Exploring The Minnesota North Shore With Voyager Campervans
If you’re looking for the perfect way to explore the Minnesota North Shore, you might want to consider renting a van with Voyager Campervans. This allows you complete freedom to work your way up Highway 61 at your own pace.
Read: VOYAGER CAMPERVANS- AN HONEST REVIEW
For $40 off your first rental, use code: emilyrose40
Whether you take your own car or rent a campervan, here’s our complete 3 day itinerary for you to follow, tweak accordingly or recreate!
Things to note:
- You’ll need a Minnesota State Park Pass
- You can reserve campsites ahead of time here. There is a $7 fee to reserve in a spot in advance (this is not charged if you reserve it the same day as arrival) but during the summer some of these campsites can be quite popular so advanced reservations may be necessary
- For our route, we started in Duluth & ended in Grand Marais before coming back to return out campervan in Minneapolis
3 Day Itinerary
Day 1: Minneapolis to Duluth
2 hours & 20 minutes
We picked up our campervan at 2pm & made our way to Duluth, arriving around 4:30pm. We spent our first half day with the van exploring the beautiful port city of Duluth and the surrounding parks.
Our Half Day Duluth Itinerary:
- Walk along the shore of Lake Superior
- Snap a photo with the beloved aerial lift bridge
- Check out the iconic lighthouses
- Climb up Enger Tower for views over Duluth
- Have dinner at Grandma’s or Fitger’s Brewhouse
- Hike to Tischer Creek Falls in Congdon Park
1st night: Knife River
Our road trip up the North Shore happened after the coronavirus pandemic prior to the campgrounds opening back up.
So after confirming with a local cop that we could park overnight at a rest stop, we decided to stay at the Knife River rest stop.
Knife River Rest Stop
Hwy 61 Milepost: 18
Knife River, Minnesota
Picnic table, public bathrooms & free of charge
However campgrounds are open again and you could reserve a camping spot at any number of campgrounds during your North Shore road trip with a Voyager campervan.
Check out this complete list: Campgrounds on the North Shore
Day 2: Lighthouses, State Parks, Waterfalls, Hiking
Plan to wake up early and make the most of this day! There is no shortage of hiking trails and state parks along Highway 61 as you head north so you’ll want to get an early start on your adventures.
Our Day 2 Itinerary Highlights:
- Two Harbors
- Gooseberry Falls
- Split Rock Lighthouse
- Pellet Island
- Black Beach
- Palisade Head
- Tettegouche State Park
- Grand Marais
First stop: Two Harbors
Make some breakfast in the back of your van and go for a stroll down to the Two Harbors lighthouse.
If you have time, you can tour the Two Harbors Light Station, which is the oldest operating lighthouse in Minnesota. It was lit for the first time on April 14, 1892.
Gooseberry Falls
After leaving Two Harbors, make your way to the popular park, Gooseberry Falls which is home to a the well known waterfalls, a campground and 20 miles of hiking trails.
If you have a full day of state parks planned like our itinerary, I recommend just doing the short walk from the parking lot to the falls. There will be a lot more hiking available!
Important to note: Minnesota State Park Pass is required here
You can purchase one when you arrive or ahead of time here.
It’s $7 for a day or $35 unlimited for the season. It’s car specific but not park specific! Meaning once you pay $7 for the day, you can also use the park pass to get into Split Rock Lighthouse, Tettegouche State Park etc. However if you’re using a rental campervan it doesn’t make sense to buy the unlimited year pass because you won’t have the same car with you all year. So opt for the $7 day pass!
Split Rock Lighthouse
You can’t miss the turn off for this iconic Minnesota North Shore destination, it will be well marked from Highway 61.
You can go inside the lighthouse on your own or by guided tour from March through October depending on weather conditions.
Even if the lighthouse isn’t open, you can still enjoy views from the beach and the stairs year round!
Pellet Island
This unexpexted gem was a favorite of our trip.
The day we climbed over the rocks out to Pellet Island, the fog was so thick we could barely see 15 feet in from of us.
It’s only one mile round trip but the hike out to the island isn’t for everyone, you’ll be scaling over large rocks on Lake Superior!
Read: PELLET ISLAND: A MUST-DO TREK FOR THE ADVENTUROUS MINNESOTAN
Black Beach
Stop by this small but interesting and unique black beach in Silver Bay. You can access it through the industrial park between Northshore Minning and before reaching the AmericInn.
Palisade Head
An easy hike with a jaw dropping view, Palisade Head is not to be missed!
Again this lookout will be marked as your are driving up Highway 61. If you are driving north, there will be free parking on your right hand side.
Then simply follow the path up and soon you’ll find yourself at this rocky cliffside. Isn’t it glorious?
Tettegouche State Park
This park is full of great hiking trails but on a 3 day itinerary, you’ll have to pick and choose your hikes. It’s impossible to do them on a short schedule!
We knew High Falls had some of the best views/greatest pay off so opted for this trail. When you first enter the park, drive all the way up through the park to the very last parking lot. Then you can follow the signage to High Falls.
We made the trek on a weekday immediately after a massive rainfall so not only did we have the place mostly to ourselves but the falls were overflowing.
Grand Marais
Our final stop on Highway 61: the beautiful Grand Marais! This tiny little town is the gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the scenic byway, Gunflint Trail.
So while the population of the town itself is small, plan to encounter lots of outdoor enthusiasts who have come to explore the surrounding area.
Check out the charming Drury Lane Books & World’s Best Donuts, two Grand Marais staples!
Dinner: Sven & Ole’s Pizza
You can’t get much more Minnesotan than ordering a wild rice pizza at Sven & Ole’s in Grand Marais! We took our delicious pizza down to the shore and watched a beaver swimming around the lake as the sun began to set.
So why order the wild rice pizza? Well did you know wild rice was a staple food for Minnesota’s Indians for centuries? Eventually it was adopted as the official state grain in 1977. We eat a lot of wild rice here. But I’ve never seen it on pizza before Sven & Ole’s and it was delicious!
Walk down to the lighthouse for sunet!
2nd night: Tettegouche Rest Stop
Again, campsites hadn’t fully opened again due to the pandemic but we were able to park overnight in the Tettegouche Visitor Center/Rest Stop. They have large 24-hour bathrooms and plenty of available parking. The night we were there, 3 other campervans also parked overnight.
However with the campgrounds opening back up, you could easily get an actual campsite at Tettegouche Park.
You could also stay overnight in Grand Marais at Grand Marais Campground and Marina. (114 South 8th Avenue West | Grand Marais, MN 55604).
Day 3: Drive Back to Minneapolis
If you can get get the campervan for a 4th day, I highly suggest it! By the time we picked it up the first day, hiked and explore the second, we felt we ran out of time to see everything because the third morning was mostly driving back .
We opted for a grab and go breakfast and as we drove back, we stopped at some lookout points we had missed the day before.
Optional: Save time in the morning to do the hike out to Shovel Point. It’s a Minnesota North Shore favorite!
The perfect summer roadtrip!
I hope you have as much fun exploring the Minnesota North Shore as we did. It’s such a highlight of our state, you’ll probably find yourself coming back each year! Let me know if you have any questions about your upcoming trip 🙂
Don’t forget to pack:
- Bug Spray
- Quick Drying Towel: if you plan to be living out of the van for more than a few days, you’ll want a dry towel!
- Dry Shampoo: you might be washing your hair less than usual so bring along some dry shampoo
- AUX cord: cue up some road trip jams or a new podcast, the vans are modern and equipped with AUX plugins
- Plenty of road trip snacks!
More on the Minnesota North Shore:
Which waterfalls can I see without more than a mile hike?