Features

5 easy hikes on Minnesota’s North Shore

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If you’re looking for some scenic hiking trails in Minnesota, the North Shore offers some of the best options. From easy walks to more challenging hikes, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Here are some of the top North Shore hiking trails to add to your bucket list.

5 tips for every beginner camping trip

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While there are rules and guidelines everyone should follow, there are many different ways to plan a great camping trip. Check out these tips for beginners and ensure you’ll want to camp again.

Snowshoeing George Washington Pines, photos by Holly Scherer

Beautiful beginner snowshoe route – George Washington Pines

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“George Washington Pines is the best trail I know of for beginner snowshoers. At two and a half miles, it’s short and easy to complete in about an hour. The trail itself is flat, so other than making your way over the banks created by snowplows, there are no challenging hills or obstacles to maneuver.”

Fall Surprises on the Section 13 Cliffs

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“That will make a great story,” I thought, as I started my climb to the Section 13 Cliffs on the Superior Hiking Trail. I was only 0.3 miles into my hike and I already had a story to tell.

Icy Wonderland

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“I could hear the ice shattering like panes of glass as it came ashore… One moment you can see an endless expanse of skim ice and with a shift of the wind it can be gone, waves lapping the shoreline – sculpting ice as far as the eye can see.”

For the Love of Loons

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“As twilight descended and the fire settled to glowing embers, the stillness of the night was shattered by the unmistakable tremolo of the common loon. Within moments, loons from other territories and adjacent lakes began to respond, and the air came to life with the reverberating echo that we long to hear…”

Showy Lady's Slipper by Ben Olson

Orchids of the Northwoods – Lady’s Slippers and beyond

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“It all began by happenstance…The trail was overgrown, littered with fallen boles, when I noticed a glimmering iridescence unlike anything I had seen before. I had stumbled upon on one of Minnesota’s most common orchid species, the stemless (pink) lady’s slipper, glimmering with rain drops…”

Boreal Birding in the Bogs of Northern Minnesota

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The sun casts its auburn spell on the red osier dogwood of a sedge meadow…we head to a bog that attracts many boreal winter birds to the area, particularly in Cook, Minnesota. Why do they come to the bog? How do they live here? What attracts birds to this habitat in northern Minnesota?

Ghosts of the Northwoods

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Photojournalist Ben Olson shares his trek to find Minnesota’s elusive lynx. “My obsession with Canada lynx stems from a series of unexpected events and chance encounters…” 

Wilderness Voices: Kelly Beaster

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“While I create each drawing, I get to re-visit past trips and adventures, and I notice things from the drawing itself that I didn’t from the photograph, details that were always there, but the drawing has brought out new details…”