RVentures with Doug and Chris: The Lake Superior Circle Tour: Superior Beauty Around Every Curve

Hailed as the largest, deepest, and coldest fresh water lake in the world, Lake Superior has been a source of beauty and wonder throughout the ages. Its coastline is lined with ancient granite boulders, rich mineral deposits, and an occasional sandy beach ... although I'm not sure who would want to swim in its 39 degree waters. The Lake Superior Circle Tour, a 1100+mile road trip that circumvents this "greatest of the Great Lakes", has long been on our travel bucket list. This route, which passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and the Canadian province of Ontario, rewards travelers with ...

Superior beauty around every curve.

From the mesmerizing waterfalls,

to the artistic rock formations,

to the solitary lighthouses,

to the resilient wildflowers,

to the curious wildlife,

Lake Superior steals your heart even as it freezes your toes!

When we lived in Minnesota, we had many opportunities to explore Lake Superior since it borders the North Shore of Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Through the years we enjoyed the iconic beauty of ...

the Split Rock Lighthouse,

the Isle Royale wilderness,

the Upper Peninsula's fall colors,

the powerful Tahquamenon Falls,

and the winter wonderland of the Apostle Island snow caves.

But we had never explored Lake Superior's Canadian shoreline ... until now.

It's time to complete the Lake Superior Circle Tour!

Launching Point: Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth has long been one of our favorite towns, and it is even more fun (and affordable) when we're in a van parked by the lakeshore! The public parking lots charge $12 for 24 hours of parking, so we chose our spot under the shadow of the Aerial Lift Bridge in Canal Park and settled in for a three day visit. Lots of activity during the day, but it was quiet at night ... unless a ship decided to come in. Then our peaceful slumber was momentarily interrupted by the tanker's blaring horn announcing its arrival.

From our parking spot it was easy to get on Duluth's boardwalk or bike path to access some of the city's many breweries and restaurants. Some of our favorites: Duluth Coffee Company, Warrior Brewing, Cloud 9 "all you can eat" Sushi, Old Chicago Pizza, and Love's Ice Creamery. Sunset strolls while listening to the sound of the waves are the best!

A Quick Two Days Up the North Shore of Minnesota

From Duluth we started our Circle Tour along the familiar North Shore of Minnesota. Despite the clouds and threat of rain, we were able to do some bike rides along two different sections of the Gitchi-Gami Bike Trail. This trail runs along the lakeshore and has a fair amount of hills, which makes me love our new electric bikes even more!

Onward Into Canada: Thunder Bay

We crossed into Canada at Grand Portage and were able to see the High Falls of the Pigeon River from the Canadian side.

The city of Thunder Bay is about an hour north of the border, and since it is the largest city that we were going to encounter for a while, we decided to spend three days exploring the city. Through our Harvest Host membership, we were able to connect with a delightful couple who live near the center of town. Over the next three days, we shared travel stories and sightseeing recommendations as we boondocked in their driveway.

Our first stop was the highly recommended Kebekake Falls with great views and some trails for hiking. Unfortunately, our excursion was cut short when a dog passing us on the path decided that he didn't like Doug and proceeded to bite him in the leg! Yes, I know everyone is wondering who wouldn't like Doug??? After finding out from the owner that the dog was up to date with his rabies shots, we got to experience Canada's universal health care system ... which isn't free to visiting Americans but is still quite reasonable compared to an ER visit in the US.

Fortunately antibiotics and a good craft beer can cure just about anything.

...as can a good coffee from The Habit Coffee House. We loved the way this cute cafe brought new life to an old abandoned church.

During our walks around town, we could often see a famous landmark in the distance. Following the recommendation of our hosts, we set out to meet "the sleeping giant".

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park lies on the Sibley Peninsula just east of Thunder Bay. The cliffs, valleys, and mesas on the western edge of the park form the peninsula's most prominent land feature.

Can you see the "giant" sleeping

on the other side of our campground?

Provincial parks (equivalent to the US's state parks) feature some incredible scenery, hiking and camping. And because "summer" doesn't typically begin in Canada until July 1 (Canada Day), last minute reservations were fairly easy to obtain. I loved watching the sunset from our lakeside campsite.

In the park, the fourteen mile round trip hike to the "Top of the Giant" is considered one of the best (and most challenging) day-hikes in Ontario ... for more seasoned hikers than us! We happily settled for a more "moderate" hike to catch a view of the Sea Lion arch ... after years of erosion, I'm thinking that he looks more like a sea elephant.

In Search of Amethyst

We were told that the western shore of Lake Superior is famous for finding purple gems which intrigued the "geologist" in Doug and the wanna-be "crafter" in me.

Willow Diamond Amethyst Mine allows visitors to search for their own jewels. You pay based on the size of the rocks that you take home. After searching for "little" treasures, we washed and sorted through our rocks. Our small bag of pretty purple gems cost us $5 (Canadian). Who knows, I may even do something crafty with them someday.

Entering the Land of Hills, Hikes, and Waterfalls

As we rounded the northern border of Lake Superior, the landscape changed once again. Wind, weather and water has over time shaped the hills and valleys. Water from inland rivers tumble down waterfalls as it makes its way into Lake Superior and eventually flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

A walk around the town of Nipigon took us across this impressive bridge, down into the river valley and around the small, sleepy town.

Beautiful roadside vistas like this were plentiful ... and made a beautiful backdrop as I prepared lunch.

Using Google Maps and All Trails, Doug was able to find many hiking trails that almost always led us to a waterfall. Views like this deserve their own blog post ... coming soon.

Boondockers' Paradise

We have enjoyed some of the most beautiful boondocking sites during our travels through Canada, and these hidden treasures continued to be plentiful on the Lake Superior shores.

This one came with a complimentary sunset view!

Back in Yooper Land

We crossed back into the United States through Sault Ste Marie. Even though the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is familiar territory for us, we still managed to find some new treasures as we continued our Circle Tour.

Made famous by Gordon Lightfoot's 1976 rock ballad, The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum overlooks a particularly treacherous area of Lake Superior. The museum recounts the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald and many other ships that have been lost in its stormy waters.

MI DOG Summer Sled Dog Center

Google Maps led us to another treasure about ten miles south of Tahquamenon Falls. Lured by reviews singing the praises of being able to "cuddle puppies", we discovered one of our most memorable roadside attractions ever! The MI DOG Summer Sled Dog Center is the home and training park of 27-year-old Laura Neese, a passionate, knowledgeable and personable Sled Dog owner and musher.

For $15 each, we were treated to a 90 minute tour of her training facility as we learned about the world of Sled Dog racing through the personal stories of Laura herself. She and her canine companions have already completed the 1000 mile Iditarod and Yukon Quest two times each. Her stories of gliding through deep arctic snows in dark -60 degree temps made us appreciate the skills and trust that both the dogs and their leader must have.

Laura introduced us to a few of her 18 plus Alaskan Husky Sled Dog team. She is very familiar with each dog's unique personality as she has raised and trained most of them and works with them closely. A few of her dogs, like Winkle (pictured above) are now "retired" from racing, but still have an important job of helping to train the new puppies that were born in May.

And we found out that we, as visitors, also had an important job of helping the pups get used to other humans. This is my kind of retirement job!

Pictured Rocks Kayaking Tour

There are two ways to appreciate the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore ... from land and from water. In 2017 we hiked high above the cliffs and saw some amazing views of the lake below. We also saw many groups of kayakers in the lake below and were hopeful that we could someday see the Pictured Rocks from the water level.

Well, our someday finally arrived. When "sunny", "calm winds", and "warm temps" all appeared on the same weather forecast for Munising, Michigan, Doug quickly made reservations with Lake Superior Kayaking, and we set off on our long-awaited five mile, two hour paddle.

The multiple colors are the artistic result of the seepage of different minerals (with the help of the groundwater) through cracks in the rocks,

and each archway, cave and cliff proudly displayed nature's unique artistry.

Random Roadside Sights

The Lake Superior Circle Tour has many unique sights around each curve of the road. Some of our favorites included ...

... a large "garden" filled with sculptures made of Lake Superior driftwood, rocks, and whatever else the artist desired alongside the North Shore of Minnesota,

... displays of First Nation clothing and artifacts that celebrate the contributions of Lake Superior's first inhabitants,

... a black bear who seemed a bit too curious to see what yummy snacks our van might contain,

... the Wawa Goose sculpture that was created by the citizens of this small town in Ontario as a way to encourage tourists to stop and check out their businesses,