Hiking the North Shore: 50 fabulous day hikes in Minnesota's spectacular Lake Superior region

by Andrew Slade

Overview

Get into Minnesota’s most rugged and scenic wild places.

From Duluth to Grand Portage, discover magnificent trails that wind through eight state parks, the Superior National Forest, the Superior Hiking Trail, and even into the BWCAW! Naturalist and North Shore expert Andrew Slade has scouted out over 300 miles of trails along inland ridges and Lake Superior shoreline for this indispensable guide. Grab your boots and go!

Those new to Minnesota’s North Shore, as well as experienced hikers in Lake Superior country, will find Hiking the North Shore the most comprehensive resource around. The featured day hikes range from 2 miles to 12 miles, including trails perfect for families with young kids, challenges for hard-core adventure seekers, and moderate hikes for everyone in between. Each spotlighted trail includes driving directions, maps, mileage points, landmarks, and time estimates. Andrew also provides expert suggestions for planning your hikes for spring wildflowers, summer berries, or fall colors; recommendations for nearby restaurants, lodgings, campsites, and museums; and more! He has hiked every trail, checked out every overlook, and visited every waterfall, so you can plan a perfect day’s hike.

Find recommendations for short and easy hikes that will quickly plunge you into a true North Shore experience, as well as longer, more challenging hikes that will take you to the highest points in Minnesota, unusual geological formations, and old-growth forests. Hiking the North Shore encourages and inspires hikers of all skill levels to get out and explore these beautiful routes. What are you waiting for?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780979467530
Publisher:	Adventure Publications, Incorporated
Publication date:	03/14/2017
Series:	There & Back Guides
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	1,084,044
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Andrew Slade’s parents first set eyes on each other on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior, and Andrew’s life has centered there since birth—despite growing up in the Twin Cities. As a kid, he caught nets full of smelt at the Cross River, jumped cliffs into the deep pools of an unnamed North Shore river, helped to band woodcock in the open fields of North Shore homesteads, and shut his eyes tight each time the family wagon drove around Silver Cliff (today there’s a tunnel through the cliff and his eyes stay wide open). With his intrepid father, he had to abandon a mid-1970s assault on Carlton Peak due to a lack of recognizable trails.

As a canoe guide and outdoor educator in Ely, he learned that “sauna” is a three-syllable word (sow-ooh-nah). In his twenties, he bushwhacked by snowshoe much of what is now the Manitou-Caribou section of the Superior Hiking Trail. At age 28, in his “before kids” era, he was the editor and lead author of the first Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail.

Slade graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BA in environmental education and from the University of Montana with a MS in environmental studies. His favorite wildflower is Mertensia paniculata, the native North Shore bluebell.

Andrew has worked for environmental education and preservation organizations on the North Shore since 1992. You can reach him at [e-mail] and read his North Shore blog at bestnorthshore.com.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Preface xi

The best hiking in Minnesota 1

Andrew's picks 7

Hiking the North Shore: 50 fabulous day hikes

1 Silver Creek Trail 9

2 St. Louis River Loop 13

3 Elys Peak 16

4 Western Waterfront Trail 20

5 Brewer Park Loop 23

6 Enger Tower 26

7 Duluth Beach Walk 29

8 Minnesota Point 32

9 Downtown Lakewalk 35

10 Hartley Nature Center 38

11 Knife River 41

12 McCarthy Creek 44

13 Lighthouse Point 47

14 Encampment River 50

15 Crow Creek Valley 54

16 Five Falls Loop 57

17 Gitchi GummiTrail 60

18 Split Rock River Loop 63

19 Corundum Point Trail 66

20 Beaver Bay to Split Rock 70

21 Twin Lakes Trail 74

22 Shovel Point 77

23 Tettegouche Lakes Loop 80

24 Wolf Ridge Fantasia 84

25 Section 13 87

26 Eighteen Lake 90

27 Divide Lake 93

28 Hogback Lake 95

29 Humpback Trail 98

30 Caribou Falls 101

31 Temperance River 104

32 Carlton Peak 107

33 Leveaux Mountain 110

34 Oberg Mountain 113

35 Lutsen Gondola Hike 116

36 Caribou Trail to Lutsen 119

37 Caribou Trail to Cascade 122

38 Lookout Mountain 126

39 Cascade River Loop 130

40 Devil Track River 133

41 Eagle Mountain 137

42 Caribou Rock Trail 141

43 Bryce-Breon Trail 144

44 Magnetic Rock Trail 147

45 Centennial Trail 150

46 Devil's Kettle 154

47 Border Route Trail Sampler 157

48 Mount Josephine 160

49 Historic Grand Portage 163

50 Middle Falls Trail 167

Resources and contacts for hikers 170

Index 173

About the author 178