6 Delicious Road Trip Stops in Northern Wisconsin

Updated: Dec 4, 2022

We spend a lot of time driving through the Northwoods of Wisconsin on our way to and from the cabin in Hayward. Check out some of our favorite road trip stops to fill up our tummies, our gas tank, and our coolers!

All of these recommendations are north and east of the Twin Cities in the far northwestern corner of Wisconsin, but because we take a couple of different routes to the cabin depending on traffic and weather, we don't pass all of these places in a single journey. Add them to your list of road trip stops!

Burnett Dairy Creamery - Grantsburg, WI

What better way to start off a weekend in America’s Dairyland than with a visit to a cheese shop!

Burnett Dairy Creamery is much more than that, however - it’s the retail outpost of Burnett Dairy Cooperative, a production co-op for dairy farmers that has been around since 1897. At the Creamery, you’ll find tons of delicious cheese (try the strings or fresh curds - squeaky!), hot and cold sandwiches, pizza, and amazing soft serve ice cream, all made with milk from co-op cows. There’s also a sizeable specialty foods selection with lots of yummy accompaniments for cheese (think crackers, jams, etc) and a wine area.

We love to stop here to get an ice cream cone for the road and a take and bake pizza to make when we get to the cabin. Bert and Ernie like to eat the bottom part of our cones and some pizza crust of course! :) The Cheese Store is about an hour and a half from the Twin Cities and it closes at 7:00 pm on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in the summer.

Brickfield Brewing Company - Grantsburg, WI

This charming brewery anchors the downtown Grantsburg strip (on the other side of town from the Burnett Creamery). The extensive and rotating tap list at Brickfield Brewing features some creative beers and infusions (we liked the Triple Threat Hot Pepper Lager!) as well as plenty of crowd-pleasers. The patio is dog friendly, so grab a beer or a flight while you and pup sit outside around the fire pit overlooking pleasant Memory Lake Park. Large tables mean there's plenty of space for bigger dogs to spread out! The building was first a creamery and later a Lions Club before it was transformed into a modern brewery in 2017. Don't miss the cooler full of Brickfield Market provisions beef from the owners' family farm!

Louie’s Finer Meats - Cumberland, WI

We pass Louie’s Finer Meats on our way through Cumberland, which is a little over 90 minutes from the Twin Cities (but further east and south than Grantsburg). If you’re looking for brats, sausages, or jerky, Louie’s is your spot! Louie’s has been a Cumberland mainstay for more than 50 years and boasts more than 100 varieties of bratwurst and the largest selection of ethnic sausages (think Czech Jaternice, Swedish Potato Sausage, or Swiss Kalberwurst) in Northern Wisconsin. We like the Birkie brats with cranberries, blueberries, honey, and cheese. You also can't go wrong with a classic beer cheese brat! In the summertime, grab some stuff for your grill inside and then pick up a hot brat for the road at the grilling station outside. You can also stock your cooler with beer at Louie’s Lodge, the liquor store attached to the main butcher shop. There's always Spotted Cow to be found here!

Log Cabin Store - Danbury, WI

The Danbury Log Cabin Store is a general store in the most classic sense. About an hour and 45 minutes from the Twin Cities or 30 minutes from Hinckley, the Log Cabin Store is a gas station, fireworks emporium, ice cream parlor, bait shop, and a department store all rolled into one. We stop here for gas frequently and always go inside for the reliably clean bathrooms and to wander through the stunningly broad assortment. You can buy everything here: Minnetonka slippers, a chainsaw carving of a bear, a six pack of Spotted Cow beer, a Cedar Crest ice cream cone, a gun, some nightcrawlers, a Heggie’s pizza, locally harvested wild rice, and a badger hat (either Bucky or actual badger - your choice).

Jack Link's Outlet - Minong, WI

Henson’s Country Foods grocery store is the place to find factory seconds and logo gear for Jack Link’s Meat Snacks. The jerky company is headquartered in Minong, which is about 2.5 hours from Minneapolis. They also have a corporate office in downtown Minneapolis that is Northwoods themed with lots of lumberjack decor (in keeping with their Sasquatch brand iconography). As you drive through town, you’ll see the Link name frequently, including on the Ford dealership and the town’s aquatic center. On the east side of town, keep your eyes peeled for a large herd of black angus cattle - these happy looking cows are the Link family herd and their destiny is to end up as beef jerky!

Round Man Brewing - Spooner, WI

Round Man has been refreshing visitors to downtown Spooner since late 2018. This brewery boasts a full food menu including pizza, sandwiches, and Friday fish fry, plus a hefty tap list of regular and rotating beers. Wisconsin's liquor laws allow breweries to serve wine and liquor as well, so there's something for everyone at Round Man. On our visit, we liked the KBO Cream Ale and the Right Hand Red Ale best, but share a flight to taste several beers! The large covered patio is dog friendly, making this a perfect lunch or dinner stop on your way up north. We hear they recently purchased a bar in Trego so there might be another Round Man Brewing location coming soon!