For Cole and Kari Hraban, the course was set early to pursue a life in the hospitality industry in the Voyageur lakes country. Cole’s great grandparents owned Meadowood Resort on the Ash River Trail prior to the National Park Service taking it over. His parents owned Sunset Resort when he was an infant through his teenage years, before buying Ash Ka Nam Resort as he grew up and began his own family. Being part of a resort family, meant he had to learn and play several different roles – from dock boy, to cabin cleaner, plumber, landscaper, cook, and bartender. Kari grew up in Kabetogama which meant that she, too, would be immersed in the resort world as a babysitter when she was younger and then waitressing and bartending when she was old enough. She was drawn to meeting the customers and the families, and that shaped her passion for customer service.
Cole’s dream was to someday own a resort and follow in the families’ footsteps, and the opportunity came when his parents looked at putting Ash Ka Nam Resort up for sale. It seemed a bit of fate, but with starting a young family, they ultimately decided that family and children came first, and the time commitment wouldn’t be fair to them, so they declined. But the dream died hard and allowing some time to pass, they looked at the growing trend of RV Parks and the fact that Rainy Lake did not have a proper RV campground. Cole found a 32-acre piece of land on Rainy Lake for sale that was highway accessible and seemed perfect for a campground. It still took some convincing for Kari to even visit the property and she remained skeptical. They discovered, however, that the property already had a conditional use permit for an RV campground. While that cleared one major hurdle, she still wasn’t convinced until she spent some time on the property and watched her young children play on the natural beach as the sun set. She could see raising their children there and they decided to move forward with the purchase, that was finalized in 2017.
As a young start-up, they encountered many challenges to get the site ready for a variety of types of RV’s and the restrictions involved with developing on a shoreline. There were many headaches dealing with contractors, bad soils, and all the details that go into making a dream come true. There were days when Cole felt like he wanted to give up and walk away. But they persevered and after many setbacks, opened the first RV campsite on Rainy Lake – aptly named Rainy Lake RV – in June of 2019 with 32 RV sites and boat slips available.
They quickly filled up by the 4th of July of that year, and while they were still learning and adapting, they were extremely proud of how the project turned out. The response from users was positive and worth the trials and tribulations. But, as with so many small business start-ups, more challenges followed including the COVID epidemic in 2020 which resulted in a shut-down of the campground through mid-July. Two years later, historic flooding on Rainy Lake forced the campground to close for most of the summer and then a costly replacement of damaged infrastructure tested their resolve.
But they overcame those setbacks, and because of positive feedback and the fact that they had sewer available on their adjoining land, they began planning for an expansion. This, too, involved many challenges, and after multiple zoning meetings and county board meetings, they were granted a conditional use permit to allow for their expansion of 13 additional spots, with the hope to have the project completed by the 2026 season.
Reflecting back to where they started and where they are now, they are overwhelmed by the response from customers. One of their favorite parts of owning their own campground, is the small community they created, resulting in occasional potlucks and great friendships – especially for their children who have made friends and seasonal playmates. And they enjoy meeting the people that have come from virtually every continent to experience Rainy Lake.
