Short Hike to the Falls, Cascade River State Park
The waterfall of the Cascade River State Park is a short hike from the North Shore’s Highway 61. A beautiful contrast to the black basalt stone of the gorge.
Things To Do
Walking the Carleton College Arboretum
The Carleton College Arboretum provides miles of great hiking, as well as a chance to explore typical Minnesota woods and prairie ecosystems.
The Oberg Mountain Trail: Fall Colors on the North Shore
A walk around the Oberg Mountain Trail near Tofte will give you great views of the North Shore fall colors below.
The Grand Portage National Monument
The Grand Portage National Monument is an entertaining and informative journey back into the history of the earliest trading economy of Minnesota. Costume clad docents will lead your through the reconstructed trading outpost and enlighten you on the earliest encounters between the Ojibwe, the French Canadian Voyageurs, and the English North West Trading Company.
The High Falls at Grand Portage State Park
A short walk gets you to the High Falls on the Pigeon River, at the U.S.-Canada border. It’s the highest waterfall in Minnesota.
Temperance River State Park
The deep gorge of the Temperance River, carved over millennia in the hard basalt, is a dramatic backdrop for several waterfalls, and a great hike.
Gooseberry Falls State Park
One of the most popular stopping spots as you make your way up the North Shore of Lake Superior, Gooseberry Falls makes for an easy walk and a rewarding view.
The Devil’s Kettle, Judge C.R. Magney State Park
It’s a bit of a hike, and a lot of steps, to see one of the real geological oddities of Minnesota, the Devil’s Kettle at Magney State Park.
The Waterfalls at Tettegouche State Park
If you want a view of the highest waterfall in Minnesota at Tettegouche State Park, be prepared for an uphill hike of 1.5 miles, one way. If you want to see the park’s other falls, the hike follows about five miles of trails.
The Historic Split Rock Lighthouse
The historic Split Rock Lighthouse was built in response to the disastrous shipwrecks of 1905. It served its purpose until 1969 until modern marine navigational technology made lighthouses obsolete.