This Minnesota Scenic Byway Is The Road Trip Of A Lifetime

There's only one route in the state designated an All-American Road, the highest tier of the Federal Highway Administration's America's Byways program. Minnesota's North Shore Scenic Drive traces Highway 61 for 154 miles along the Lake Superior shoreline, from Canal Park in Duluth to the Canadian border at Grand Portage. There's a lot to see, including state parks and a string of historic harbor towns. Here's how to make the most of a trip along the ultimate scenic Minnesota drive.

The Journey Begins in Duluth

The byway's starting point is Canal Park, a former warehouse district on Duluth's harborfront. Now the city's star attraction, its centerpiece is the Aerial Lift Bridge, built in 1905 as an aerial transfer bridge, a gondola-style design that ferried passengers across the Duluth Ship Canal and was rebuilt with its current lift span in 1930. It's neat watching it rise for passing ore boats from the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center, a free museum where posted shipping schedules let you time your visit.

Before leaving town, follow London Road to Glensheen, a 39-room home completed in 1908. Now the state's most visited historic home, it has 12 lakefront acres of formal gardens, footbridges, and shoreline paths.

From Glensheen, the byway follows Congdon Boulevard, the old lakeside alignment of Highway 61. Signed as Scenic 61, the 20-mile stretch to Two Harbors passes Russ Kendall's Smoke House in Knife River, a family operation selling smoked Lake Superior fish. It's also an excuse to hop aboard the North Shore Scenic Railroad for a ride between the historic Duluth Depot and Two Harbors.

Visiting Two Harbors

The iron industry gave Two Harbors its start, and ships still load taconite pellets, a processed form of iron ore, at the huge docks on Agate Bay. Guiding them in since 1892, Two Harbors Light Station is Minnesota's oldest operating lighthouse and is now a museum. The attached keeper's quarters are the Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast, a rare chance to stay in an authentic working lighthouse.

The town is also famous as the home of 3M, the manufacturing giant behind Scotch Tape and Post-it Notes. The company was founded here in 1902 as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, a failed mining venture that pivoted to sandpaper and never looked back. The 3M Birthplace Museum lays out that story.

Save room for dessert on the way out of town. Betty's Pies, on Highway 61 at the Stewart River, began in 1956 when a Duluth fish merchant built a smoked fish stand here and asked his daughter to run it. Betty sweetened the deal with doughnuts, then a grill, and finally the pies that turned the little stand into a North Shore institution. Her Five-Layer Chocolate Pie and the fruity Great Lakes Crunch are still on the menu.

Silver Creek Tunnel to Split Rock Lighthouse

A few miles further along the shore, the road passes through the 1,344-foot Silver Creek Cliff Tunnel. Completed in 1994 to replace a hair-raising stretch of cliffside highway, you can still see part of the original route along the Gitchi-Gami State Trail, a developing bicycle path that will eventually connect Two Harbors and Grand Marais.

Next up is Gooseberry Falls State Park, where the Upper, Middle, and Lower Falls of the Gooseberry River are an easy walk from the visitor center. The park's stone walls, fireplaces, and shelters, including a landmark wall known as the Castle in the Park, were built during the 1930s.

Ten miles farther along and you're at Split Rock Lighthouse, possibly the most photographed structure in Minnesota. It owes its existence to the Mataafa Storm of November 1905, which wrecked or damaged 29 ships on Lake Superior, leading Congress to fund the lighthouse. Completed in 1910 on top of a 130-foot cliff, the lighthouse's retired beacon is lit every November 10 in memory of the Edmund Fitzgerald, an ore carrier lost with its crew of 29 in 1975.

Tettegouche State Park to Ski Country

Just north of Silver Bay, a short spur road climbs to the top of Palisade Head. This imposing wall of billion-year-old volcanic rock rises straight out of Lake Superior, with views along the shoreline to Shovel Point. Both formations sit within Tettegouche State Park. Carry on a few miles to the park's main entrance to reach High Falls on the Baptism River, the tallest waterfall located entirely inside Minnesota.

The highway then crosses a series of North Shore trout streams, the prettiest being Temperance River. Here, the water has carved a narrow gorge of swirling potholes visible from a footbridge inside Temperance River State Park. In neighboring Schroeder, a granite cross at the mouth of the Cross River marks the spot where a Catholic missionary landed after crossing the lake in a small boat in 1846.

The North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum in the village of Tofte is also worth a stop for its displays about the Norwegian families who netted herring along this stretch of coast. Ski country comes next, with the runs of the Lutsen Mountains spread across four peaks above Poplar River. For golfers, take the detour to Superior National at Lutsen, a 27-hole course where several holes overlook the lake.

Grand Marais' Artistic Streak

Grand Marais is a must-visit for art lovers. Highlights include the Grand Marais Art Colony, founded in 1947 and Minnesota's oldest art colony, as well as the North House Folk School. More than 300 courses a year run there in traditional northern crafts, including boatbuilding and blacksmithing. Docked at the water's edge, the school's 50-foot schooner, Hjordis, runs fun two-hour cruises from late May through late September.

If you've resisted the urge to dine until now, then you're in luck. The Angry Trout Cafe, a converted commercial fishing shanty on the harbor, serves local whitefish and trout, while the family-run World's Best Donuts backs up its bold claim with delicious cinnamon cake doughnuts. Voyageur Brewing Company on Highway 61 in the middle of town is the place to go for a craft beer.

Afterward, work off all that grub with a stroll along the breakwater to Artist's Point, a rocky peninsula sheltering the harbor. The views back to town and toward the Sawtooth Mountains behind it are well worth it.

The Finish Line at Grand Portage

Your Minnesota road trip ends at Grand Portage National Monument, the site of the North West Company's fur trade headquarters. It was here that 18th-century voyageurs, the French-Canadian canoe men of the fur trade, exchanged goods hauled from Montreal for furs from the continental interior. The reconstructed stockade, great hall, and kitchen are brought to life with costumed interpreters.

The portage itself, an 8.5-mile trail that bypassed an unnavigable section of the Pigeon River, can still be hiked from the stockade to the site of Fort Charlotte. For a shorter walk, continue up Highway 61 to Grand Portage State Park, where a half-mile wheelchair-accessible trail leads to the High Falls of the Pigeon River. At 120 feet, it's the tallest waterfall in Minnesota and thunders down on the international border itself, with the province of Ontario on the far bank.

Established in 1989 and operated in partnership with the Grand Portage Band, the park doubles as a highway rest area, so no state park vehicle permit is required. The byway ends at the Pigeon River Border Crossing, where Highway 61 continues into Canada toward Thunder Bay, a 38-mile extension that's worth considering if you're not yet ready to turn around.

Minnesota's Only All-American Road

Few Midwest drives pack as much into 154 miles as the North Shore Scenic Drive. In a single day, you can tour a Gilded Age mansion, stand at the base of the state's tallest waterfall, and watch vast ore boats go by. Take longer, though. The eight state parks along the route deserve a day each, and towns like Two Harbors and Grand Marais are ideal for an overnight adventure as you travel Minnesota's only All-American Road.