Danish Windmill — Local services in Elk Horn

My husband and I stopped here on our way back home from a weekend camping trip. We had low expectations, but really enjoyed it! It's only about a 15 minute drive from the main road, and easy to find.

Tours are $5/person and take less than 30 minutes. It starts with a brief, informative video about the history of the windmill and a bit about how it works. Then you are free to climb the 4 levels in the little windmill tower (ladder style steps for the top 3 - not ideal for anyone unsteady on their feet) and walk around the catwalk outside. It's a small windmill, but the construction is impressive!

The gift shop is awesome. Incredible product variety with a wide range of price points - everything from 10¢ stickers to $300 handmade shoes. We saw felted flowers and animals, acrylic ornaments, wooden swords, holiday decor, cider, Aebleskiver pans, candy, delftware, kitchen tools, games... just to name a few! Most of the products were things we had not seen for sale elsewhere, and prices seemed fair (the few things I had seen available online were actually cheaper in this shop). We were pleased to come home with far more souvenirs than we planned!

The older woman working on site seemed genuinely sweet and helpful. She was the only one working, and she apologized a few times for going back and forth between tours and the shop checkout, but we weren't inconvenienced at all. She seemed to have no trouble keeping up, and is clearly knowledgeable and passionate about the mill.

As for why we felt it was four stars instead of five... the windmill only operates on special occasions, so we didn't get to see it in action. Totally understandable (they give reasons for it during the tour) but still a little disappointing. Next to the mill there's also a Viking Hjem, and a little garden area with a tiny chapel. The Viking Hjem and chapel were locked and have no windows to look in, which was also a bummer.

It turns out the secret is to visit during one of their festivals or event weekends, when most things in Elk Horn are open to the public for demonstrations. Now we know for next time - we're already planning to seek out an Aebleskiver festival for a...

The lady at the store is a bit of a racist. There were 3 in our tour . 2 white people and me and she wouldn't even look at me while giving the tour. She had a smug attitude through out the entire tour and very dismissive of my genuine questions about the windmill.

At the end I paid for the tour and said " I don't want to indulge you" with the way you treated me any more and that I wish I never come back here again.

I would say , stay away if you are a minority. The old lady is racist and looks down on people who are not "European". If you are black or brown, keep driving. Plus it's actually about 7-8 miles off the highway and it feels like a loong drive once you take the exit. Not recommended mainly for the ...

Cute place to visit. Some nice things in the gift shop. Was a little disappointed after walking around the gift shop for 10 min and not 1 person around. Windmill wasn't working, wanted to ask why. Was about to walk out and leave a 5 dollar bill at the register for a sticker I wanted and that was when someone came out. Not mean, but not friendly either. I would have walked around outside but there was someone cutting the grass and blowing all kinds of dust and dirt around, had no intention of breathing all that in.

Maybe it was just wrong time, wrong day to visit. They really should put some bells or something on the door so they know someone was walking around. A dishonest person could have walked out...