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Fall hikes close to home

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Get out and explore!

Whether you’re looking to take a nice fall hike through the backcountry or hike the Lakewalk, there is a plethora of trails and paths to hike in and around Canal Park.

What better time to get out and enjoy Duluth than in the fall. Who doesn’t love to explore to look at fire red and school bus yellow trees on top of the beautiful Duluth scenery? If you’re really looking to be adventurous, ExploreMN has an active fall hike sweepstakes going on.  All you have to do is go to their page, registered yourself to win a variety of Minnesota getaway packages, then go hike one of the many trails they have listed and upload your photo to Instagram tagged with #OnlyinMN.

For those of you that are looking to stay a bit more local, don’t worry, there are plenty of trails to hike in and around Duluth!

Canal Park Hikes:

  • The Lakewalk
    • Length: 7.5 miles one way
    • Level of difficulty: easy
  • Park Point Trail 
    • Length: 2 miles one way
    • Level of difficulty: easy to intermediate
  • Minnesota Point
    • Length: 7 miles
    • Level of difficulty: easy to intermediate

park point

Duluth Hikes:

  • Chester Park Trail
    • Length: 4.2 miles
    • Level of difficulty: easy to challenging
  • Hartley Park Trails
    • Length: Varies (you can pick any of the trails)
    • Level of difficulty: easy to intermediate
  • Hawk Ridge Trails
    • Length: 5 miles
    • Level of difficulty: easy to challenging
  • Piedmont Trail
    • Length: 3.4 miles
    • Level of difficulty: easy to challenging
  • Western Waterfront Trail
    • Length: 3.2 miles
    • Level of difficulty: easy
  • Willard Munger State Trail
    • Length: 4.5 miles
    • Level of difficulty: easy
  • Superior Hiking Trail
    • Length: 34.5 miles in the Duluth area
    • Level of difficulty: Moderate to challenging

leaf path

Northshore Hikes:

  • Gooseberry Falls State Park
    • Length: Varies depending on the trail pick
    • Level of difficulty: easy to challenging
  • Split Rock Lighthouse State Park
    • Length: 12 miles total (3 along Lake Superior)
    • Level of difficulty: easy to moderate
  • Split Rock/ Beaver Bay
    • Length: 4.4 miles
    • Level of difficulty: moderate to challenging
  • Tettegouche State Park
    • Length: 23 miles total
    • Level of difficulty: moderate to difficulty (difficult due to the high quantity of steep stairs)
  • SIlvery Bay/ Little Marais/ Finland
    • Length: 6.8 miles
    • Level of difficulty: more difficult
  • George H Crosby-Manitou State Park
    • Length: 24 miles
    • Level of difficulty: easy to moderate (a lot of brush)
  • Tofte/ Schroder
    • Length: 3 miles
    • Level of difficulty: moderate
  • Lutsen
    • Length: 2.25 miles
    • Difficulty: moderate
  • Look out mountain and cascade river loop
    • Length: 18 miles of various trails
    • Level of difficulty: easy to moderate
  • Grand Marais
    • Length: Varies on the trail that you want to take
    • Level of difficulty: easy
  • Pincushion mountain
    • Length: varies on the trail that you take
    • Level of difficulty: easy to moderate

bright fall colors

And so much more! The Duluth and Northshore area is beautiful year round, but take advantage of these cooler fall days and soak up every fall view you can!

Make sure to use the #ExploreMN or #explorecanalpark when you take a picture of your hike!

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