Getting to Deer Lake Farmstead from the Twin Cities: Easiest Routes and Time-Saving Tips

One of the big perks of Deer Lake Farmstead is how easy it is to get here from the Twin Cities. You’re heading to quiet, non-motorized Deer Lake and a small seasonal RV park near Mille Lacs—but you’re not driving all day to do it. In normal conditions, the trip from Minneapolis–St. Paul is typically under two hours, and once you clear the metro, the drive starts to feel like vacation pretty fast.

Deer Lake Farmstead sits near Malmo, Minnesota, on the northeast side of Mille Lacs Lake, just off Minnesota State Highway 47, which runs all the way from Minneapolis up through Malmo as part of the Lake Mille Lacs Scenic Byway. That means your “how do we get there?” question really comes down to which route into 47 fits you best.

How Far Is Deer Lake Farmstead from the Twin Cities?

From most parts of the metro, you’re looking at roughly 105 miles to Deer Lake Farmstead—close enough for regular weekend trips, but far enough that it feels like a real change of scenery. Our location near Malmo puts you in classic lake country: farm fields, pine stands, and glimpses of Mille Lacs as you loop around the east side of the lake.

For guests who work in the Cities, that distance is a big reason seasonal RV living here works so well. You can wrap up a Friday workday, hit the road, and be parked at your site, drink in hand, before the sun sets on Deer Lake.

The Simple Route: Highway 47 From Minneapolis

If you like a straightforward, no-fuss drive, Highway 47 is your friend.

From northeast Minneapolis, MN 47 starts as University Avenue NE and heads north through communities like Columbia Heights, Fridley, Coon Rapids, and Anoka before continuing through smaller towns on its way to Isle and Malmo. As you get farther from the metro, the road settles into a classic two-lane Minnesota highway: trees, fields, small-town main streets, and gradually fewer stoplights.

It’s a good option if you:

• Live in Minneapolis or the northern suburbs
• Prefer a mostly one-highway route
• Don’t mind a few small-town slow-downs in exchange for less freeway stress

As you curve around the east side of Mille Lacs, you’re actually on a portion of the Lake Mille Lacs Scenic Byway, a 68-mile loop that circles the lake with plenty of water views and access to small towns like Isle, Wahkon, and Malmo. It’s a pretty way to end the drive, especially when the lake is showing off in early summer or fall.

Alternate Routes from Different Parts of the Metro

Depending on where you live and how you like to drive, you might prefer one of these alternate ways into the Deer Lake / Malmo area:

• From the western or northwestern suburbs:
  Many folks hop on US-169 north toward Milaca, then cut east on MN-23 to Ogilvie, and finish north on MN-47 into the Mille Lacs area. This keeps you on larger roads for more of the drive before you settle into two-lane highway near the lake.
  
• From the eastern suburbs or St. Paul:
  A popular choice is to head north on MN-65, then angle over toward Mille Lacs using MN-27 and finally connect with MN-47 as you approach the lake. This can be a bit more direct if you’re starting from the east side of the metro and prefer to avoid crossing the entire Twin Cities to catch 169 or 47 in town.

All of these options feed you into Highway 47 near Mille Lacs, which then carries you up toward Malmo and the Deer Lake area. From there, it’s just a short jog off the main road to reach the south shore of Deer Lake and your seasonal RV site.

Time-Saving Tips for the Drive

A few small tweaks can make the trip feel smoother—and sometimes a bit faster:

• Time your departure around rush hour.
  Leaving Friday at 4:15 p.m. and leaving at 6:15 p.m. can feel like two totally different drives. If you can, shift your departure slightly earlier or later to avoid the heaviest metro traffic.
• Pick your “big stop” town.
  If you need fuel, groceries, or a quick meal, it’s often easiest to pick one designated stop—say, Cambridge, Milaca, or Isle—rather than a bunch of smaller pauses along the way. That keeps you from adding 15–20 minutes here and there without realizing it.
• Load directions before you lose strong signal.
  Service is generally good on the main highways, but it never hurts to pull up your map app while you’re still solidly in the metro and save the route. Once you’ve done the drive once or twice, you’ll hardly need it.
• Think “setup ready” before you leave.
  If you’re coming straight from work, pack the truck with evening essentials—food for the first night, a change of clothes, and anything you like around the fire—so that when you pull into Deer Lake, you’re focused on unwinding, not running back to town.

The goal is to make the drive feel like an easy habit, not a heavy lift. That’s when seasonal RV living near Mille Lacs really shines.

Making the Route Part of the Fun

Once you’re comfortable with the basic route, you can start to treat the drive itself as part of your lake-country routine, especially as you approach Mille Lacs.

A detour into Isle or Wahkon might become your traditional stop for a bite or a beverage. If you have time on a fall weekend, you could loop part of the Lake Mille Lacs Scenic Byway and take in a few overlooks, small-town shops, or a state park trail before settling in at Deer Lake for the night.

Over time, the route from home to the farmstead starts to feel familiar and comforting—landmarks you recognize, stretches of highway where you always roll the windows down, and that moment when you first glimpse Mille Lacs and know Deer Lake isn’t far behind.

Ready to Make Deer Lake Your Easy Weekend Drive?

If the idea of a sub-two-hour drive from the Twin Cities to your own quiet spot on Deer Lake sounds appealing, Deer Lake Farmstead might be exactly the kind of seasonal RV park you’ve been looking for.

Take a look at our Seasonal RV Sites page to see how our sites are laid out, what’s included, and how our farm-and-lake setting near Malmo and Mille Lacs compares to larger resorts. When you’re ready to talk through routes, timing, or availability, we’re happy to chat.

You can contact Deer Lake Farmstead at 218-232-3060 or [email protected] to explore whether our seasonal RV park near Mille Lacs feels like the right home base for your time in lake country.