This Minnesota drive along Lake Superior has waterfalls, shipwrecks, and a river that disappears underground

It’s Highway 61, and it’s worth every mile

Highway 61 runs 150 miles up Minnesota’s North Shore from Duluth to the Canadian border, and almost the entire way, Lake Superior sits right there beside you.

The world’s largest freshwater lake by surface area stretches so far to the east that on most days you can’t see the other side. Eight state parks line the route.

Dozens of waterfalls drop through birch forests. Small towns hold onto fur trade history.

The federal government gave this road its highest scenic designation, and once you’re on it, you’ll understand why.

The Ojibwe walked this shore long before the highway did

The route Highway 61 follows is older than the road itself.

The Ojibwe traveled this Lake Superior shoreline for centuries, and French Canadian voyageurs paddled and portaged along the same stretch as they pushed into the continent’s interior.

Workers built the modern road in sections during the early 1900s, with some stretches not finished until the late 1920s. Bob Dylan was born in Duluth and named a 1965 album after it.

The federal All-American Road designation came in 2000, with the Duluth extension added two years later.

Watch a 1,000-foot ship squeeze through Duluth’s lift bridge

The drive starts at Canal Park, Duluth’s lakefront district, where the Aerial Lift Bridge has been hauling things up and down since 1905.

Workers originally built it as a transporter bridge, then converted it to a lift bridge in 1929.

Now it rises high enough to let 1,000-foot cargo ships slide through the canal below, and you can stand on the walkway right at the water’s edge and watch them pass.

The bridge sits on the National Register of Historic Places. A free maritime visitor center nearby covers Great Lakes shipping and shipwrecks.

Hunt for agates at the base of Gooseberry Falls

About 40 miles up the shore, Gooseberry Falls is the first major stop and one of the most visited state parks in Minnesota.

The Gooseberry River drops over billion-year-old lava flows in five separate waterfalls, and paved pathways from the visitor center lead you straight to three of them, so no rough terrain required.

Beyond the falls, 20 miles of hiking trails cut through forests of birch, aspen, and cedar.

At the river’s mouth, Agate Beach draws people who like to crouch over polished stones hunting for banded Lake Superior agates.

Split Rock Lighthouse still lights up every November 10

Eleven miles further up the shore, a 54-foot octagonal lighthouse sits on a 130-foot cliff and looks out over the water like it’s still watching for trouble.

Workers built it in 1910 after the 1905 Mataafa Storm damaged 29 ships on the lake in a single event. The third-order Fresnel lens inside once guided ore ships through dangerous waters before the light went dark in 1969.

Now a National Historic Landmark, the Minnesota Historical Society runs the site.

Every November 10, they light the beacon to remember the 29 crew members who went down with the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975.

Drive to the top of a 300-foot cliff and walk to the edge

Palisade Head sits inside Tettegouche State Park and rises more than 300 feet straight up from the lake. The rock formed from a lava flow about 1.1 billion years ago and has held its shape ever since.

You can drive right to the top, then walk to the edge of sheer, unguarded cliffs with the shoreline spread out in both directions.

On clear days, Split Rock Lighthouse shows up to the southwest and the Sawtooth Mountains stack up to the northeast. Experienced rock climbers work the columnar face below.

High Falls drops 70 feet into a canyon you can hike to

Tettegouche State Park also holds four waterfalls along the Baptism River, including High Falls, the tallest waterfall that sits entirely within Minnesota.

It drops about 70 feet into a rugged canyon, and the hike from the visitor center is about 1.5 miles with a stop at Two Step Falls along the way.

Shovel Point, also inside the park, takes you along boardwalks and stairs to cliff overlooks above the lake.

The park itself covers more than 9,000 acres and includes six inland lakes, hike-in cabins, and year-round camping.

Small towns tell the longer story of the North Shore

The towns strung along Highway 61 are part of what makes the drive worth slowing down for.

Two Harbors, the first town north of Duluth, is home to the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the North Shore. Beaver Bay, settled in 1856, holds the title of oldest community on the shore.

Silver Bay and the inland town of Finland offer a quieter pace than the busier stops.

Closer to the midpoint of the drive, the three towns of Schroeder, Tofte, and Lutsen sit near a ski area with gondola rides that look out over the lake.

Grand Marais is where artists, sailors and woodworkers all show up

Grand Marais sits about 110 miles up the shore and works as the cultural center of the North Shore. Galleries, independent shops, and a working harbor fill the town.

North House Folk School, founded in 1997 on the waterfront, teaches traditional crafts including boatbuilding, blacksmithing, woodworking, and fiber arts, drawing more than 3,000 students a year from across the country.

In summer, you can sail out of Grand Marais harbor on the school’s traditionally rigged schooner Hjordis. The Gunflint Trail, another National Scenic Byway, starts here and heads inland.

Half a river disappears into a rock and nobody could explain it

At Judge C.R. Magney State Park, about 15 miles east of Grand Marais, the Brule River splits around a mass of volcanic rock. One side drops 50 feet over a normal waterfall.

The other side plunges into a giant pothole and vanishes. For decades, people threw in ping pong balls and logs trying to figure out where the water went.

In 2016, Minnesota DNR hydrologists measured flow above and below and found nearly identical volumes, with the findings released in 2017. The hike is just over a mile each way, but nearly 200 stairs are involved.

Grand Portage preserves 300 years of fur trade and Ojibwe history

Near the Canadian border, Grand Portage National Monument holds the history of both the Ojibwe people and the fur trade that once tied the Great Lakes to the continent’s interior.

A reconstructed 18th-century trading depot stands on the site, complete with a Great Hall, canoe warehouse, kitchen, and stockade.

An 8.5-mile historic portage trail follows the same overland route that Indigenous peoples and voyageurs used to haul canoes and supplies past the rapids.

The monument sits entirely within the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, and the Ojibwe community co-manages its interpretation.

310 miles of trail run the whole length of the drive

The Superior Hiking Trail follows the rocky ridgeline above the shore for 310 miles, from near Duluth all the way to the Canadian border, passing through every one of the eight state parks along the drive.

More than 50 trailheads off Highway 61 give you a way in, and about 94 backcountry campsites along the route are free with no permits required. Day hikers can pick short sections with lake views.

Thru-hikers need three to four weeks for the full trail. The Superior Hiking Trail Association, based in Two Harbors, built and maintains the whole thing.

Drive the North Shore Scenic Drive in Minnesota

If you want to get on the road, the North Shore Scenic Drive runs along Highway 61 from Duluth north to Grand Portage, about 150 miles one way.

Eight state parks line the route, and a Minnesota State Park vehicle permit gets you into all of them. The drive is open year-round, though some park roads and facilities close in the off-season.

Check the Minnesota DNR’s official website before you go for current park hours, permit costs, and any seasonal closures. Give yourself at least two days if you want to stop at more than a few places.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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