Duluth Minnesota

[iowahiker]

We started our 66 day fall trip to Northern California and Southern Oregon by first visiting our son in Duluth, Minnesota. Several fall trip reports will follow this one because we visited so many places in a single trip and the limitations of the Forum format.

Duluth is one of the most scenic cities in the mid west since it is perched on a low mountainside overlooking Lake Superior and the Duluth Harbor. Traveling Northeast from Duluth on state highway 61 along Lake Superior is also one of the most scenic trips in the mid west. We drove along the Skyline Parkway going into the city with many scenic pullouts along the way and later walked along the harbor.

Our visit started with camping two nights at nearby Jay Cooke SP without a reservation mid-week without difficulty. Jay Cooke SP has a large flat shaded campground with both reservable and non-reservable sites, showers, and routinely fills on weekends. Jay Cooke SP has an extensive dayhiking trail network and the trails along the St Louis River are the most popular with the "swinging bridge" as the highlight.

Looking down the St Louis River from the "swinging bridge":

Looking up the St Louis River from the "swinging bridge":

From Skyline Parkway views, looking northeast at the city of Duluth:

Looking southwest at the city of Duluth, the harbor, and St Louis Bay:

Looking south at the outer harbor from Skyline Parkway:

This zoom view shows a lake iron ore carrier being loaded in the harbor. A iron ore train is arriving to unload directly into the ore carrier. Iron ore is stored in piles on the ground during the winter when ice blocks navigation and then supplements ore trains to load lake ore carriers during the shipping season. The Iron Range is about 50 miles north of Duluth and sends ore to several Lake Superior harbors.

Here is a harbor view of several iron ore wharves:

My winter past time is sorting pictures and trip reports...

 

[longhorn1]

Great photos. We will have to make that trip over the next couple of years. Have you considered starting a blog? There are a number of Wandering the West contributors like myself that have blogs. You can load many photos and have a nice place for trip reports. Check mine out. Ski will break a trip down into 3-4 segments. Bill Harr and Frank also have great blogs. Looking forward to the rest of your trip. JD

 

[wi_hawk]

Such a beautiful place. Beyond the horizons there are so many National Forests. One bit of information; there are more water falls in the UP of Michigan alone than in any other state. Plan on doing a trip around Lake Superior someday. Keep the pictures coming.

 

[iowahiker]

I have considered a blog but prefer the pictures and reports on WTW because the search capacity allows folks to find information (pictures, reports) easier.

We have done the tour of the Michigan UP twice: Soo Locks (actually saw one of the largest ore carriers go through), Tahouamenon Falls (and other falls), Two Hearted River (Hemingway), Pictured Rocks NLS, Fayette SHP , Mackinac Island, and Porcupine Mtns SP (our pick for most scenic spot in the Mid West). Combining the Michigan UP with the Minnesota Lake Superior shore is one of the grand tours of America.

Thank you.

 

[takesiteasy]

...Combining the Michigan UP with the Minnesota Lake Superior shore is one of the grand tours of America. ...

This is true. We had planned the grand Lake Superior circumnavigation for last fall but life got in the way. We will do it next year for sure. Plan to take lots of time doing it. Fun to see pictures of my backyard on here. Thanks for the report.

 

[LuckyDan]

Didn't recognize the place without snow on top of it . Nice report and even better photos.