Nearly every fall for the past several years we’ve made the drive up to the north shore to spend a long weekend soaking up the outdoors, the beauty of the leaves changing and enjoying nature together as a family. It’s one of those trips that isn’t super fancy or lux but my kids talk about it ALL year long because they love it so much— and so do I. There is so much to do, so many family friendly hikes, cute coffee shops, trails and shoreline to throw rocks.. if you’ve never been, you’re gonna wanna add it to your bucket list because its a must do in the fall in Minnesota.

Best time to go: late September (I’ve now been early October and all the leaves were gone) and most recently because of sports we went up during the summer (July) and it was just as fun and beautiful with all the wild flowers.

We ALWAYS stay at the Eagle Ridge Resort which is tucked up on Lutsen Mountain, walking distance to the Gondola and alpine slide, and a quick hike to a stunning bridge overlooking a waterfall. All of the rooms are condo style, so they’re equipped with a kitchen and living room which makes it super convenient when traveling with kids because we can bring up groceries and cook in the room. We really don’t eat out much when we’re up there, if at all. Eagle Ridge also has a nice common area where they have an outdoor heated pool, large hot tub, sauna and workout space. My kids are obsessed with swimming there because its usually cold and there is steam coming up from the pool and the views are beautiful overlooking the turning leaves on Lutsen Mountain, and watching the Gondola go up and down.

Other places to stay: Caribou Highlands // Bluefin Bay //

We usually like to leave on a Wednesday and stay through Sunday, hikes and adventures take a while longer with kids haha but it’s worth it and I know my kids will remember our trips forever. On the way up we’ll stop in Duluth, grab coffee at 190 or eat at Duluth Grill before making our way up to Lutsen. This helps break up the long drive too. If you’re into pie than be sure to stop at Betty’s pies just north of Duluth, you won’t be disappointed, they are the best pies ive ever had and I don’t usually like pie. We then make a stop at black sand beach, and by this time we are over the drive and all the stops so we power through until we get to our final destination, Eagle Ridge Resort and Lodge.

Most mornings, we’ll make brekky, get a work out in, and grab coffees at Fika ( you NEED to get the maple latte, its the best ive ever had with fresh maple syrup) which is right up the road and right next to the cutest general store, so if you forgot anything, you can typically find it here, just a bit overpriced lol We typically plan our days based on the weather and our favorite hikes and if all else fails we go back to the resort and swim and hot tub.

How to plan your days:

Option one: Wake up, work out, grab coffees at Fika, head to Wild Country Maple Syrup stand and either do the Superior Hiking trail on the way there or on the way back, its a quick steep hike with a stunning view and all of my kids have done it. The trail is just off the side of the road, so you’ll see a parking lot on the right (headed to the maple syrup stand) then cross the road and up the hike you go, stay to the right on the trail when it comes to a split. This usually takes up most of the day, so we typically would go back to Eagle Ridge, swim for a bit and then make dinner and go to bed, BUT if you have a hair up your ass and want to really cram it in, you could continue to make your way up to Grand Marais, which is about 30 more miles north and a super cute marina town, which leads me to option two.

Option two: Wake up, work out, head to Grand Marais. We like to make a stop at Cascade Falls, which is a really fun hiking trail with waterfalls and a river you can walk to where my kids like to get in the water and try to catch fish ( and yes it is freezing cold water) After this, we continue our drive up to Grand Marais, make a stop at Java Moose coffee shop for a maple latte, donuts at the best donut shop or there are a ton of restaurants in grand Marais that are local, as well as lots of cute shops to bop into. You’ll then drive up to the parking lot near the light house. My boys love to throw rocks into Superior on the shoreline before making our way to the rocks to climb and lighthouse to walk to. If you go to the right, you’ll follow a narrow concrete slab to the light house and if you go to the left you can walk on all the rocks along the shoreline and actually make a loop around the entire area, its pretty cool and the views are stunning. They also have the “best donuts” which im not entirely sold on, but kinda fun to make the stop and there are several little antique shops and boutiques you can go into and find little trinkets and fun outdoor clothes. This is usually enough for our day so we make the hour drive back to Eagle Ridge, swim and hot tub, make dinner and head to bed.

Option three: wake up, work out, walk up to the bridge to look at the overlook waterfall, then hit the Gondola ride and alpine slide. This can take up a good chunk of your day, but if you want to fit in more you can head to CoHo coffee and bakery for lunch and coffees, and then make your way to Temperance River State Park for another really fun hike for kids, most recently my kids cliff jumped which they thought was the coolest thing they’ve ever done. There is a spot where you make it to the top to the left of the river flowing, with a small body of water that you can jump into. be sure to check depths prior because there are many rocks below that are shallow.

FAVORITE HIKES/SCENIC VIEWS:

Cascade State Park