Best North Shore adventures along Minnesota's Lake Superior

With crystal clear water and a stunning lakeshore, kayaking along Lake Superior can't be topped.

Top 10 things to do in Lutsen and Tofte, Minn. 

Photos & feature by Lisa Meyers McClintick

Looking for one of Minnesota's most scenic spots and best destinations for adventures? Point the car north and buzz up the North Shore along Lake Superior for a guaranteed great getaway.

Crystal clear waters at Bluefin Bay in Tofte 

One of our favorite places to stay is Lutsen and Tofte, only a few miles apart, but with a wide choice of lodging, plenty of outfitters for biking and paddling, the incredible Sawtooth Mountains, beautiful coves on Lake Superior and fantastic dining.

Here are our top picks for things to do and where to go in Lutsen and Tofte.

1. Get out on the water. Even if you've never gone kayaking or consider yourself so-so with a paddle, you can't pass up this opportunity on calm, serene summer days when Lake Superior's so clear, you can see deep down to volcanic ledges and tumbled-smooth boulders that seem to waver and shift with sunlight and shadows.

Temperance River State Park

Tamper down any niggling fears of capsizing and succumbing to hypothermia. There are plenty of guides to make sure you know what you're doing and have all the support you need. If you stay at Bluefin Bay or Lutsen Resort, complimentary kayaking comes with your lodging. You can also arrange paddling trips through Sawtooth Outfitters, which also does trips to the Temperance River, Palisade Head and sea caves, or Split Rock Lighthouse with a chance to paddle across the Madeira shipwreck.

Temperance River State Park

We did a trip starting at Tofte Bay, admiring rugged cliffs, envying those who own private homes tucked into woods and watching for streams spilling into Superior. Here, along this shore where we’ve vacationed for more than four decades, kayaking gave us a new perspective on a familiar and beloved place and a chance to relax with the tick-tock rhythm of paddling. Dip. Pull. Flip. Dip.

If you have young kids with you or the weather looks breezy, guides can take you inland to warmer, easier lakes.

2. Take a hike. Temperance River State Park offers beautiful trails along the mouth of the river and onto the Lake Superior shore, but don’t miss inland hiking along the river’s series of thundering falls that carved dramatic gorges and sculpted giant potholes. Hike back far enough, and you’ll reach its more placid beginnings and a great spot to hop rock to rock across the water.

Bike along the Gitchi-Gami Trail.

The park also connects to the Superior Hiking Trail, which heads north to Carlton Peak. You can also drive up Carlton Peak Road for a short, steep hike that rewards you with a 1,526-foot elevation view of the Sawtooth Mountains. The state park includes more than 50 campsites. 

3. Bike the trail: Tofte offers two paved sections of the Gitchi-Gami State BikeTrail: A three-mile stretch from Tofte that heads south to Schroeder’s Cross River Falls (gorgeous and easy to admire from the Highway). Another section starts on the northern edge of Tofte and runs for 7.3 miles to Ski Hill Road by Lutsen. 

Lake Superior cobblestones

North Shore lupine

4. Massage your muscles: Waves of Superior Spa provides pampering for stressed or achy muscles with massages, gentle acoustic music, a fireplace in the relaxation lounge and light lunches on a patio facing Lake Superior and adjacent Surfside on Superior townhomes. Regional influences include lake-tumbled rocks for hot-stone massage, spruce- or pine-scented massage oils, a ground wild rice body scrub and a blueberry-soy sugar scrub. Spa guests also can use the resort’s pool and whirlpool for the day. 

Surfside on Superior brings a modern look to the shore.

5. Explore history: Just south of Tofte, Schroeder’s Cross River Heritage Center is based in a beautifully rescued 1929 inn and general store. It blends the work of regional artists with historic displays, including a room that recreates the timber-frame style of architect Edwin Lundie. The center hosts an annual tour of Lundie cabins and distinctive vacation homes, as well.

6. Learn about fishing heritage. You can learn about Tofte's nautical roots and how early Scandinavian settlers made a living fishing Lake Superior and its rivers, and then selling or smoking whitefish, trout and salmon. The North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum includes indoor exhibits along with an interpretive boardwalk following the bay.

Surfside on Superior

7. Wake up to Lake Superior views. The lakeside condos at Bluefin Bay in Tofte make it easy to walk to breakfast or dinner, shop or visit the fishing museum. The resort includes the Bluefin Grille restaurant overlooking Superior, an indoor pool and an outdoor pool with a clear enclosure to protect it from lake winds.

Lutsen hiking on Moose Mountain.

South of Tofte, Surfside on Superior resort offers some of the North Shore’s most luxurious lodging with contemporary townhomes facing the lake. Huge picture windows and lofted master bedrooms make the most of the view, while full kitchens with red birch cabinets make it easy to stay put.

Both resorts are run by Bluefin Bay and include complimentary kayak lessons, the use of bikes and some dog-friendly lodging. 

8. Enjoy North Shore cuisine. Start the day with artisan breads, scones, pastries or granola pancakes at Coho Café. You can sit on the patio on warm days and cool off with creative salads and homemade dressings such as maple Dijon and strawberry rhubarb. Grab smoked fish dip and crackers to go for a lakeside picnic.  Don’t miss their pizzas, which include a Call of the Wild with locally made wild rice sausage.

Lutsen's tram ride is even prettier with fall colors.

9. Ride the Lutsen Mountains gondola. For an eagle-eye view of Lake Superior and surrounding forests, take a ride on the red mountain tram, which picks up visitors near the ski chalet, drifts above the Poplar River and lifts into the Sawtooth Mountains with a final swoop up the rocky ledge of Moose Mountain. Take the loop hike that circles the mountains and threads through shady trees and over craggy rocks. The resort also operates a fun alpine slide during the summer months.


10. Dine in Minnesota's Sawtooth Mountains. If you ride the mountain tram to Summit Chalet, you can grab a meal or just a cold beer (or hot coffee) with one of the best dining views in Minnesota. If you prefer a meal at Papa Charlie’s near the chalet, it hosts live music most weekends. (A bonus for parents: You can find some unique kids' meal items such as potstickers. (1-218-663-7281; www.lutsen.com).

Summit Chalet at Lutsen

Sunburst lichen colors lakeshore rock.

Need more info? Contact the Lutsen-Tofte-Schroeder Visitor Information Center, 1-218-663-7804 or Cook County Visitors Bureau.

Visiting in winter? Check out my feature on skiing, dogsledding and a bucket-list sleigh ride along the North Shore.

St. Cloud-based Lisa Meyers McClintick (lisamcclintick.com) wrote Day Trips from the Twin Cities and has been traveling to the North Shore for four decades. 

Duluth, Minn: Top Things to Do for Holiday Fun

Bentleyville lights up Duluth's Bayfront Park. Photo by Lisa MeClintick

Duluth, Minnesota, with the magical backdrop of Lake Superior, has always been a favorite summer and fall getaway for Twin Cities residents and others across the state.

If you need another enticement to head north, here are the top things to do for the holidays in Duluth. It’s a winning weekend getaway with its own Christmas train, a superb Christmas light show with Bentleyville, excellent shopping and the always scenic allure of Lake Superior. Here's a run-down of Duluth's best holiday events:

1.    Stroll through Bentleyville Tour of Lights.

“Five…four…three…two…ONE!”

With a visual whoosh, Bentleyville Tour of Lights lights up as a waiting crowd cheers. Three million lights in a carnival of colors transform damp foggy December evening at Duluth’s Bayfront Festival Park into a festive wonderland.

Duluth Christmas lights with Up North themes

Volunteers pass out cups of cocoa and cookies, and crowds amble forward through tunnels of lights to gaze at the 12-story tree that looms above Bentleyville. It occasionally flashed in patterns, pulsing to holiday music that ranges from acoustic guitar carols to Jimmy Durante’s “Frosty the Snowman.”

The Bentleyville light displays outgrew founder Nathan Bentley’s Esko home and debuted in Duluth in 2009. It takes more than 900 volunteers almost two months to set up decorations that fill nine semi-trailers.

Displays range from dinosaurs and erupting volcanoes to the Nativity scene and Noah’s Ark. There’s a distinctive Northern flair, as well, with Santa on snowmobile, ore tankers and tall ships, a dogsled team that seems to surge forward, fish and frogs that appear to jump from lakes and a moose and an elf that portage a canoe.

Nice surprise--halfway through Bentleyville you can roast marshmallows while wrapped in the warmth and wood smoke from several bonfires.

Duluth's shipping celebrated at Bentleyville.

Bentleyville opens the week of Thanksgiving and runs nightly through Dec. 26. It takes about 45 minutes to see the displays, but you’ll need at least an hour if you have kids under 10 who want to visit Santa. The first 15,000 kids receive free knit Bentleyville hats. Admission is free (including cookies, cocoa, popcorn and marshmallows), but monetary donations are welcome, as well as food or unwrapped toys. Nearby parking is $5.

2. Ride the holiday train

Duluth's 2012's Polar Express pulled into Fitger's.

A conductor yells “All Aboard!” and kids (sometimes in pajamas) scramble to climb into the illuminated train cars of North Shore Scenic Railroad. The event has been known as the Polar Express in the past few years, but includes a new story as the Christmas City Express in 2013. The journey begins with boarding at the landing below Fitger’s where you can hear Lake Superior’s waves. The train then rumbles to Duluth’s 1892 Depot. Inside the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, a Lionel model train set whirs to action and a full-size steam engine chugs to life, spewing smoke and blowing its whistle as kids gather for an interactive reading of the book, “The Christmas City Express.”

Each child gets to visit with Santa before heading back to cookies and cocoa at Fitger’s ($16/person; 1-800-423-1273; www.northshorescenicrailroad.com).

North Shore Scenic Railroad also runs trains from Fitger’s to Bentleyville several times a night for $6/person.

3. Kick off season with a parade

Duluth’s holiday events kick off with a Christmas City of the North Parade the Friday before Thanksgiving. The illuminated parade with about 70 units begins around 6:20 p.m. and heads up Lake Avenue.

A.G. Thomson House, Duluth.

4. Duluth mansions dress up for the holidays

December may be the best time to admire Duluth’s many mansions, a legacy of boom years when it claimed more millionaires per capita than anyplace in the United States. If you’re traveling without kids, you can stay in one of seven historic homes operating as Duluth's bed and breakfasts.

Each has its own charm and characteristics, but among our favorites are the Firelight Inn for its fireplace and spacious porch; A. G.Thomson House for its overall charm and hospitality and Olcott House for its unique music room. Solglimt offers another spectacular option with modern, artsy décor and fantastic location along the lake just past the Aerial Lift Bridge on Park Point Drive.

Firelight Inn B&B in Duluth.

5. Glensheen holiday tours

Glensheen Historic Estate, Duluth’s most famous mansion, opens for holiday tours through Jan. 5 with volunteers in period costumes and a self-guided tour that recreates a guest’s holiday visit to Glensheen in 1912. There’s a photo area also set up for families who want a memorable portrait and good excuse to wear fancy Christmas dresses.

6. Savor scenic slopes

Overlooking the city and the lake, Spirit Mountain offers 22 downhill ski runs and claims the Midwest’s largest terrain park. The resort also grooms 22 km of Nordic ski trails and tubing runs and operates the Timber Twister alpine coaster and double-seat Timber Flyer zipline year-round. Just be aware of the windchill.

Bentleyville

7. Hit the Edgewater Waterpark

Edgewater Resort and Waterparkprovides free bus shuttles to Bentleyville, and you also can board the Bentleyville train here. All rooms include passes to the tiki-themed activity pool, lazy river and slides, and you can pay extra for lakeside suites with balconies.

 8. Shop at Fitger’s and Canal Park

The easiest place to stay if you’re riding the train is Fitger’s Inn, a converted brewery above the tracks and overlooking the lake. The Fitger’s complex includes a few levels of boutique shopping, including a toy and book store, outdoorsy gear stores and women’s fashions. You’ll find more shops and a handful of impressive galleries at Canal Park, as well.

9. Learn about shipping

Ore tanker, Duluth, MN

If the lake hasn’t iced up—and chances are it won’t by early December—you can watch for iron ore tankers heading east from the Duluth Harbor. Let kids get behind the wheel in a pilothouse and explore the rich legacy of shipping at the free U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Maritime Museum.

10. Check out the new children’s museum

Check out the new location for the Duluth Children’s Museum, which moved from its location at the historic Depot to Clyde Park in 2012. It’s an up-and-coming area of the city with funky converted warehouses and lots of space for colorful, hands-on learning.

For more information and details, check out Visit Duluth.

St. Cloud-based Lisa Meyers McClintick wrote the guidebook “Day Trips from the Twin Cities” and “Minnesota Lake Vacations” mobile travel app.

Follow the dogsleds on Minnesota's North Shore

Mother-daughter mushing

Rita and her Stoney Creek dogsled te

By Lisa Meyers McClintick

For most Minnesota vacationers, dogsledding is one of the most exciting and authentic ways to enjoy the North Shore's winter scenery. If you have dog lovers in the family, even better.

I couldn't wait to take my 6-year-old twin girls on a mother-daughter mush earlier this month. Katie, declared the dogsled outing "the best day of my life!" as she tumbled out of our van and rushed to meet Stony Creek Kennels' sled team.

My friend, Beth, and I and the girls met owner Rita Wehseler about five miles up the Sawbill Trail near Tofte.

Her Alaskan huskies joyfully greeted the girls, jumping up, trying to lick cheeks and wagging tails. As Rita hooked them up to the sled, Grayling, a pretty female, repeatedly jumped straight up and down with excitement--all four feet in the air. It was like Call of the Wild meets Pepe Le Pew.

Rita's Alaskan huskies didn't seem much bigger than our own border collie mix, but 10 of them eagerly pulled all five of us. We were stacked into the sled toboggan style. With a blanket on top, we stayed warm for the 40-minute ride in 5-below-zero temperatures.

Heading into the forest

Like all dogsled teams, each husky has its own personality. Some are focused and natural-born leaders. Others not so much. Rita and her husband, Bill, have more than 40 dogs total. (Can you imagine keeping them all straight?) But it's obvious they are "the kids."

After a brief scolding--especially of a willful dog named French Fry--owner Rita Wehseler proudly yelled, "That's my boys!" and encouraged them onto Superior National Forest trails.

She'd give series of whistles to guide them up hills and around curves through pine glades and over rivers. These are trails few people see other than her and Bill, who grooms them. We did occasionally glide onto snowmobile trails, which were popular on a blue-sky winter day.

Rita helped run a dogsledding business in Alaska before returning to her home state about a decade ago. She was the first woman to finish the 250-mile Can-Am Crown  in Maine and has set speed records in the past few years.

For us, on a recreational ride, there was no effort. We simply leaned back, watched the trees and blue sky spool past while the dogs happily sped ahead.

Duluth's John Beargrease Marathon

John Beargrease Marathon

Dogsledding has historically been one of the easiest ways to navigate rugged, forested landscape along Lake Superior and the Upper Great Lakes. At this weekend's 28th John Beargrease Marathon you'll find international dogsledders who compete in this heritage sport and work to qualify for Alaska's Iditarod.

You can watch the teams at several way stations Sunday and Monday or join in the pre-race  events in Duluth starting this Friday.


More dogsledding opportunities

In addition to Stoney Creek, you can also dogsled with Arleigh Jorgenson, who is based in Grand Marais. He has been a leading musher with more than 30 years of experience. He guided trips for the last 13 years and has a 100-dog kennel that he runs with his son, Odin.

Read more about dogsledding in Minnesota from a previous 10,000 Likes post and see a video from a Brainerd ride at Cragun's Resort.

Take a virtual ride with Stoney Creek

MN Minute: The lull of winter waves on Lake Superior

I shot this morning moment in front of Lutsen Resort on Minnesota's North Shore Jan. 16, 2011.

Minnesota's North Shore: A winter wonderland

Photos by Lisa Meyers McClintick

Lake Superior's daily ice show 

Winter visitors to Minnesota's North Shore come for endless cross-country skiing, the state's most challenging and extensive downhill runs at Lutsen Mountains, snowshoeing at state parks, snowmobiling through Superior National Forest, and the many laid-back evening concerts.

It's all fun and easily fills a long weekend or more. But in my humble opinion, few activities beat seeing what Mother Nature tossed onto shore during the night.

Lake Superior is, after all, the world's largest freshwater lake. It stays open all winter, vast and immense, shimmering in every shade of moody blues. There may be quiet days, but the cold surf   gently laps and lulls you to sleep or angrily splashes against rocks and sculpts new layers of ice.

Cobblestones look encased in glass. Rocky outcrops drip with icicles like stalactites in caves. Snow swirls into intricate drifts.

The best time to troll the shore? Early morning when sunrise gilds the ice and snow and casts a warm yellow glow.


Views from Lutsen Resort's cove

These photos are from just one small stretch of America's North Coast--the one where the Poplar River burbles into Lake Superior by 125-year-old Lutsen Resort, the oldest continuously run resort in Minnesota.

The beauty changes each day--even each hour. Morning mist curls and wafts across the lake like steam in a kettle. Midday blues melt to the horizon, making it difficult to see where the lake ends and the sky begins. On the clearest days, we saw outlines of the Apostle Islands. On some afternoons, clouds gathered thick and steely gray and fat flakes fell in thick winter curtains.

Needless to say, 2011 has delivered a winter wonderland for anyone hearty enough to get out and explore it. It's worth the extra layers. Just have the hot cocoa ready to go.

North Shore slideshow
(Slideshow music excerpt from Rachel Portman's "The Ocean," from the "Cider House Rules" soundtrack.)  

More Great Lakes vacations on 10,000 Likes: Lake Michigan's winter beauty in Door County, Wisconsin.