The owners of the Bear Tracks Inn & Restaurant are now accepting reservations for motel stays, as a rebuild is almost complete following a fire last summer.
The motel in Ferndale had burned down in late July 2025.
“We are getting very close to accepting customers again,” said Jeff Mielhausen, who owns the Bear Tracks Inn with his wife Roberta. “We’re hanging TVs, and curtain rods, and curtains, and doing all the finishing touches.”
According to Northern Bruce Peninsula Fire Chief Jack Burt following the incident, the blaze started after a bathroom exhaust fan failed, and then caught fire.
The fire then spread through the attic space and into the attached rooms.
“We’ve had a great crew of people,” said Mielhausen. “Everybody from the night the fire happened on July 30th, from the fire department to everybody that’s helped out and the rebuild. We’ve had a great bunch of contractors helping us.”
He added that over the past 10 months, it’s been difficult for the staff at the Bear Tracks Inn, because of the loss of business.
“The motel [is] a pretty significant part of our business, especially through the wintertime,” he said thoughtfully. “Because if you don’t have motel guests, you don’t have those same people eating in your restaurant, so we’ve missed out on a fair bit of business.”
The five residential units were evacuated during last summer’s fire, and no injuries were reported.
Mielhausen said to Bayshore News that they did have some issues with getting work completed over the winter – highway closures due to weather led to a few delays, but eventually they were able to get the work completed.
The first guests to the newly rebuilt rooms will be checking in for June 15th.
The newly-rebuilt accommodations at the Bear Tracks Inn following a fire in 2025 (Photo credit: Roberta and Jeff Mielhausen)