Duluth to Two Harbors
Written by Mike Link
From the Lake Superior Center’s view on the St Louis River harbor through the lift bridge past canal park, Minnesota greets Lake Superior. From the curve of the Duluth lakewalk past Lief Erickson Park, the rose gardens, and finally Lester River and the Seven Bridges road that crisscrosses the falls and canyons of the lakes first north shore river, we find the beginnings of Minnesota’s famous North Shore.
While this is technically the northwest shore of the big lake, every Minnesotan and most travelers and explorers consider this “The North Shore”. In a state off 15,000 lakes, this is “The Lake”, a 31,700 square mile body of water that contains 10% of the surface fresh water of the planet. Traveling along the shore is a constant internal conflict between watching the rivers, cliffs, forests, and landscape of the Lake Superior highlands or the brooding waters, rocky coastline, cobblestone beaches, and wave swept headlands of Chi Gumig (Ojibway for Sweet Water Sea) or Kitchigumi (great water).
This journey is a short step among the 2726 miles of shoreline that encompasses and dots Lake Superior, but it is an exciting beginning to exploration and an example of the variety of experience and diversity of the North Shore experience. At Lester river’s mouth fishermen gather as do gulls, the shoreline rocks are polished, scratched and gouged by the glaciers that shaped the lake, and a visitor center is ready to aid the traveler. Across the road is the EPA water lab that helps us protect these great resources and as you leave the city behind and take the two lane alternative (St Louis County 61) the traveler immediately finds Brighton Beach park as a possible first stop. The park stretches along the lake shore with picnic tables and shelter, rocky outcrops, pebble beaches to begin the quest for the perfect agate sample, swings and slides, and a forested landscape of birch, aspen, and conifer.
Traveling by car is only one of the ways that people move along the shore and the paved bike paths on each shoulder offer another possibility. Seakayakers, sailors, and motor boat enthusiasts see the shore from “at sea”, snowmobilers travel inland snowmobile trails as do the dogsledders that parallel this route in the famous John Beargrease dogsled race each January. In addition, this is the route of the popular Grandma’s marathon run each June near the summer solstice.
The road is close to the shore, the shoreline is relatively low with glacial lake clays on top of volcanic rocks. There are numerous places to pull off the road and stop to take pictures or stretch. An old red brick structure with a turret-like corner, arched windows, and an ivy covered wrought iron fence is the old waterworks and is a fascinating building.
At the French River is the area headquarters for the DNR fisheries and fish research. The river is a spawning area and the lakeshore on all sides attracts fishermen in all seasons. This stretch also offers a variety of antique shops.
A nice walk is offered at the Talmadge River if the steep slope from the parking lot to the river is not too wet and slippery. It is a popular fly fishing stream and offers a quite walk along rapids and riffles to the lake where the adventurous can continue to the west along the cobblestones and reconnect with 61 to make a triangular trek.
Tom’s logging camp is a look back into the human history of the area and Stoney Point drive is a nice gravel route along the lake with wonderful views. It has been a popular place for bird watchers for decades. Another historic site that is not in the best of shape is the Buchanan historic marker. This was a town with a three year history, a hole in the wilderness that existed because of the land office being located there.
Knife River is a wonderful community that the four lane traveler misses. Here is the first stretch of the Lake Superior hiking trail. This trail will parallel the roadway all the way to Canada and allows the day hiker and backpacker access to the hidden waterfalls, rapids, forests, and highlands that is unsurpassed by any hiking trail in the country. This is a treasurer and the Lake Superior Trail Association and the land owners along the trail deserves all the credit they can get for putting this marvelous route together.
The Knife River is worthy of a short hike within the community and from here you can begin the North Shore hiking trail. In addition, this is the first place to buy the marvelous smoked fish that is essential to all North Shore picnics. Just outside of town is the red school house - the Larsmont School of 1914-1932, a one room school house for grades one - seven, which is on the National Historic Register. Larsmont was the name of a settler who was a farmer and fisherman and the railroad station was named for him.
After passing the starting line for the marathon, the road will rejoin the four lane and a single route will continue through Two Harbors and beyond. The first glimpses of Two Harbor will be the new developments on the west side of town. These will not give you the real flavor of the town. To enjoy Two Harbors turn off the main road and go to the lakefront. The community is the oldest on the North Shore. It rivaled Duluth in the early days of iron shipping and logging, and it is a place of historic and scenic convergence.
The Lake County Courthouse is an anachronism. A large silver-gray fish scale dome can be seen as you drive toward the lake and is worth driving by. Looking more like a Shrine Temple than a courthouse, this unusual building is a combination of tan bricks, Greek columns, and Russian Orthodox dome is unlike anything else on the shore. Across the street from it is a wonderful 1906 brownstone Presbyterian Church and up the block from the church is a Carnegie library of brick and brownstone that is worth seeing.
The two harbors are Agate - where the docks are - and Burlington which is undeveloped and a park. Agate harbor combines a picnic area, trails, the old railroad depot which is now an historic museum, a tugboat, and two railroad engines. In the shadows of the iron ore docks, this combination is a perfect opportunity to explore the history of human settlement on the shore.
The largest of the coal fired steam engines faces off with the 1907 Duluth and Iron Range train that my Grandfather shoveled coal into.
On the east side of the harbor is lighthouse point with guided tours through the lighthouse that was the last manned post on the great lakes. Here is a boat access, large parking space and the fishing boat - Crusader II - sitting in dry dock for the curious. And finally, there is the pine studded landscape of the picnic park on Burlington harbor. The shore and bay is a natural area of beauty with exposures of lava flows that intrigue the geologists of the great lakes.
This discovery ends at Flood Bay, a state wayside rest that exposes a sheltered bay and offers wonderful opportunities for agate hunting. The bay was named for a man who took out a land claim in 1856 and not for a natural disaster.
Like all trips on the shore, it is a combination of human and natural history with a little mix of legend and lore. Those who hurry up the shore and only worry about a destination will never know the true magic of this area.
So we thought, maybe its time for a walk around the lake.
While this is technically the northwest shore of the big lake, every Minnesotan and most travelers and explorers consider this “The North Shore”. In a state off 15,000 lakes, this is “The Lake”, a 31,700 square mile body of water that contains 10% of the surface fresh water of the planet. Traveling along the shore is a constant internal conflict between watching the rivers, cliffs, forests, and landscape of the Lake Superior highlands or the brooding waters, rocky coastline, cobblestone beaches, and wave swept headlands of Chi Gumig (Ojibway for Sweet Water Sea) or Kitchigumi (great water).
This journey is a short step among the 2726 miles of shoreline that encompasses and dots Lake Superior, but it is an exciting beginning to exploration and an example of the variety of experience and diversity of the North Shore experience. At Lester river’s mouth fishermen gather as do gulls, the shoreline rocks are polished, scratched and gouged by the glaciers that shaped the lake, and a visitor center is ready to aid the traveler. Across the road is the EPA water lab that helps us protect these great resources and as you leave the city behind and take the two lane alternative (St Louis County 61) the traveler immediately finds Brighton Beach park as a possible first stop. The park stretches along the lake shore with picnic tables and shelter, rocky outcrops, pebble beaches to begin the quest for the perfect agate sample, swings and slides, and a forested landscape of birch, aspen, and conifer.
Traveling by car is only one of the ways that people move along the shore and the paved bike paths on each shoulder offer another possibility. Seakayakers, sailors, and motor boat enthusiasts see the shore from “at sea”, snowmobilers travel inland snowmobile trails as do the dogsledders that parallel this route in the famous John Beargrease dogsled race each January. In addition, this is the route of the popular Grandma’s marathon run each June near the summer solstice.
The road is close to the shore, the shoreline is relatively low with glacial lake clays on top of volcanic rocks. There are numerous places to pull off the road and stop to take pictures or stretch. An old red brick structure with a turret-like corner, arched windows, and an ivy covered wrought iron fence is the old waterworks and is a fascinating building.
At the French River is the area headquarters for the DNR fisheries and fish research. The river is a spawning area and the lakeshore on all sides attracts fishermen in all seasons. This stretch also offers a variety of antique shops.
A nice walk is offered at the Talmadge River if the steep slope from the parking lot to the river is not too wet and slippery. It is a popular fly fishing stream and offers a quite walk along rapids and riffles to the lake where the adventurous can continue to the west along the cobblestones and reconnect with 61 to make a triangular trek.
Tom’s logging camp is a look back into the human history of the area and Stoney Point drive is a nice gravel route along the lake with wonderful views. It has been a popular place for bird watchers for decades. Another historic site that is not in the best of shape is the Buchanan historic marker. This was a town with a three year history, a hole in the wilderness that existed because of the land office being located there.
Knife River is a wonderful community that the four lane traveler misses. Here is the first stretch of the Lake Superior hiking trail. This trail will parallel the roadway all the way to Canada and allows the day hiker and backpacker access to the hidden waterfalls, rapids, forests, and highlands that is unsurpassed by any hiking trail in the country. This is a treasurer and the Lake Superior Trail Association and the land owners along the trail deserves all the credit they can get for putting this marvelous route together.
The Knife River is worthy of a short hike within the community and from here you can begin the North Shore hiking trail. In addition, this is the first place to buy the marvelous smoked fish that is essential to all North Shore picnics. Just outside of town is the red school house - the Larsmont School of 1914-1932, a one room school house for grades one - seven, which is on the National Historic Register. Larsmont was the name of a settler who was a farmer and fisherman and the railroad station was named for him.
After passing the starting line for the marathon, the road will rejoin the four lane and a single route will continue through Two Harbors and beyond. The first glimpses of Two Harbor will be the new developments on the west side of town. These will not give you the real flavor of the town. To enjoy Two Harbors turn off the main road and go to the lakefront. The community is the oldest on the North Shore. It rivaled Duluth in the early days of iron shipping and logging, and it is a place of historic and scenic convergence.
The Lake County Courthouse is an anachronism. A large silver-gray fish scale dome can be seen as you drive toward the lake and is worth driving by. Looking more like a Shrine Temple than a courthouse, this unusual building is a combination of tan bricks, Greek columns, and Russian Orthodox dome is unlike anything else on the shore. Across the street from it is a wonderful 1906 brownstone Presbyterian Church and up the block from the church is a Carnegie library of brick and brownstone that is worth seeing.
The two harbors are Agate - where the docks are - and Burlington which is undeveloped and a park. Agate harbor combines a picnic area, trails, the old railroad depot which is now an historic museum, a tugboat, and two railroad engines. In the shadows of the iron ore docks, this combination is a perfect opportunity to explore the history of human settlement on the shore.
The largest of the coal fired steam engines faces off with the 1907 Duluth and Iron Range train that my Grandfather shoveled coal into.
On the east side of the harbor is lighthouse point with guided tours through the lighthouse that was the last manned post on the great lakes. Here is a boat access, large parking space and the fishing boat - Crusader II - sitting in dry dock for the curious. And finally, there is the pine studded landscape of the picnic park on Burlington harbor. The shore and bay is a natural area of beauty with exposures of lava flows that intrigue the geologists of the great lakes.
This discovery ends at Flood Bay, a state wayside rest that exposes a sheltered bay and offers wonderful opportunities for agate hunting. The bay was named for a man who took out a land claim in 1856 and not for a natural disaster.
Like all trips on the shore, it is a combination of human and natural history with a little mix of legend and lore. Those who hurry up the shore and only worry about a destination will never know the true magic of this area.
So we thought, maybe its time for a walk around the lake.
