General C.C. Andrews State Forest is located nearby in Willow River, MN. This state forest is named after General Christopher Columbus Andrews, a Civil War general and Minnesota’s first chief fire warden. General Andrews was appointed in 1895 following a series of deadly, historic fires that plagued the area after large logging operations left behind thousands of acres of branches and debris. After settlers arrived in the late 1800s, many found the sandy soils unsuitable for growing crops and abandoned [Read more…]