Grand Marais

Nice little artsy town on Lake Superior. Best to visit the North School where wonderful and practical boats are hand made. Spend some money on a visiting artist, buy your wife something in the outdoor shop, find a restaurant (they’re all good) and you’ve seen it all.

This is one of my favorite places. My family started going up to grand marais when I was about 5 and bought a cabin near it a few years after that. It’s such a pretty little town, everyone is so friendly and there’s so much to do! I love going to the Angry Trout or just walking around town. The North House Folk School is one of the most unique places I’ve been. You can take classes on building boats, cooking bread, knife making, painting… I loved the timber framing class I took, definitely a good place to check out. Overall just a fun, peaceful, quaint little town.

We are from the US living in Canada and I wanted my kids to have a real 4th of July celebration so we drove there from Thunder Bay for the day. The parade was a blast… first came a high school band,, then some classic cars and firre trucks,,, about 10 floats went by, then we waited, what next??? Surprise the entire parade went around again!!!! Great little town and very friendly.

My boyfriend and I went here to celebrate our one-year anniversary. We rented a condo from some friends, and it was right on the shore. At the end of August, there weren’t many families on vacation, so I suspect that it wasn’t as busy as if it were mid-summer. And most of the rest of the tourists cleared out on Sunday afternoon, so it was really quiet that night and Monday morning.

After receiving some good recommendations of things to do from friends and on this site, we had a list of things to do. We made another list while we were there, since we discovered things we’d like to try or do but didn’t have time for. Great excuse to plan another trip.

Some things we especially enjoyed: Sven & Olie’s pizza, hiking (we tried the Sweetheart’s Bluff trail, which was really difficult to find, but a nice climb up a cliff once we did), donuts (“World’s Best”), Artist’s Point, and skipping rocks on the shore.

Some things to keep in mind: lots of places closed on Sunday; Gene’s IGA had a better selection than Johnson’s grocery; bring good walking sandals for the beach (it’s rocks, not sand); the fog seemed to roll in as the sun began to set, so make sure and spend as much time in the outdoors in the morning and afternoon as you want; use sunscreen before going out on a hike – there’s not much shade, and it’s stronger than you might think (I got pretty burnt our last day there).

The drive from the Twin Cities isn’t too long – about 5 hours, give or take. Duluth was a nice stopping point for halfway. At the end of August, the sun was setting around 7:30 or 8, so bring a good book to read or some movies to watch, since there’s nothing to do in town after dark except eat.

All in all, I can’t wait to go back. Off-season rates at the hotels might be something to look into, if you’re looking to get away and can do so in the fall or spring. Also, you’re only about 50 miles from Canada, so if you’re planning a longer trip, it might be worth it to add in a day to go up there. We didn’t, so I can’t offer any advice as to what might be up there (other than Canadians), but maybe someone else can.

it’s pretty and worth the drive thru the north country (in the summer, that is) . . . great sunsets, too. bring your camera, quite
a lot of photo ops.