Clay County Museum

A small museum, definitely worth an hour of your time. To see the church you will need to join the tour at the top of the hour. It’s a quick overview and then you have time to take photos and ask questions. The Viking ship and its story are pretty incredible. The local history exhibit downstairs is worth checking out too. A very cool little spot.

Interesting exhibits. The ship is cool, but my favorite exhibit is the Native American and Settler history exhibit downstairs. There is also the Stave church out back and a history of Ralph's bar which was not too Interesting unless you're a local or have been there. Nice trails along the river!

My husband and I visited the Hjemkomst Center in August, and had an amazing time. Being from the Southwest, we weren’t very familiar with the history or heritage of the northern Midwest, much less the greater heritage of Viking and Norse history. The highlight for us was the church tour with Kevin. He was very knowledgeable and provided a lot of insight into the history and context of the church and time period it is from. We were lucky enough to be the only two on the tour, so we were able to ask a lot of questions and have really good conversation about history in general. We highly, highly, highly recommend a visit here!

Very interesting place the ship is cool. The stave church is definitely worth seeing. There is a lot of information on settler and natives of the area. Also local history of a bar named Ralphs.

We loved visiting the Hjemkomst Center! Tuesday nights in the spring are free after 5:00pm, so we decided to go check the Viking Ship and Stave while in town. It's so absolutely worth it! The ship is massive and the history and displays are so interesting. We also did the tour that meets every hour in the hour to go inside the Stave. It was so amazingly intricate - completely breathtaking to think of it being handcarved! Totally worth the visit and the gift shop has a nice variety of wares and souvenirs.

Tuesday the museum the open until 8p and the admission was free. It's a Blue Star museum during the summer months. Otherwise, it's $10 per adult. The guided tour for the Stave Church didn't offer any more information than what was offered in the interpretive panels, but I don't think you can go inside without a guide.Visited onWeekdayWait timeNo waitReservation recommendedNoPrice for adult entry$6–10

Highly recommend stopping here for a quiet little look around. It's neat to read about the story behind the Hjemkomst and take in the massive scale of it stand beside the oar and you'll know what I mean. There's a nice mix of video, visual, and textural components in this exhibit. You can feel some of the items that were used in the ships creation. There are stairs you can go up to get an aerial view of the ship's deck, but unfortunately no wheelchair access to that portion of it that I could see. The stave church tour was fairly detailed as well and it was neat to check out the inside of it. There's soooo much detail in the carvings and even in the shingles which took four cuts a piece! There were also two other exhibits downstairs that were included with admission. All in all a decent place to spend an hour or two.

Enjoyed reading and seeing all that is in the museum. The gentleman that told the small group about the church was very enjoyable and answered all the questions we asked. Thank you for the great informative time. We went after 5:00 pm, when entrance was free. But if going double check to make sure the free admission and if they still have since we went on July 4th.

excellent display, great story of making a dream come true. Also a great display of regional Native peoples.Visited onWeekdayWait timeNo waitReservation recommendedNoPrice for adult entry$11–15

I love this place. Very quick tour but there's so much material available for you to learn beforehand. Amazing photo opportunities. I am fascinated by the mindset with the Viking era converting to Christianity. There is an archway before you enter the stave that cleanses you before you can approach. The outside door entrance is the only way in and, depending on your height, pretty much forces you to bow on the way in. There's a small window for those suffering of leprecy to hear the sermons. The smell inside is just amazing. The wood was sourced from somewhere in Minnesota, I forget. Spend the $10 and go. It's really worth your time.