Duluth: Where Minnesota Meets an Inland Ocean

Two and a half hours north on I-35. The highway crests a hill and Lake Superior appears — an inland ocean holding ten percent of the world's fresh surface water — and you understand why Minnesotans call this drive a pilgrimage.

The Aerial Lift Bridge in Canal Park rises vertically to let 1,000-foot ore freighters pass through the canal. Watching one slide beneath from six feet away, close enough to read hull markings, is one of the great free Midwest spectacles. The North Shore runs 150 miles on Highway 61 to the Canadian border through basalt cliffs, waterfalls, and boreal forest. Gooseberry Falls (30 min from Duluth) is most accessible. Split Rock Lighthouse (45 min) on a cliff 130 feet above the lake is the most photographed landmark in Minnesota.

Full day trip. Leave by seven, Duluth by nine-thirty, North Shore to Gooseberry or Split Rock, return same route. Layers essential — Lake Superior's surface rarely exceeds 50 degrees, shore weather twenty degrees colder than Minneapolis.