Grand Marais, Minnesota.

The Native Americans called the big lake Gitche Gumee, but these days, it’s known as Lake Superior. One of Minnesota’s most scenic drives follows the lake’s shoreline from Duluth to Grand Portage. It’s a must-do if you are spending any time in the area. The scenery is shown off with eight state parks, spectacular views of Lake Superior, and the many restaurants along the way offer some of the best Lake Superior fish dinners. The 110-mile (177 km) drive can easily be done in one day with a few stops along the way, but you may want to spend more time on your journey and check out one or more of the state parks.

There are many lighthouses along the north shore and Two Harbors has an original lighthouse, now a museum, and it is still a working automated lighthouse. At the end of a long breakwater that protects Agate Bay and the Ore Docks from an angry Lake Superior, there is another automated station that marks the end of the breakwater and entrance to the harbor. If you’d like to feel the part of a lighthouse keeper, you can stay at the Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast run by the local historical society. Plan ahead and reserve in advance, though, as they are pretty busy during the summer tourist season.

Constructed in 1892, the original light station is still operational and it is one of the oldest operating light stations in Minnesota. You can do a self-guided tour of the tower, the Assistant Keeper’s house, a pilot house, and the fog signal building.

There were only a few visitors besides us at Two Harbors that morning. It was cool and windy with rain showers in the area. Even so, we weren’t the only ones to take a walk along the breakwater.

OK, truth be told, we didn’t walk all the way to the light station at the end of the breakwater. That’s the advantage of a zoom lens on your camera, you can save a walk on a cool, windy day. The breakwater itself was completed in 1902 and after modifications over the years, this 1906 lighthouse remains in service today.

About 25 minutes north of Two Harbors, the Split Rock Lighthouse State Park and the most photographed lighthouse in Minnesota was our next stop. As I noted in a recent Cellpic Sunday post, the Split Rock Lighthouse protected ships from the rocky Lake Superior shoreline for 50 years or so. Iron ore became a staple of Lake Superior shipping in the late 19th century and iron ore was transported in large quantities. After a massive storm wrecked 29 ships in November 1905, Minnesota shipping company executives traveled to Washington D.C. to lobby for a light station and fog horn.

Built high on a bluff overlooking the lake, this lighthouse and foghorn protected ships from colliding with the rocky shore on dark, moonless nights and foggy days. This part of Minnesota had no roads at the time of the lighthouse construction in 1910. The light was first illuminated on July 31 of that year.

Continuing our journey north that would end for us that evening in Thunder Bay, Ontario, we stopped at Grand Marais. There are two lighthouses that mark the entrance to the harbor, one at each side of the harbor entrance. In addition to a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Station, there is a Coast Guard station. Research for this post taught me that the station will be consolidated into the station at Duluth and this facility will close, though no date of closure was mentioned in the article.

Visitors to the area can walk along a concrete breakwater all the way to the lighthouse which was built in 1885. Sections of rocky shoreline are incorporated into the breakwater. The opening photo in this post is taken near the area known as Artists Point.

Artists Point is a must-see stop at Grand Marais. There is a trail that leads to this point so you can take in more views of the town and the lake, or you can drive to the nearby parking lot and it’s only a short distance to the breakwater and the beautiful views from the point.

Our last stop on this journey before crossing into Canada is at Grand Portage. A large sign beckoned us to stop at the center that was completed in 2007. What we didn’t realize until we stopped at the center is that there is a reconstructed fort and trading post just a short walk across the highway. There was so much to see there that I will reserve my collection of images for an upcoming post about the park and visitor center.

I went bonkers with photographs on this journey. I captured over a hundred images, all told. I put together a gallery of my favorite 21 images on my Flickr site for you to view in 2K HD. You can find that album here.

John Steiner