Near Superior Hiking Trail north of Highway 61, on the right when traveling north.
So named in honor of Clarence R. Magney (1883-1962), lawyer, mayor of Duluth, district judge, justice of Minnesota’s Supreme Court, student of Minnesota history, defender of its wilderness areas, champion of their preservation.
As a young man . . . — — Map (db m232202) HM
Near South Gunflint Lake Road (County Highway 50) east of Gunflint Trail (County Highway 12).
Originally made from cedar and birch bark, the Canot du Nord functioned as the workhorse of the 18th and 19th century fur trade. These birch bark canoes could carry several tons of trade goods and between 4 and 6 voyageurs, the occupational . . . — — Map (db m235254) HM
On Gunflint Trail (County Route 12) south of Gunflint Lake Road, on the right when traveling north.
You are looking across Gunflint Lake at the Canadian shore. This was one of the international routes taken by the voyageurs in the late 1600's into the 1800's. — — Map (db m231493) HM
On Gunflint Trail (County Highway 12) south of Gunflint Lake Road, on the right when traveling north.
Gunflint Trail Area
The Gunflint Trail is one of Minnesota's most famous roads. Along its 56 miles are trails on old railroads, clear lakes, moose viewing areas, giant magnetic boulders, ancient meteor strikes, recovering fire areas, and . . . — — Map (db m235139) HM
On Gunflint Trail (County Route 12) south of Gunflint Lake Road, on the right when traveling north.
Wildfire!
At 11.44 am, May 5, 2007, a wildlife was reported in the vicinity of Ham Lake, near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the Gunflint Trail. By the time the Ham Lake Fire was 100% contained fourteen days later, it had . . . — — Map (db m231835) HM
On North Shore Scenic Drive (State Highway 61) 0.8 miles east of Cascade Beach Road (County Road 97), on the right when traveling east.
Listen! Can you hear echoes from the 1930s, when 200 men of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) used picks and shovels to construct the Cascade River Overlook?
The Overlook, where you stand today, is part of the 118-acre Cascade . . . — — Map (db m203021) HM
On North Shore Scenic Drive (State Highway 61) east of Old Shore Road, on the right when traveling east.
An Indian community of about 200 people was located in this area about 1915. An ancient Indian cemetery is located about two blocks northeast of this historic church — — Map (db m203254) HM
On State Highway 61 at milepost 117,, 1.3 miles north of County Highway 14, on the right when traveling north.
In 1906 this community was named in honor of Colonel William Colvill, commander of the First Minnesota Regiment.
At the Battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, this regiment was ordered to charge and advance of Confederates twenty times their . . . — — Map (db m232203) HM
When Newton H. Winchell, Minnesota's state geologist, and, Ulysses S. Grant II (the president’s son) surveyed this area in the 1890s, they concluded that a peak in the Misquah Hills was the state's highest point. Using an aneroid barometer, they . . . — — Map (db m151362) HM
On North Shore Scenic Drive (State Highway 61) 2.3 miles east of County Road 7, on the right when traveling north.
The rocks of the North Shore of Lake Superior record the last period of volcanic activity in Minnesota. This volcanism occurred 1.1 billion years ago when the North American continent began to rupture along a great rift valley, which extended from . . . — — Map (db m203069) HM
On North Shore Scenic Drive (State Highway 61) at Wisconsin Street, on the right when traveling east on North Shore Scenic Drive.
The harbor of Grand Marais is the result of unequal weathering or erosion of two types of rock. One of these, called diabase, resulted from the cooling of molten material which was forced between two earlier lava flows. The dark, massive diabase, . . . — — Map (db m203155) HM
On Broadway Avenue, 0.2 miles south of Wisconsin Street, on the right when traveling south.
Henry Mayhew, explorer, prospector, entrepreneur and county commissioner, was credited with developing Gunflint Trail and Grand Marais. Capitalizing on the North Shore's well-established commercial fishing and tourism industries, he constructed the . . . — — Map (db m203209) HM
Near Broadway Avenue, 0.2 miles south of Wisconsin Street, on the left when traveling south.
Ancient Volcanoes
1.1 billion years ago, 500 million years before invertebrates appeared, a giant volcanic rift began to open where Lake Superior now lies. Huge lava flows erupted from the rift, spreading over hundreds of square miles . . . — — Map (db m203225) HM
On Broadway Avenue (County Highway 10) 0.1 miles south of Wisconsin Street, on the right when traveling south.
In 1972 Consolidated Papers, Inc., of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., ended long distance rafting of pulpwood across Lake Superior. From 1923–1972, Consolidated rafted over two million cords of pulpwood from Minnesota and Canada to Ashland, Wis. Minnesota . . . — — Map (db m203083) HM
On State Highway 61 east of Old Shore Road, on the right when traveling east.
From the 1700s until the early 1900s, itinerant missionaries braved extreme hardships to minister sporadically to North Shore settlers. In 1855, Jesuit missionaries from Fort Williams, Ontario, served Chippewa City, an Ojibwe community of about 100 . . . — — Map (db m200626) HM
On North Shore Scenic Drive (State Highway 61) at Wisconsin Street, on the right when traveling east on North Shore Scenic Drive.
Lake Superior Indians recognized the unique nature of this bay long ago, naming it "Kitchi-Bitobig", meaning "double body of water." When white man first settled around this bay, in 1854, a few Indian families lived in tepees and cabins around the . . . — — Map (db m203151) HM
Near Broadway Avenue, 0.2 miles south of Wisconsin Street, on the left when traveling south.
Welcome!
The Point is a broad tombolo which defines the two natural harbors that have made Grand Marais an important spot on Lake Superior's shore for centuries. The 8.4 acre Point was conveyed to the federal government in 1942, and is part . . . — — Map (db m203216) HM
On County Route 60 at Gunflint Trail (County Route 12), on the left when traveling east on County Route 60.
Hedstrom Lumber Mill
This 6 acre site, bounded by the Gunflint Trail, County Road 60, and the Devil Track River, was home to the Hedstrom Lumber mill and office from 1914 to 1994. The 4 acre eastern portion, once boulder filled and rough, was . . . — — Map (db m231483) HM
Near Mill Creek Road, 0.2 miles south of Store Road.
In the 1960s, archeologists discovered here remains of a structure used between 1785 and 1802, unusual because it was built on posts. They found artifacts that match the bills of lading from bales, kegs, and cassettes (small trunks) that were canoed . . . — — Map (db m152972) HM
Near Mill Creek Road, 0.1 miles south of Store Road.
The Gates are shut always after sunset and...
there are two Sentries keeping a look out all
night chiefly for fear of accident by fire.
John Macdonell, Grand Portage, 1793
This gatehouse was not intended to . . . — — Map (db m152975) HM
Near State Highway 61, on the left when traveling north.
Minnesota's Northern Border
Determining, surveying, and marking Minnesota’s border with Canada took 142 years and left the state with a tag end called the Northwest Angle standing isolated and alone on the Canadian side of Lake of the . . . — — Map (db m206879) HM
Near Mill Creek Road, 0.6 miles north of Marina Road.
The Grand Portage, or "the great carrying place, Gichi Onigamiing, has been a meeting point for centuries: it was part of an extensive Native American trading network well before the first French trader arrived in 1731. Though the French formally . . . — — Map (db m152968) HM
On Mill Creek Road, 0.1 miles south of Store Road.
"All the buildings within the Fort are sixteen in number...Six of these buildings are Store Houses for the company's Merchandise and Furs, etc., the rest are dwelling houses shops compting and Mess House..."
John Macdonell 1793
"June . . . — — Map (db m153048) HM
Near Mill Creek Road, 0.2 miles south of Store Road.
The lever fur press, much like the reconstructed model before you, was frequently used at fur trading posts operated by the North West Company. It was simple to operate and could be constructed from wood found near the post. Fur pelts, with . . . — — Map (db m153042) HM
Near Mill Creek Road, 0.1 miles south of Store Road.
American Indians developed the birchbark canoe hundreds or thousands of years ago. It would provide the technology that allowed the North West Company to span the continent.
"Canots du Nord"
The 24-foot north canoes could be portaged . . . — — Map (db m153049) HM
On Mile Creek Road (County Route 17) at Store Road (County Route 73), on the left when traveling south on Mile Creek Road.
The Grand Portage, or Great Carrying Place, was a key 18th century link between the Pigeon River and Lake Superior, making it also a vital connection between Montreal and the rich fur-bearing lands far to the northwest. Traveled for centuries before . . . — — Map (db m62049) HM
Near Mill Creek Road, 0.2 miles south of Store Road.
Inside the Historic Depot in front of you are three of the sixteen buildings that once comprised the summertime headquarters of the North West Company. The depot was not a fort but instead a secure transshipment point for valuable furs and trade . . . — — Map (db m152973) HM
Near Mill Creek Road, 0.2 miles south of Store Road.
Montreal canoemen were hired to paddle to Grand Portage. Once there, each man had to carry several 90-pounds (41-kg) bundles of trade goods and supplies up the Grand Portage to Fort Charlotte, where the bundles were repacked for canoe brigades . . . — — Map (db m153054) HM
Near State Highway 61, on the right when traveling north.
Father Frederic Baraga, learning of a possible
epidemic afflicting the Indians at Grand Portage in 1846, set out in a small boat from Madeline Island in Wisconsin with an Indian guide.
An unexpected storm threatened them, but their lives were . . . — — Map (db m98448) HM
This was the view of the bay in front of you in the 1950s. It was the heyday of resorts in a fisherman's paradise at the end of the Gunflint Trail. — — Map (db m232018) HM
On Sag Lake Trail (County Route 11) north of Gunflint Trail (County Route 12), on the right when traveling north.
Saganaga Lake is located along the Border Route, an ancient travel route between Lake Superior and the interior waters of Lac La Pluie (Rainy Lake) that is often referred to as The Voyageur's Highway.
Saganaga Lake was an . . . — — Map (db m231492) HM
On Moose Pond Drive (County Route 81) north of Gunflint Trail (County Route 12) when traveling west.
Saganaga Lake is located along the Border Route, an ancient travel route between Lake Superior and the interior waters of Lac La Pluie (Rainy Lake) that is often referred to as The Voyageur's Highway.
Saganaga Lake was an . . . — — Map (db m232520) HM
The word "portage" is French for "to carry."
Canoe rests were built between 1933 - 1942 in the Superior Roadless Wilderness Area, now known as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC). . . . — — Map (db m232921) HM
You are standing near the former site of the Judge's Cabin built approximately 1934.
"American Plan" was a popular cabin rental option from the 1920s-1970s. American Plan cabins were furnished with beds, chairs, dressers, and a wash . . . — — Map (db m235864) HM
Trapper's lives were spartan and generally routine.
Before freeze-up, they brought in supplies, cut wood, and weather-proofed their cabins and shelters. Returning in November, they set trap lines along trails looping fifty miles or so through . . . — — Map (db m231548) HM
This log was taken from a dead red pine (Pinus resinosa) tree growing on Voyageurs Island in Lake Saganaga.
Through a process called crossdating, the growth rings of this tree have been matched to those of living trees growing elsewhere in . . . — — Map (db m231689) HM
