Finding Minnesota: Natural Adventure Park At Briggs Farm
WINONA, Minn. (WCCO) -- Being next to an adventure park is a nice drawing card for one Minnesota innkeeper.
That is, once people realize that the "adventure" is even there.
It's not entirely obvious to many people when they first see the 19th century farmhouse near Winona. But with a little marketing and rebranding, visitors are starting to find out what else is there.
Briggs Farm is a 560-acre property offering peaceful getaways and natural discoveries in Minnesota's bluff country.
"It's really dark at night; the stars are out," Steve Briggs, who manages the farm, said. "You see the moon, you hear the coyotes howl at night."
With their reservations, guests at the farmhouse can choose from many different activities. Everything from bird-watching hikes along 15 miles of trails to training in survival skills in the woods is offered.
Briggs is finding that there's a market for simplicity these days.
"Folks from the city that want to rejuvenate themselves from getting out of the chaos of the cities," he said. "And it's just people that appreciate nature, people that like to do photography. They like to do birding, they like to just hike in the woods."
It's an introduction, for some, to experiences that earlier generations took for granted.
"I mean you give a boy a stick and he'll spend hours with that stick," Briggs said. "That tire swing, I mean they'll spend hours on that tire swing, which is nice. It's nice having the simple things in life."
On many Sunday afternoons, Briggs now offers special events to promote the fact that his farm is for rent.
He's often busy making pizzas in the brick oven that he and a friend built.
"I make all the dough (from) organic flour, yeast, salt and water," he said. "And we roll them out. People usually bring the topping of their choice. Two, three minutes, they're done."
Guests are free to take fresh eggs from the nearby chicken coops to use in their breakfast, or try their hand at trout fishing in the nearby stream. No extra charge.
"We've done two weddings this year," said Briggs. "We've done 25th high school reunions, we've done big family reunions. We've done kids birthday parties."
This time of year, it's mostly deer hunters staying there.
Once it snows, Briggs Farm will start offering its guests things like cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing and sledding.
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