Two days in Lutsen, MN

Fall in the North Shore is a trip my kids adore, they talk about it all year long and we’ve done it for many years now so it’s become a tradition. There really is nothing quite like fall in the north shore, the crisp air, the changing of leaves, the hikes and nature, and coziness it brings. Now that my kids are getting older and in travel sports its getting incredibly hard to make it up in the fall months, so this year we went in late July so we could still experience everything it has to offer. I’ll be the first to admit, it wasn’t the same but it was still lovely and the instead of pretty leaves we got wild flowers and clear blue waters.

Here’s everything we did in 2 days to Jam Pack our trip and make the most of our time in Lutsen. We left on a Friday afternoon, stopped in Duluth for a bite to eat and made our way up to Lutsen Mountain. we have stayed at eagle ridge for the past 6 years, we personally love it. its well kept, clean, has a nice outdoor pool and hot tub area which stays open all year round I believe, a fitness center, and condo style rooms that have a living area and kitchenette which we love because we like to bring our own food. The kids swam Friday night of course, then Saturday morning jay and I got up early to go for a run on the trails.

First stop was Fika coffee before making our way up to Grand Marais. the maple syrup latte is to die for. We then made our way to Cascade state park, a favorite hike for my kids with lots of waterfall over looks and a river at the end which usually has fish in it during the late fall months. After this easy hike we continued our drive more north until we got to grand Marais, we stopped at a brewery for lunch before we drove over to the lighthouse and did the loop to the left of the lighthouse. the rock formations are stunning and the water was crystal clear blue. there is also a ton of cute shops and coffee shops, and ice cream shops you can stop in and walk around to. it was a beautiful day and the kids wanted to hit up the alpine slide and swim more so we skipped the maple syrup stand which was probably fine because the drive there is unreal in the fall with all the orange maple trees in full bloom. the alpine slide is walkable from our resort which makes it an easy activity to do and its actually really fun. (in the fall we also like to do the gondola to see all the fall colors, but given the time of year we were there this time we opted to skip it)

the next morning we walked up to the superior hiking trail, down the dirt road, past the gift shop and charlies. there’s a beautiful look out view above a bridge that you have to see and is a very quick walk. afterwards we packed up and hit up Fika coffee one last time, then started our drive home. we wanted to do one more hike so we stopped and temperance state park where our hike turned into cliff jumping and the boys thought it was the best day of their lives. if you reach the top of the hike, to the left is an area where you can jump into the water where its deep enough. we would usually stop at black sand beach, but opted out again because we’ve been there many times but if you haven’t its a beautiful view and worth the stop IMO. we ended our north shore adventures at Bettys pies for lunch and pie with the boys before making the final trek back home.

although our trip wasn’t the same as it usually was, we enjoyed the outdoors, the hikes, the coffees, and everything the north shore has to offer. we truly love it up here and hope to continue to make this little family tradition happen year after year.

xoxo Mari