steve, packed up the car and off... Read more

Excerpt: Sunday mornings in the summer are always full of happy faces ready for a fun week with the family. Lots of happy smiles with grandma! Brian and his son Asher talking about all the wildlife they might see on vacation. Shortly after this picture little Asher showed up with a small grass snake he had found in the woods... Read more

Excerpt: My kids grew up fishing with Troy's dad so I can appreciate a grandpa on the dock with 2 kids casting, and taking off worms and fish off hooks. Grandpa Walsh with a smile on his face every year creating memories with the grandkids is what it is all about. Hopefully with no hooks in anyones head or fingers... Read more

Excerpt: Time to kick off your shoes and jump in the lake Lots of that going on, on the water tramp this week The raft is a little quieter but lots of jumping there too Definitely a pier week. Lots of sunning and chatting Steve and Jake are working on a few projects around the resort. First up was this... Read more

Excerpt: We have had a lot to celebrate this last week or so. Big event was Howard Berchtold's 90th birthday at the resort. There was a lot of singing, toasts with matching cups, matching shirts, egg toss and a three legged race. Howard was happier to celebrate also his 65 years with Jean and 45th summer up north. He knows... Read more

Excerpt: Beautiful warm days of summer at the resort. Took the red boat out for a spin around the lake for fun Our beach getting busy with everyone in their spots, warm temps and happy kids jumping in David and Leanne getting their feet wet while Bryce was wasting no time in enjoying the water Mark Tempel having fun enjoying... Read more

Excerpt: Happy 4th! We spent the night out on the lake with the amazing fireworks our neighbors shoot off. Will Flower and Gloria Snodgrass get photo credit for the following pics as I was taking a video of it that is on our Facebook page The pre show boat ride waiting for sunset. No traffic or crowds perfect night on... Read more

Excerpt: It has been a busy week getting ready for Memorial Weekend. We got our final dock in with the help of Grant. They gave up on the waders as they had sprung leaks and the water was warmer From doing finals at Saint Norbert to figuring out what screws go in which hole. Grant was thankful for the change... Read more

Excerpt: e n We have had a new visitor at the resort. A small black bear. We assume it is a year or two old that mom has kicked out. We have not seen momma bear anywhere near just this little guy who has taken a liking to our dumpster. Troy got the surprise of his life when opening the dumpster... Read more

Excerpt: This was our wake up view on Mo day. It was hard to get going. Thankfully 60's are in the forecast later in the week. So what do you do when it is snowing out on a Monday morning? Get in the lake and put in docks of course. Notice that is Chris Moran and Troy in the water... Read more

Excerpt: There has not been a blog entry in over a week because Troy and I headed off down the road to travel some trails. I get asked all the time when do we get away and to where. This time it was to Southern Illinois to Giant City State Park. The wildflowers and trails were amazing along with the... Read more

Excerpt: Ice out started out looking good. We saw this Monday morning and thought it would be a good ice out no problems... Then the wind started in the afternoon..... This was the first indication we were in trouble. The ice moved in when crazy winds came in blowing it right into our shore. We broke up what we could... Read more

Excerpt: The snow has just about completely melted. We have snow banks left but that is about it We are keeping cabins open for guests who we have had a steady trickle of all month. Spring break at a cabin for many beats the crowds in Florida. We are working on a few projects and keeping the furniture store in... Read more

Excerpt: The fog and snow of March. Some don't like this time of year. Personally I love the foggy woods and misty lake as the snow melts Driveway is the main issue getting mucky The water falls in Ironwood and Hurley are calling our names. This is the best time of year to see them full of spring melting water... Read more

Excerpt: It was a beautiful weekend at the resort. This picture from Larry and Sue Sveda Sunrise taken by Sue much earlier than I was up The Kurtz family was up enjoying the possibly last day of ice skating on our rink They were all smiles skating in the spot they will be swimming in this summer Troy and I... Read more