The sauna at Little Sand Lodge is finished and ready for guests!

We started this build in the summer and aimed to have it done by the first week of October. It’s in. Cedar walls and benches, a wood fire, and the same simple idea as the sauna we’ve had at Cattail Chalet: heat it up, sit for a bit, step outside into the cool air, and decide if you want to go back in.

That gives us two wood-fired saunas near Hayward now — one on Lower Holly Lake at Cattail Chalet, and one on Little Sand Lake at Little Sand Lodge. Same kind of evening. Two different lakes.

What the Little Sand Lodge Sauna Is

This was a long process but I guess good things come for those who wait.  We built it piece by piece from reclaimed lumber and salvaged materials.  Check out the doors in the photos below.  They were salvaged from an old farmhouse in Detroit Lakes MN, built in 1911, so they’re over 115 years old.  This sauna is complete with a large window looking straight out to Little Sand Lake, and the IKI wood stove, which is the centerpiece we were most excited about.  The feel is close to Cattail Chalet: rustic, cedar inside, meant to be used after a day on the water or the trails, not as a spa appointment.  It’s also private to Little Sand Lodge. Guests staying there use it. Guests at Cattail Chalet still have theirs. We didn’t turn this into a shared amenity between cabins.

### Two Saunas, Two Lakes

If you’ve been looking for a cabin with a sauna near Hayward or Stone Lake, you now have two options with us:

• Cattail Chalet on Lower Holly Lake — the original wood-burning sauna, built from reclaimed lumber, seats four, with a lake-view window. Gas fireplace on the main floor. Sleeps 10.
• Little Sand Lodge on Little Sand Lake — the new wood-fired sauna with the IKI Mini stove and cedar interior. Gas fireplaces on the main floor and lower level. Fishing boat with a trolling motor. Sleeps 10.

Both are pet-friendly (up to two dogs, $150 fee), both have private docks, kayaks, fire pits with free firewood, and both sit about 20 minutes south of Hayward.

Cattail Cabin and Cattail Cottage do not have saunas (yet). If a sauna is the reason you’re booking, look at the Chalet or the Lodge.

### A Good Time to Use It

October is when this kind of sauna earns its keep. The days are cool enough that a hot room feels right, the bugs are mostly gone, and the color around both lakes is usually at its best in the first two weeks of the month — with the second week as the bullseye.

A simple evening looks like this: back from a hike or a quiet boat ride, fire up the sauna, step outside when you need to cool off, then sit by the fire pit. No schedule. Just part of the cabin.

### If You’re Booking Now

Little Sand Lodge stays from here forward include the new sauna. If you booked earlier in the fall and you’re arriving after today, it’s ready for you too.

Cattail Chalet’s sauna is unchanged. That one stays exactly what guests have been using — the reclaimed-lumber room with the window on Lower Holly Lake.

Both cabins still have dates worth looking at through the rest of October, especially mid-week. Check what’s open at oconnellcabinco.com.

We’re glad this one is done. Little Sand Lodge felt like it was missing the evening ritual the Chalet already had. Now it has it.

Pro Tip: If you want a sauna and peak color in the same stay, look at Little Sand Lodge or Cattail Chalet through the second week of October. Mid-week dates are usually quieter on the lake, and you’ll have the sauna to yourself either way.