Tofte Airport

The airport was rendered obsolete and closed following the construction and opening of the nearby Temperance River Airport (now known as Sawtooth Mountain Airport, ICAO: KCKC) in July 1968. The original Tofte Airport had a short, 2,200-foot unpaved turf runway which limited the size of aircraft that could use it and made operations difficult in poor weather. The new airport offered a longer, paved runway and better facilities, making the original Tofte field redundant.

The former airport site has been completely redeveloped and is unrecognizable as an airfield. The land is now occupied by the 'Surfside on Lake Superior' and 'Bluefin Bay on Lake Superior' resort complexes. The area where the runway and airport facilities once stood now contains luxury townhomes, resort buildings, swimming pools, roads (like Surfside Drive), and parking lots. There are no visible remnants of the airport.

Established sometime between 1945 and 1953, Tofte Airport was a small but vital general aviation airfield for the remote community of Tofte on Minnesota's North Shore. Its primary role was to support the region's growing tourism industry, providing critical air access for visitors heading to local resorts and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). It handled small private aircraft and likely served as a base for local bush pilots, functioning as an important transportation link for a community with limited road access at the time. Its operation marked an era of early air-supported tourism in the region before it was replaced by a more modern facility.

There are zero plans or prospects for reopening the airport. The land has been fully and permanently redeveloped for high-value commercial and residential use. Furthermore, the aviation needs of the Tofte area are well-served by its replacement, the Sawtooth Mountain Airport (KCKC), located just a few miles to the northeast.