It’s been a particularly cruel winter on the North Shore. (Duluth, for instance, hit a new record for snowfall.) Vacation season can’t come soon enough. In fact, many people aren’t waiting.

Case in point: Last weekend, up near Beaver Bay on Lake Superior, North Shore Camping Co. made its debut, filling its 10 glamping campsites.

“Glamping”? The term combines the words “glamorous” and “camping,” and it’s “pretty big in the East and the West,” says Jamie Tatge, president of Baxter-based hospitality management company Leisure Hotels and Resorts and a North Shore Camping partner. Despite Minnesota’s outdoorsy rep, it’s relatively late to the trend, “so we saw a huge opportunity two years ago,” Tatge adds.

Though glamping locations vary in their amenities, they’re generally considered a higher-end form of roughing it. Tatge believes that “’glamorous’ is a strong word” to describe the experience, at least as it’s offered at North Shore Camping.

“The idea is more of a curated camping experience,” he says. “We’re going after those folks who’d love to stay out in the woods in canvas tents but don’t want to sleep on the ground.” North Shore Camping’s glamping tents—it uses the Swedish word tält to describe its spacious canvas lodges—include beds and furniture.

“You don’t have to bring your own gear,” Tatge says. “You show up at our door, we pack you in and pack you out. We supply all the kitchen utensils, camping equipment, firepit utensils—everything you’d need.” The glamping gear includes a propane-powered potbelly stove, French press coffee maker, and steak knives. Oh, and there’s also cocktail hour every evening at 6 p.m.

A one-night stay in a two-person Kung tält goes for $189, according to the company’s reservations page.

Located across Highway 61 from the Cove Point Lodge—a Leisure Hotels and Resorts property a few miles north of the Split Rock lighthouse—North Shore Camping isn’t the first place offering glamping near Superior’s shores. Wildhaven near Two Harbors and the Hungry Hippie Hostel north of Grand Marais, for instance, provide glampground options.

Tatge says that several things make North Shore Camping distinctive. For one thing, it’s close to the Big Lake. Another: “The distance between the sites,” Tatge says. “Many of these locations, they put 40 sites on 10 acres of land. They’re kind of stacked right on top of each other.” The North Shore Camping sites aren’t exactly isolated, but “we wanted to give people the feeling of being out in the wilderness.” Glampers have their own space to explore along with a feeling of privacy. They’re also given access to Cove Point Lodge amenities including the pool and the hot tubs, as well as access to the lakeshore.

Tatge says that North Shore Camping’s glampsites are almost fully booked every weekend through October, though the sites also are available during the week. (Winter glamping also will be offered.) The management company is planning to build a few more sites on the 180 acres of land it has set aside for North Shore Camping—it has the permits to go up to 49.

“We don’t go in there blowing in roads and curbs,” Tatge says. “We build deck platforms with tents.” Still, “that requires appropriate footwear: this isn’t taking the elevator to the seventh-floor type of experience. You are outside.” About time, too.