Trip around Lake Superior

[GettinAway]

I went around Superior last summer, but I was on my motorcycle, and in way too much of a hurry. I didn't really see much. What I did see was beautiful.
Thinking of going back this summer with the AS.
I did set up the tent just south of the border crossing on the MN side, and I remember a few Mosquitos bothering me.. It was bearable outside once the Thermocell kicked in.
From what I recall the prettier areas, and more peaceful looking campgrounds were up in Canada..
Does anyone have a recommendation on where to "base" out of?
We like to set up for four or five days and explore out of a given area..
Hope this makes sense.
Appreciate any info.
Thanks
Jeff

[johnhh]

Our favorite is Pukaskwa Provincial Park on the northeast side of Lake Superior near Marathon Ontario.

[RangerJay]

We spend quality Airstream time on the Canadian stretch of Superiors North Shore pretty much every year. There are a few parks to take advantage of - but the ones that we will visit most - particularly for an extended stay - are:

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park: lots of trails, Silver Islet is a neat place to walk through, Thunder Bay is close enough for day trips, and you are an hour or so from Ouimet Canyon (a must see). This is a popular park - reservations advised for the better sites.
Sleeping Giant

Neys Provincial Park: POW history, great sand beach full of driftwood, superb view of Lake Superior from some sites, close to Pukaskwa National Park for a day trip, in the heart of a very scenic section of Lake Superiors north shore. Reservations a good idea if you want one of the more open sites with a view and onshore breeze.
Neys

Lake Superior Provincial Park: Lots to see and do, some terrific views of Lake Superior, Agawa Campground on Lake Superior has a long pebble beach. Reservations not usually necessary but a good idea for one of the sites with a view and onshore breeze. Also in the heart of a very scenic section of highway.
Lake Superior


Have a great trip.



Jay

[GettinAway]

Thank you both!
I hope I haven't waited too long to try and reserve a decent site.

Thanks again
Jeff

[RangerJay]

The issue is not so much getting in as it is getting one of the better sites. We work hard to get a better site when we know we will be in a park for more than a couple of days - hence the need to reserve early.

Good luck - and have a great trip.



Jay

[JimW]

My wife and I really enjoyed this trip back in 2008. We had to be careful to travel in short days as the distance around the lake isn't that great. Make sure you take plenty of extension cords with you. Typically, you share an electrical post with the site next to you, even if that site is 150 feet from you and out of sight. On two occasions, we barely reached with 90 feet of cord. We didn't need thirty amps fortunately.

Don't discount the south shore. It is beautiful in its own right, but not as much wilderness. We especially like the Bayfield area and have camped there many times since the my family's introduction to the area in 1957.

Enjoy your trip,

JIM

[GettinAway]

Is there a better time of year like late summer, to encounter fewer Mosquitos, and black flies?
I still need to make reservations..
Thanks,
Jeff

[Lily&Me]

We like August in the UP, never had the black fly or mosquito problem during that time.



Maggie

[GettinAway]

Got reservations at Sleeping Giant in Aug. heading from there to Pukaskwa.
No reservations at Pukaskwa, but I talked to the folks up there. They gave me a number to call and check availability in the campground.
She told me that if they were filled up there at Pukaskwa, they'd know about some Provincial parks near by..
So we'll have six nights up there to see the sights.
Anyone have any "can't miss" suggestions on what to see?

Also, we plan on getting to southeastern MN on the first night. Any suggestions on a campground along the Mississippi?

Thanks,
Jeff

[Gene]

This may be a stretch for the first day, but Duluth has a municipal campground. We stayed there several years ago. It was pretty roomy and I think it has wifi. There were bad floods in Duluth several weeks ago, so I'd check ahead of time. It wasn't easy to find either, but Google maps probably can help.

We drove around the Ontario side of Lake Superior in '04 without a trailer, but what I remember is many times the road is in the forest and you don't see the lake and accommodations were far apart. But I've been wanting to get back with the trailer—there are only hundreds of places I want to go to with the trailer, though.

Gene

[tomp1937]

SW MN is lovely, but easy camping right across the Miss River in WI. along the River. Several COE camps south of LaCrosse, several SP north of it. In Winona, MN is a riverside city CG. Use RV Reviews to get info.

North shore of Lake Superior in MN camps are few and far apart. Just south of Duluth in Cloquet there are several, Duluth has a couple but area hit with a bad flood before the 4th. Check RV Reviews and call ahead. Two Harbors has a lovely city CG as does Grand Maria. In Canada there are several in Thunder Bay,and the Provincial Park of Sleeping Giant. Following the highway east in the towns of Nippigon and Red Cliff there are private CG's and one used to be able to stay at their marinas for a fee. Lovely spots. Further east in Rossport (east of town) are two Provincial Parks, one right on the water. Further east don't pass by Neys as it is remote, beautiful and loaded with history.Right on the big lake!

On the south shore in Mich there is camping up near Whitefish PT near Paradise, along the shores in Grand Maria, MI in City and SP campgrounds, in Muinising is a city CG and a great spot on By Furnace and lots of NF camping on smaller lakes.

We're going this route in Sept/Oct.

[GettinAway]

We are only going to be up there a week. Sleeping Giant for three nights and Pukaskwa for three (if we can get in.)
Going to head to Door Co in WI, from Pukaskwa..
Thanks for the WI campground info for the trip up.

Jeff

[2Tex4Fun]

This may not be on your route for this year, but the Minnesota Airstream Park (one mile off highway 10-between St. Cloud & Minnesapolis) is a lovely spot set in an oak savanna. We have swimming pool, free golf, biking, etc. Check us out on the website-
<www.airstreampark.com>

[GettinAway]

At first glance, I think we will shoot for La Crosse on day one. Then Sleeping Giant. Back to back 450 mile days.. I guess I should run this by the boss..

Jeff

[CanoeStream]

Jeff, which route are you taking north from Missou? Up the Iowa side or the Illinois side of the Mississippi? Though scenic, the extreme northeast corner of Iowa is slow going until you get right to the LaCrosse area. Avenue of the Saints to Waterloo, IA, and Rochester, MN, is a pretty efficient route. Though there hardly is a prettier place to drive than under the bluffs through LaCrosse, Winona, Lake City & Red Wing. Frontenac State Park just south of Red Wing is a quick in and out and has electric hookups (fill water on entering).

Leaving the LaCrosse area in the morning should put you through the Twin Cities at a good time of day. Hwy 61 (revisited...) along the west side of the Mississippi moves fairly well and is scenic -- the reason you're doing this trip right? I'd have to mapquest it to see if going over to Rochester and up Hwy 52 to St. Paul would save any time.

Travel time through Duluth wouldn't be affected by the flood any more but the freeway through town is in the middle of a multi-year rebuild. It's down to a tight one-lane in each direction but moves okay if you aren't negotiating that on a Friday (when it seems as if half of Minnesotans are trying to get through there for the weekend). There are some alternate routes going north from Cloquet -- slow, but better than going through Duluth on a Friday afternoon!

Seriously, getting up to Sleeping Giant and then down the peninsula to the campground is a long haul from southeast Minnesota. There's not a lot of 450-miles-at-70-mph and it will go slower than you might think. I'd have to recommend tomp's advice to look at the Grand Marais, MN, municipal campground. It's always comfy temperatures there in the summer, is scenic, right on the water, and easy walking to good restaurants.

Are you planning on staying a couple nights at each stop around the Canadian shore of Lake Superior? You've got to purchase beer or wine at LCBO outlets and this takes some getting used to. Seems like vendors often run them.

• With time, at Sleeping Giant I can recommend a visit to the little community of Silver Islet -- and hope the little inn there is open for lunch.There's an LCBO at a gas station right at the turn off the Trans-Canada down to Sleeping Giant.
• We've stayed at Rainbow Falls PP -- Whitesand Lake campground is fine but we chose to stay in the Rossport campground right on the lake -- nice but can get windy; good restaurant on Main St in Rossport, good pottery on Nicol Island (don't take the 'Stream out there).
• Neys PP is good. Not so sure about whether the drive into Pukaskwa is too much sugar for a dime. It's mostly a backcountry park. White Lake is worth it mostly if you're carrying watercraft and arrive with all the water you'll need to stay there; the campground water lines are contaminated with cryptosporidium and even bleach won't get it out of your lines if you use any.
• Wawa has a superb grocery store up in town -- on the left side as you go north into town. We restocked with our trailers in tow. Managed it in the not too generous parking lot at the store. Your results may vary...
• Lake Superior Provincial Park. The crown jewel of the Canadian shore in my opinion. Pancake Bay is pretty tightly hemmed if you ask me. I liked Agawa Bay much better -- and it is much more central to day trips up and down the highway to hike waterfalls, lakes, and on and on. Multiple decent strolls along Lake Superior can be found along the Trans-Canada.
• da U.P? How much do you want to do there?

A similar Circle Tour thread is here - http://www.airforums.com/forums/f42/...ore-76925.html

[GettinAway]

Oh boy, I might have to go with plan B. it might take two nights on the road to get there.. Oh well, it's all good. Thank you very much for the great info on routes, campsites, and things to do. If we take of from Duluth early on Sat, we shouldn't have any trouble getting to Sleeping Giant, correct? (getting thru the construction.)
Thanks again.
Jeff

[CanoeStream]

Originally Posted by GettinAway

If we take of from Duluth early on Sat, we shouldn't have any trouble getting to Sleeping Giant, correct?

Correct.

Remember your passports. No guns. Biggest customs hassle we had was re-entering the US when the agents found fresh vegetables and fruit in our fridge.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by CanoeStream

Correct.

Remember your passports. No guns. Biggest customs hassle we had was re-entering the US when the agents found fresh vegetables and fruit in our fridge.

In 2010 fruit was the about the only thing* the US border guards were interested in—we entered the US several times on an Alaska trip. They never asked about what we bought, how much it cost, whether we had nuclear weapons, but they sure cared about fruit. They can ransack the trailer and you can't go near it to see what they are doing. They haven't learned to say things like "hello" or "how are you". So they come out with some fruit and throw it away telling us we could eat it if we want to go back to Canada with it. They missed some though. Some they took came from the US, but they didn't care. We felt violated. They have a lot of new, eager hires in the past several years and they all seem very suspicious of everything and have no manners. Some people have not had problems, but we did more than once.

Gene

*They usually ask whether you have $10,000 in cash with you. Most everyone laughs at them when they ask it, but apparently the 2nd most important thing to find out.

[GettinAway]

Originally Posted by CanoeStream

Correct.

Remember your passports. No guns. Biggest customs hassle we had was re-entering the US when the agents found fresh vegetables and fruit in our fridge.

When I was on my motorcycle last summer, I remember going into Canada being very easy, coming back into the US, as being very difficult. I was very tired, it was getting late, I didn't want to be on the bike after dark riding down towards Duluth from the border, but they held me there for at least a hour. Everything was in waterproof bags on the bike. I think they even got to the point of checking to see if there really was toothpaste in the tube.. I put up my tent on the shore of Superior just south of the border. Turned out to be a great camp site. Way too many big critters to worry about on the road (after dark) for my taste.
Our reservation at Sleeping Giant starts on a Saturday, so we'll stay near Duluth on Friday night, and shouldn't have too much trouble getting thru the construction and on to Sleeping Giant by Sat afternoon. (hopefully )

Thanks,
Jeff

[Silvertwinkie]

Originally Posted by GettinAway

From what I recall the prettier areas, and more peaceful looking campgrounds were up in Canada..

Jeff

Anywhere in the north central UP, particularly in the areas of Pictured Rock National Lakeshore and the adjacent State Parks within the National Lakeshore boundaries , all primitive sites are simply stunning. I would not rule out the US side. 12 mile beach campground has sites 300 or so feet from Lake Superior, all wooded. The State parks as well, many on inland lakes about 3 miles from Lake Superior are outstanding. You are typically 25-30 miles from the nearest town and there is NO cell service except on the far west or east side of area, which is fine by me. We'll be heading up that at some point over the next few weeks. They have just completed paving H-58 the main road going through the area from the washboard gravel road they had for decades.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore - Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore