Trip report:
1. So I must’ve convinced a few of you to go as well since I probably saw clone gear from about 10 people compared to just one hawk hat and not too much golden gopher apparel.
2. We used the AllTrails app to plan the hikes and it was great. Bought a year subscription and downloading the maps to use with gps but no cell service was very nice. Tried to keep the hikes to generally 2 miles or less but had a couple hikes that pushed 4 miles. Kids did awesome. Bought a truckload of snacks beforehand to use as motivation and it worked. Great thing about the North Shore hikes were many amazing ones were short with awesome waterfalls/rivers.
3. Time in the apostle islands was nice. Kayaked with the kiddos to Roman’s point sea caves...highly recommend if you’re out that way.
4. A lot of the restaurants had restrictions so didn’t eat out as much as I thought but loved Angry Trout in Grand Marais and Do North Pizza in Two Harbors. Not too impressed with Grandmas in Duluth. Worlds Best Donuts in Grand Marais was good but overhyped.
5. Beach time is always a hit with the kids.
Here are the hikes we did in case it helps anyone else in the future.
-Myers Beach Sea Cave Trail in the apostle islands was very cool to see the sea caves from above.
-swinging bridge and waterfall at Jay Cooke near Duluth...skipped the hiking after starting on the trail which seemed like a good choice since people coming back said it wasn’t worth it. The bridge area near the parking lot was the attraction.
-Gooseberry Falls: Got there at 8:15am on a Thursday and glad we did. Almost nobody there at that time, but insanely busy when we got back to the main area near 11. Go early!
-Split rock lighthouse was partially open. Best lighthouse we saw on the trip. Didn’t get to hike there.
-Temperence River, cascade falls, and high falls at Tettegouche were crazy beautiful. These were my personal top 3 favorites. Although we didn’t have the majestic mountains around us I felt like we were in Rocky Mountain NP.
-Palisade head was an amazing view. Again we went early to avoid the crowds and glad we did.
-Also did Caribou falls, Kadunce River, Devil’s Kettle, and High Falls at Grand Portage near Canada. Loved the tranquil rivers.
Thanks for the tip about buying the state park pass in advance. Also brought water shoes for the kids to play in the streams which they loved.
Had another handful of hikes on my list we just didn’t get to but it was great in that so many of the hikes had an easy payoff early on or ones you didn’t have to go too far for. Thanks again for all the advice beforehand. The trip exceeded expectations.