Interpretive Center & Gift Shop

Enter this building for admission to explore the Museum. This building also houses an extensive gift shop, public restroom and various mini-exhibits.

Current mini-exhibits:

• Dorothy’s Guest Journals
• Dorothy’s Crafting Hobby
• Dorothy’s Nursing School Kit & Journal
• Original Art Featuring Dorothy

Optional Guided Programs

25-minute, outdoor guided programs offered at the top of the hour offer a more in-depth understanding of Dorothy Molter.

For those who prefer to explore on their own, our Museum is designed to be fully self-guided with our visitor guide or our online guided tour option.

Seek-n-Find

There are 11 Northwoods animal figurines hidden throughout the four buildings at the Museum with a placard that reads “You found me!”

Each placard includes a QR code to open a digital article about that animal and how it may relate to Dorothy Molter.

Winter Cabin

Built in the mid-1920s, this cabin houses an exhibit on Dorothy’s root beer and features personal items, memorabilia and clothing of Dorothy’s as well as pictures of Dorothy with friends, family and visitors to Knife Lake, and a 7-minute video compilation (2022) of the January 10, 1987 Memorial Snowmobile Ride.

Point Cabin

This historic cabin houses the Dorothy Molter: Living in the Boundary Waters Exhibit, which illustrates how Dorothy Molter lived at the pace of the seasons and embodied the spirit and inspiration of the Northwoods wilderness.  It features a combination of objects and photographs from the museum’s collection and a 15-minute video compilation from the 1987 documentary film Dorothy Molter: Living in the Boundary Waters.

Cady Cabin

This small cabin houses the Creating the Boundary Waters: 25 Objects, 25 Stories exhibit highlighting the decades-long and often controversial process of how the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness was established as a federal wilderness.  Visitors will learn how this process affected not only Dorothy, but residents and visitors to the area through a visual timeline featuring 25 collection items representing different eras.

Quiet Area & Sensory Garden

This space is designated for those seeking a quiet space away from other visitors as well as for those visitors who may find it helpful to visit the sensory garden boat as a distraction.

Visitors with heightened sensory needs may borrow a Sensory Friendly Bag, which contains a variety of tools to help make a visit to the Museum more comfortable and enjoyable. Ask a staff member for more information or to borrow one!

Birds’ Landing

This public pocket-park is available year-round and features a bird feeder hub and pollinator garden honoring Dorothy’s favorite hobbies of birding and flower gardening.

With its location between the tall red pines of the Joseph Rozman Memorial Forest and the meadow-like environment of the Ely Cemetery, the Museum is ideally situated to attract a wide range of birds throughout the year.

Dorothy’s Discovery Trail

This 1/4-mile nature trail is available to museum visitors year-round. Although short, it meanders through a variety of eco-types common in the Northwoods. Interpretive signs highlight flora and fauna found in northeastern Minnesota such as the pileated woodpecker, sphagnum moss and the tamarack tree.

Dorothy’s Discovery Trail Backpack is also available to visitors and includes a variety of field guides, tools and suggested activities to help you learn more about the Northwoods.

Off-site Exhibit at the U.S. Forest Service Ranger Station

Dorothy Molter’s life in what is now the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is highlighted in this kiosk located inside the U.S. Forest Service Kawishiwi Ranger Station’s Northwoods History and Ecology exhibit. This exhibit is free and offers a wide range of Superior National Forest/BWCAW information with staff available to answer questions about this unique area of the country.

Located just east of the Dorothy Molter Museum, across the street from the International Wolf Center, in a gorgeous LEED building. Please check with the USFS for public hours/availability.

Exhibit Funding Sources

The Minnesota Department of Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation‘s (DIRRR) Culture & Tourism Grant Program has funded portions of several projects at the Museum:
– Living in the Boundary Waters Exhibit – Point Cabin (2013)
– Birds’ Landing at Dorothy’s (2014)
– Creating the Boundary Waters Exhibit – Cady Cabin (2018)
– Quiet Area & Sensory Garden and visitor sensory resources (2023)

Funding for DIRRR matching grants listed above and other projects was provided was provided through generous private donations during our annual November Give to the Max Day campaigns:
– Creating the Boundary Waters Exhibit – Cady Cabin (2017)
– The Root Beer Lady Exhibit – Winter Cabin (2022)
– Quiet Area & Sensory Garden and visitor sensory resources (2023)