Gooseberry Park Cottages & Motel Review – Castle Danger, Minnesota

Introduction

The Gooseberry Park Cottages and Motel is a family-owned and run accommodation located right off of Highway 61, right on the shores of Lake Superior. Here’s my blogger review of the Gooseberry Park Cottages and Motel (I was not sponsored for this trip – I paid for it with my own hard-earned money!). So let’s begin the Gooseberry Park Cottages and Motel review!

Location

Gooseberry Park Cabins and Motel is located in Castle Danger Township, just off Highway 61, along Minnesota’s North Shore. It’s only 3 miles from Gooseberry Falls State Park and roughly only 15 miles to Split Rock Lighthouse. The nearest town is Two Harbors, Minnesota, about 12 miles south of the motel, and Silver Bay, which is about 20 miles north.

While we felt that this location was nice to base our 3-night weekend trip up to the North Shore to enjoy the fall colors, ideally, we’d probably stay even further up north to be able to explore the state parks near Grand Marais – but lodging can be tough to find and what usually is available is quite expensive (over $300/night at least, which I am just not willing to pay). During our trip, we visited the nearby Split Rock/Gooseberry Falls state parks, completed the Bean and Bear Lake hike, as well as took a day trip all the way up to Grand Portage, Minnesota.

Another note about the location: restaurants are few and far between in this area and the fallout from the pandemic, the restaurants that are nearby have limited hours and staff, making it difficult to find somewhere to eat. Across the street is the Rustic Inn, which was fantastic, but currently they close at 7pm (8pm on weekends), and there is typically a 2 hour wait for a table. We lucked out and were able to get a table when we arrived at 6:20pm, which only a 45 minute wait. The next night, we weren’t so lucky and they wouldn’t take our names, despite arriving at 6pm. That night, we ate at the Grand Superior Lodge, which is also very close – and fantastic — they’re also short staffed and operating on limited hours. When we were looking for a place to eat, all Two Harbors had open was a pizza place (we didn’t want that) and a sports bar with a very odd menu.

Rooms

The Gooseberry Park Cabins and Motel offer two room options: cabins and traditional motel rooms. Because I wanted to make sure we had good weather for a quick fall trip to Lake Superior/the Minnesota North Shore, I waited to book last minute. I was looking for a place to stay that was reasonable in price and was located near things we wanted to do while in the area. As I was doing research, I found the Gooseberry Park Cabins and Motel had a two-queen bed motel room available for the 3 nights I wanted, so I called to book a room. (Note: Gooseberry Park Cabins and Motel does not have an online booking system, nor is it listed on any travel aggregator, like booking.com or hotels.com – you can see their availability on their website but you must call to book your room.)

While we didn’t stay in the cabins, they looked quite large and very nice – and it looked like almost every cabin had a view of Lake Superior!

As for the motel, the building is located next to the highway. Half of the rooms face the highway and the other half face the lake side (no views of Lake Superior though; there is a very nice garden view with a bigger deck area though). We had room #11, which is on the highway side.

The best part about the highway-side rooms is that you can park directly in front of your room. If you have a garden side room, you will need to park in the same lot, and schlepp your shit around the building to your room.

Our particular room was your standard motel room – two queen beds, a refrigerator, a/c, microwave and bathroom. Some of the other motel rooms have kitchens.

The room itself was squeaky clean and we liked the clean rustic vibe to the place. However, there were two downsides to the room that would make me hesitant to book another stay here:

• Pillows were cheap, completely worn out and flat as pancakes. There was no ‘fluff’ or support on these pillows whatsoever. I used all four piled up under my head to sleep and it still wasn’t comfortable. Neither my sister or I got a good night’s sleep here because of those terrible pillows. We did let the staff know and we asked if they had any extra pillows but none were available. The one time I don’t bring my own pillow….
• There is no fan or ventilation system in the bathroom. When you take a shower, it’s like a steam bath when you get out. Open the door and the steam flows out to the entire room, heating the entire room up. It was bad enough with two people showering; I can’t imagine if you were sharing this room with four people. It’s just pretty gross going into that bathroom after someone just took a shower.

Amenities

While you won’t find a swimming pool or a free breakfast at here, you will find other unique amenities! Gooseberry Park Cabins and Motel is located right along the shores of Lake Superior, so they have a small area near the lake where you can sit and enjoy the view, and have fire in the fire ring. Firewood is available at the property for $5 a bundle. There is no beach here; the shoreline is very rocky so you won’t be able to swim in the lake (Lake Superior in general is far too cold for swimming even in the summer IMO). If you want to enjoy this area, remember to pack a camp chair! Unfortunately, we didn’t use the fire ring because we would get back to our room after 7:30pm each night – it was already after dark and frankly, we were too tired and cold to go sit by the lake with a fire.

Also on the grounds is a beautiful, well-maintained garden with a cute little walking path!

Final Thoughts

Overall, my sister and I really did enjoy our stay, despite the downsides to the motel room. Would I stay here again? It’s a yes, but a reluctant yes. I thought the location was fantastic for what we wanted to do in the area, but if I stayed here again, I would want to stay in one of the cabins.