North minnesota
PADDLEBOARD
Sara Spevacek of Adventure is Barking and her dog paddleboarding on one of Minnesota ’ s many beautiful lakes .
Enjoy Up North with Your Best Friend
Places in the Brainerd Lakes Area to Go Paddleboarding with Your Dog
BY RACHEL M . ANDERSON • EDITOR & CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Nestled in the center of Minnesota , the Brainerd Lakes area is one of the most popular places in the state for eco-tourism . There are zip line tours at Mount Ski Gull , miles of hiking and biking trails , plenty of city parks with wonderful natural features , and dozens of lakes , ponds and streams to explore .
While canoeing , kayaking and fishing are the most popular things to do on the water , there is another activity whose origins can be traced back about 3,000 years to Peru that is gaining in popularity in the Brainerd Lakes area . Paddleboarding first took off in the United States about 20 years ago when Vietnam Veteran Rick Thomas brought the sport from Hawaii , where it had been popular for years , to the mainland .
Today , people are doing it in all 50 states , including Minnesota . Sara Spevacek of Mound first took up paddleboarding about eight years ago when she was living along the East Coast , and working as a dog trainer . When she returned home to the Twin Cities in 2018 , she began teaching people in her home state how to enjoy the sport with their dogs through her company , Adventure is Barking .
22 destinationupnorth . com