Grantsburg: History and Nature in the Travel Area

Grantsburg combines a self-guided historic walking tour with natural areas in the nearby and wider travel area. The Grantsburg Area Historical Society created the walking tour; it opened on September 6, 2026. It is designed as a permanent visitor attraction. This lets you distinguish local history from two different perspectives on nature when planning your trip.

Historic Walking Tour of Grantsburg

The self-guided walking tour focuses on historic Grantsburg. Sites included on the tour include Wedin House, the Abstract Building, and the Big Gust Statue. The tour therefore covers named buildings as well as a statue. The stops offer different historical points of reference rather than focusing on a single building. Because the tour is self-guided, you can explore the named sites at your own pace.

The names offer a first indication of what to expect on the walk: a house, a building, and a statue. If you want to explore Grantsburg’s history, the tour provides a concrete starting point for this focus of your trip.

Museum and Jail: Two Historic Construction Dates

The Grantsburg Area Historical Society Museum was originally a Norwegian Methodist church built in 1897. The original Burnett County Jail was built in 1870 and is also included in the Grantsburg tour. The two dates allow a direct comparison: the jail was built 27 years before the church. This places two different construction dates and original uses side by side in the context of local history.

For the museum, its former use as a church is part of the building’s history; for the jail, the construction date of the original jail is the specific historical reference. If you take the tour, you can consider these details separately rather than treating the histories of the two sites as the same. They add specific historical dates to the names of the other stops.

Fish Lake Wildlife Area South of Grantsburg

Fish Lake Wildlife Area is about 3 miles south of Grantsburg. The area covers 14,000 acres of wetlands, pine and oak barrens, and forests in gently rolling terrain. Most visitors come to observe wildlife. For directions, the area can be reached via Highway 87, Fish Lake Road, Shogren Road, and County Road O.

Several types of natural landscapes come together in one area; most visitors focus on wildlife observation there. Its approximate location south of Grantsburg sets this natural attraction apart from the historic stops on the town tour. This lets you distinguish different interests for your trip: history in historic Grantsburg or nature observation in the nearby area.

Crex Meadows in the Wider Travel Area

The wider travel area also includes Crex Meadows Wildlife Area. This 30,000-acre area encompasses wetlands, pine and oak barrens, and forests in gently rolling terrain. It is larger than Fish Lake Wildlife Area. The species listed include more than 280 bird species, 720 plant species, and over 96 butterfly species. The area also offers a 3-D archery course.

The two natural areas offer different emphases: most visitors to Fish Lake come to observe wildlife, while Crex Meadows combines a large-scale landscape with information about different species groups and an archery course.

Discover more destinations: Siren

View the wider travel overview: Burnett.