The North Shore's Tettegouche

While at the Earth Lodges National Park site, we met a ranger from Minnesota. She said we must check out the North Shore. I admitted I had no idea what that meant. "It's the northeast edge of the state from Duluth north along Lake Superior's shore." It was great advice. Look at this beautiful view!

Our campground host also gave us great advice to take the Skyline Parkway (above), a 25 mile scenic drive from Duluth to a number of key locations and scenic spots overlooking the shore. Our first stop was Enger Park. We climbed the tower's 85 stairs for a bird's eye view over the lake. At the base of the tower is a beautiful botanical and Japanese rock garden. 

The shore is unlike most shores in the US. Instead of sand, they're comprised of small pebbles of different colors. We missed the pink beach, but spent awhile at Black Beach in Silver Bay. 

Tettegouche State Park was highly recommended for scenery, trails and waterfalls. It did not disappoint. We hiked the High Falls trail to the waterfall. The trail was closed beyond this point due to massive flooding a couple months prior that damaged the hanging bridge over the river.

We met a local couple who shared lots of info about the area and listened to some of our traveling stories while the kids looked for crawfish and other creatures. They may even come stay on our RV pad someday.

Palisade Head is considered part of Tettegouche State Park, even though it's separated from the rest of the park. It offers sweeping views of Lake Superior and granite cliffs.

Two people were climbing and rappelling the granite cliffs in front of us! They are so tiny in comparison, you can hardly see them at the middle base of the rock face.

Beaver Bay Agate Shop and Museum was a really cool stop. Asher's interest in rockhounding has really grown this summer, so this was a great place for him to see a huge variety of rocks and minerals. Beautiful agates are plentiful on the beaches along Lake Superior, quite a few were on display here. The owner said sales increased dramatically during the covid shutdowns. I found that interesting. He also recommended a specific tumbler for Asher, a Lortone 3a (blue base) because it can be fixed and lasts forever.

I love the sparkles of color!

So many different shapes, colors, textures and designs! God makes incredible things!

Back in Duluth, we enjoyed dinner at Canal Park Brewery's outdoor patio with a view of a Peregrine Falcon! Afterwards we walked to the ice cream shop and admired the evening views of Lake Superior.