About
Planning your next adventure? You've come to the right place!
North Ironwood Acres is a family owned and operated resort located in northern Ironwood, Michigan in the western Upper Peninsula. You'll find us right in the middle of the USA Today's Top 10 Scenic Roads, the Black River National Scenic Byway. Why stay on a busy highway when you can wake up to the birds and a peaceful backdrop instead? Our private, 4-season's resort has much to offer and has grown to offer a wide range of accommodation and service options. Staple amenities include a variety of budget friendly rental types, a full service cocktail bar, general store with the essentials, a special event room seating up to 150, lounges to relax and unwind, and various activities like pool tables, a paddling pond, or ~7.8 miles of trails on the property to keep you occupied in your downtime. We are dog friendly, family friendly and group friendly!
North Ironwood Acres is a true small business, or mom-n-pop as you might commonly hear in this neck of the woods. Live-in hosts, Justin & Brittany, and family, are committed to ensuring the best experience, and are a wealth of knowledge when it comes to exploring the area. From a quick overnight stay to a multi-day group retreat or wedding, you'll receive a true Northwood's experience in one of the most beautiful places in the country.
Scroll on to start planning your stay by choosing your ideal accommodations or service needs below. Click through to learn more and book!
What Are Past Guests Saying?
Blog & Resort News
Lodging
at Black River Lodge
Our cozy and unique guest suites at Black River Lodge provide the perfect home base for those looking for a roof over their head. The Lodge is full of nostalgic "up-north" charm, and focuses more on comforts of home versus a standard hotel stay. It's more than just 4 walls and a bed. The lodge features 10 guestrooms, 4 condos, a cocktail bar, general store, event space, cozy lounges, picnic & campfire area, WIFI, and many indoor activities! Dog Friendly, Family Friendly, and Group Friendly. Available for Nightly Stays, Group Retreats, and Weddings.
Camping
at Stargazers UP Campground
Our campground was built in the Summer of 2024 and officially opened in the Spring of 2025. Moving into it's second official year, we've found it to be the perfect destination for a simple, relaxed RV camping experience. Our campground features 25 full hook up sites with water, sewer, and 20/30/50 amp electric connections. Sites are a spacious 40' x 80' and will fit a variety of vehicle sizes. Additional features include a bath house with showers and flush toilets, a fishing/paddling pond, and private trails with access to the Black River. Plus, it is a short walk to the Lodge for even more amenities. Dog friendly!
Vacation Rentals
at The Townhouse Village
or Black River Lodge
Extended stay? The Townhouse Village is a group of four townhouses located in a separate building next to our main lodge. Our Townhouses are completely self-sufficient and fully furnished featuring kitchens, multiple beds, multiple bathrooms, and some have private Laundry. The condos inside Black River Lodge are slightly smaller, but also fully furnished, self-sufficient rentals. They are located in their own corridor inside of the Lodge. They offer kitchens, multiple beds, multiple bathrooms and direct access to all Lodge amenities. Even better, all cleaning fees are INCLUDED in the rate!
Choose Your Ideal Type of Stay
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Golf Simulator
at Black River Lodge
New for the 2025-26 winter season! We're excited to announce the addition of a golf simulator to our list of available indoor activities. The golf simulator is located inside of our lodge and is now accepting reservations for 1 hour, 2 hour, or 4 hour golf sessions. Get in some extra practice on those chilly winter days. Or, bring your friends and make an evening of it with 9 or 18 holes. Click Learn More below for more detailed information.
Cocktail Bar
at Black River Lodge
Our cocktail bar & lounge is located in the lower level of the Lodge and is open to the general public during posted hours. The lounge is a wonderful, cozy place to socialize with other guests, neighbors and locals. Click Learn More below for more detailed information.
Standard hours from December 4-February 28 are:
Thursdays: 4pm - 9pm
Fridays: 4pm-10pm
Saturdays: 4pm-10pm
Sundays: 12pm-7pm
*Special hours may be posted from time to time. Peak season hours will be announced and will resume May - October.
Ice Skating & Pond Hockey
at Stargazers Campground
Our paddling pond, located on the property at our Stargazers Campground, usually transforms into a huge frozen rink from late December to early March. Once safe and properly prepared, we welcome the guests, neighbors, and locals over for an afternoon or evening of skating, or even play an old-fashioned game of pond hockey.
Follow our resort Facebook page for the most up to date information, schedules, and more.
General Store
at Black River Lodge
Our General Store offers apparel, novelties, gifts, snacks and more. The store is also where guests can purchase essentials like toiletries, campfire wood, propane, bagged ice, and more.
The store is open on a limited basis during the winter season.
Regular hours will resume for Peak season, May-October.
Event Planning
at Black River Lodge
We specialize in creating meaningful and intimate events that last for a lifetime of memories. Our property provides a stunning, private Northwoods backdrop for any type of event. Maximum seating for 150 people is available in our event space, however, we find events of 50-100 people to be the most comfortable in our facility. We offer a range of personalized services from general coordination to day of services like bartending to make your event everything you've dreamed of. Our friendly and experienced property hosts, banquet staff, and preferred vendors are committed to ensuring that your event is executed to perfection from start to finish. Click below for more detailed information.
Group Retreats
at North Ironwood Acres
The unique and cozy set up inside our Black River Lodge building provides significant advantage to retreat and group planning. The Lodge is set up more like a large house (with private rooms!). We can comfortably accommodate large group sizes, ranging from around 25-50 people, with additional head count able to utilize space in our campground or Townhouses. We have worked closely with a number of sport teams, recreation groups, schools, family reunions and corporate retreats over the years. Many are loyal annual returns. We also have a solid list of preferred vendors, such as caterers, that we work with to make things like on-site group meals a breeze. Click below for more detailed information.
Or, Learn More About Our Services
Meet The Hosts
Hi! We're Justin & Brittany. We are your hosts. Welcome!
So who are we? Just simple people striving to support our family in this crazy world. We are a family of 4 with the coolest dog (Pippin) and 2 cats (Bagheera "the Lodge Panther" & Buttercup the kitten).
We came to the U.P. in 2014 as a couple of 20-somethings ultimately wanting something different from the everyday 9 to 5 grind. We found the lodge for sale online, made the drive all the way from lower Western Michigan for a showing, and decided... why not?! The Lodge was very unique to us and had incredible potential. We went home with a vision, and had our bags packed in a matter of weeks to head north on a U.P. adventure. (And, an adventure it truly has been!) This place has been our labor of love ever since.
Innkeeping is a lifestyle. For over 10 years, we've immersed ourselves in our community and made it our mission to essentially live like tourists (when we can between hosting, housekeeping, & reno's) so that we can pass along our experiences to our guests. Our area is a recreation hot spot in all seasons and one of the best reasons to visit! So what do we do for fun? Currently, our "tween-age" kids have us deep into Hockey & skiing/snowboarding in the winter, and off-roading or fishing in the summer. Honestly, we dabble in a bit of everything though. From motorized sports to non-motorized sports, we have tons of recommendations and personal experience that you won't get at any ordinary accommodation. We'll send you to only the best places, and if we are ever unsure then we most likely have a community contact who can help. Guests contribute to our knowledge base as well. We enjoy getting to know you and hearing about your daily adventures.
Take a chance, and try something different! We look forward to hosting you soon.
Black River Lodge was a very cozy and pleasant place to stay. The location was fantastic right on the Black River Trail and near waterfalls and lake Superior. They were very accommodating to our needs and our rooms were very spacious and clean. We would stay there again on another trip to the Porcupine Mountain area.
Timothy B. (Google)
Hidden Gem In Ironwood: This is a great lodge that feels more like you’re visiting friends or family in a large spacious home. There is lots of common area so that it would be great for family or friend gatherings. The fall colors were beautiful at the lodge and all up and down Black River Road at the last week of September. Hiking to the various falls and visiting Black River Harbor and little Girls pointe were all fun to do. Highly recommend as a destination lodging place. We wished we had stayed longer and explored the area more.
Karen S. (Trip Advisor)
At the end of February [2024], my wife and I got married at the lodge. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience. We rented out the lodge for 3 days for the event. The event space beautiful and it was convenient to have everything for the wedding all under one roof.From when we initially started planning a year prior until we went home after the wedding, Brittany was absolutely fantastic to work with. She had great suggestions for any services we needed (DJ, photography, catering, etc). When we got there she was on top of everything and did far more to help coordinating than we ever expected. Justin was great and helped with anything we needed as well, even when the request was a little odd.The rooms and accommodations were great and made all our friends and family feel at home. It made the whole thing feel almost like a family reunion. Everyone enjoyed the going out and seeing the local waterfalls as well.I can’t recommend Black River Lodge enough. Whether it’s for a wedding, or just to stay for a few nights.
Robb E. (Google)