North American Bear Center, Ely

An incredible experience! Get up close and personal with the bears including detailed information from senior bearkeeper Sharon and the varied knowledge of the passionate interns. We saw all 4 bears on our visit - Holly and Tasha were out in the habitat, and Lucky and Ted were taking peanuts from the interns while in their enclosures. Lots of excellent taxidermy of bears and other North woods wildlife, along with fossils, videos, and live specimens of salamanders, snakes, frogs, etc. The gift shop also has lots of nice clothing, toys, mugs, and so on. We will definitely be back the next time we are in Ely!

Didn’t know about this place but shame on me. It is a very interesting and informative venue that’s fun for the whole family. The interns who gave the presentations were fantastic. The bears were pretty chill during the tours but we learned a great deal about their habits, diets, etc. Another surprising highlight was the Northwoods Ecology room that shared fun facts about the many animals that live in the Superior National Forest near Ely. Amazingly, the NF is home to more breeding wildlife species than any other National Park or Forest. We spent just over 2 hours there and felt that was just about right.