Best Things to do in Duluth, MN along Lake Superior. Minnesota's North Shore Destination.
Minnesota‘s North Shore is the perfect weekend getaway to enjoy the great outdoors and some amazing beer!
Duluth is located 2 hours North of the Twin Cities along Lake Superior. It’s the 4th largest city in the land of 10,000+ lakes and a beautiful destination for hiking, camping, skiing/snowboarding and even surfing!
When to visit Duluth, MN
Duluth has so much to offer all year round, but we typically visit in the Fall when the leaves are turning or in Winter to hit the slopes.
Things to do in Duluth, MN
We've listed our favorite things to do to help plan out your itinerary, somewhat in chronological order. We've also listed other options that we may have not been to or it's been too long for us to review. We hope you enjoy reading and plan a trip to the North Shore soon!
Breakfast / Brunch at Duluth Grill
Load up on a hearty breakfast at Duluth Grill to start off your day. The Huevos Rancheros (pictured) and Everything Skillet are superb, seriously! We’ve been to Duluth so many times and can‘t believe we just discovered this place last year! It’s not a secret either, everyone knows about the Duluth Grill and there’s a reason why. It’s a family centric restaurant with a menu that would satisfy any foodie. And they sell delicious french macaroons, that we left on the roof of our car...insert crying emoji.
Donuts at Johnson's Bakery
After our plans to drive up to Lutsen and Grand Marais changed with storms in the forecast, we decided to start the morning with donuts and coffee! Johnson's Bakery is a no fuss, straight forward, classic bakery type of place. Ohh and they are absolutely DELICIOUS, you must go!
Coffee at Dovetail Café & Marketplace
With a bag full of donuts, we needed to find some coffee to wash them down with. The Folk School nearby has a Cafe. Not only does this building house a cafe, it has a wood house built inside with a cute marketplace of local artists (yes we bought the MN print). They also have live music, an impressive taplist and classes where you can build your own wooden canoe paddle among lots of other things. If you're looking for amazing craft coffee drinks and a great atmosphere to enjoy it in, this is a must!
Hike Tettegouche State Park
Head an hour North, just past the city of Silver Falls to Tettegouche State Park. There are so many trails in the North Shore, but Tettegouche is our new favorite.
Check out Shovel Point for a short 1.2 mile out and back hike along Lake Superior’s coast. It’s right off the visitor’s center parking lot with breathtaking views of the coast line.
Hike Bean & Bear Lake
And then there’s Bean & Bear Lakes which starts at Silver Bay Trailhead. It’s a 6.3 mile loop that we missed out on last year because of the snow, but made it happen this year!! The trail is a part of the Superior Hiking Trail or SHT that spans 310 miles starting just South of Duluth to the Canadian border, it’s an absolutely stunning hike with so much colorful foliage, exotic mushrooms and gorgeous views overlooking the lakes. (Tip: be prepared for mud and wear waterproof hiking boots!)
Hit the slopes at Spirit Mountain or further North at Lutsen
If you’re venturing to Duluth in Winter, be sure to pack your skis and snowboards. Spirit Mountain is only 10 minutes away from downtown to make it a full day on the slopes and then back downtown for some breweries.
Or head further North, 2 hours to Lutsen. Lutsen is great for winter activities and also warmer weather activities. We wanted to head up to ride the Gondola and hike back down, but we’ll have to wait until next year.
Explore Gooseberry Falls
Gooseberry Falls is 45 mins North of Duluth or 20 mins South of Tettegouche State Park. We like to walk the loop, which provides other great vantage points and access to the upper falls.
Visit Split Rock Lighthouse
Split Rock Lighthouse is less than 10 minutes from Gooseberry Falls. There‘s a short hike along the coastline with gorgeous views.
Check out Palisade Head
Palisade Head viewpoint is just off the highway before Tettegouche State Park, it's a quick stop and beautiful on clear days!
Canal Park
Canal Park is home of Duluth's Aerial Liftbridge, Lakewalk and Lighthouse Pier along the shores of Lake Superior. Take a relaxing morning stroll and take in the vast waters of the largest Great Lake and the world's largest freshwater lake, which is 10% of the worlds fresh water! (Bent Paddle uses these pristine waters to brew their beer)
Glensheen Mansion Tour
When your outdoor plans change, head to Glensheen Mansion for a guided or self guided tour of this historic landmark. The last time I visited was in 5th grade and Jake had never been so we were excited to learn about history! The guided tours were all sold out for the day, but the self guided tour comes with an easy to use app and you can go at your own pace. Its a beautiful mansion and so interesting to read about all their modern day technologies this family used in the early 1900s, including an electronic car...seriously! Make sure to read about the murder because it's not a part of the tour...and it's still a mystery...
Betty's Pies
If you are traveling up the North Shore, be sure to stop at Betty's Pies for a slice of heaven! I got my favorite, Banana Cream, Jake got French Silk. Both were delicious, but the Banana Cream reigned supreme! We also got a ton of recommendations to get pie at Rustic Inn, just a little bit further North, we'll definitely be stopping their net year!
Castle Danger Brewing
On your way back from any of the Northern cities, be sure to stop at Castle Danger Brewing for some "Dangerously Good Ales" after a busy day of hiking and sightseeing. Castle Danger Brewing is located in Two Harbors with views of Lake Superior on their impressive outdoor patio. Order their Castle Cream Ale, which is a fan favorite.
Fitger’s Brewhouse
Fitger's Brewhouse is a historical landmark in Duluth, MN. It opened in 1881 and was booming for 35 years. During Prohibition, they sold 5 cent candy bars including Nut Goodie and it's biggest success was Silver Spray, a non-alcoholic mixer that tasted and sparkled like champagne. It was such a stand out mixer for homemade moonshine that it sold in 31 states across the nation. After Prohibition ended, Fitger's became one of the first U.S. companies and the first in the Midwest to offer canned beer.
Today, they have a small tasting room called the Barrel Room across from the Brewery & Grille to grab a few pints and small bites or check out their full menu restaurant serving local favorites like their MN Wild Rice Burgers. As for beers, our favorites are El Nino IPA for a west coast style with a beautiful floral hop aroma, Haze NE IPA, which gives you a great balance of juicy and hoppy (our favorite kind of hazy) & their limited release Barrel Aged Dark Days Stout with no adjuncts, simply delicious!
Ursa Minor Brewing
Ursa Minor was Duluth's newest brewery when we visited last year, located on West Superior St. This is an absolute must if you're in Duluth. We were so impressed by their beer (all of them) and taproom. The name was derived by the constellation Ursa Minor, which contains the North Star, the brightest star in the sky. Craft Beer is their guiding light, bringing their community together one beer (and pizza) at a time. As for beer, all of them were two thumbs up, their tap list rotates out frequently so everything we had is long gone.
This year, our experience was just as amazing! They had doubled or even tripled their taplist from last year which was really exciting to see. And because everything sounded so good, we both got flights! Our favorites were the Peach Sour and Hazy ‘bout You IPA. Ursa is one of those destination breweries, we wish was closer!
Bent Paddle Brewing
We loved Bent Paddle Brewing before, but their new taproom (right across the street from their old location) is phenomenal! If you love the outdoors and great beer, this is the place for you. Their taproom is a nod to the adventurous, outdoor life on Minnesota's North Shore. And with their new taproom expansion, they've expanded their tap list with limited releases and experimental beers. But they still have their flagships like Bent Hop, which we love so much, we served it at our wedding and Cold Press Black, the best Coffee ale for brunching (and they infused it with Hazelnut when we visited last year, so good)!
This year, we got their Wet Hop IPA, our first Wet Hop beer of the season & Passionfruit Sour. Both very enjoyable and crushable! We were hoping to see more styles that were different, but you can’t go wrong with their flagships and seasonals either!
Wild State Cider
We've never really considered ourselves huge cider drinkers, but in all honesty, we haven't had enough ciders to come to that conclusion. We love Wild Terra in Fargo, but have only been to one cider house here in the Twin Cities...so yea, we just haven't really given them a shot.
Wild State Cider looked like such an awesome taproom from pictures, we had to check it out! And it surpassed our expectations, it has to be one of my favorite taprooms, aesthetically!
Not only do they have an amazing taproom, their cider is 100% natural. "We believe cider should be natural and free of refined sweeteners or chemicals. Some would say we're making cider the hard way, but that's just how we like it."
Because we had no idea what to order, we got flights of their entire taplist and we couldn't believe how many of them we loved! Whether you like Sweet, Semi-Sweet or Dry Ciders, they have it al! Our favorite was the Pineapple cider, we loved it so much we bought a growler to go! This is another place that I wish was closer to home!
Duluth Cider
Duluth Cider was the last brewery of our long weekend and right down the street from Wild State Cider. All of their cider is made with Minnesotan apples, talk about local!
Duluth Cider was started by 2 couples who sought expertise by the best cider and winemakers in the world, so they set off on a backpacking journey through France, Switzerland and Italy where they studied under various 5th and 6th generation cider and winemakers.
They opened after 3 years of planning, preparation and building and Oooeee do they make great ciders, well the 2 we tried, we absolutely loved! I got the Trailside Strawberry Basil and Jake got the Las Lajas Coffee Cider (sounds strange, but was delicious). We can't wait to spend more time here and try more of their ciders!
Earth Rider
Earth Rider Brewery is just over the MN border into Superior Wisconsin. They are the first production brewery in Superior since Northern Brewing Co ceased production in 1967.
Their taproom is across the street from their brewing facility at Cedar Lounge (but is 100% owned by Earth Rider). They chose to keep the name of the Cedar lounge because of the historic connection to the area, it's been around since 1912 and they use to have fur on the walls and carpet on the floor.
We got to the taproom right before 4pm on Saturday which meant we were just in time for their weekly tour! It's a $6 entry fee and includes an in-depth tour, 4 tastings and a souvenir glass. we really enjoyed our visit and their beer!
Thirsty Pagan
Thirsty Pagan is also in Superior, Wi. It started in 1996 with a 2-barrel system and quickly outgrew it's space. It's most recent expansion is in the historic rail station where trains still fly by. They are known for their delicious pizza and live music. They also started a sour program, but unfortunately there weren't any available when we visited, but we still enjoyed our visit.
Blacklist Artisan Ales
Just a short 8 minute walk down Superior St. from Fitger's is Blacklist Artisan Ales, a small batch brewery focused on beautifully and uniquely brewed Belgians. What first stood out was the beautiful can art on the walls. To us beer is such an art so we love it when the two worlds of beer and art can come together. And then there's the Spruce Tip, an Imperial IPA that's exactly as it sounds. Heavy on the pine and quite the knock out, coming in at 9.5% and 90 IBUs.
(not visited in 2019)
Canal Park Brewing
Canal Park Brewing is on the shores of Lake Superior in Canal Park. They live and breath the North coast attitude and have an amazing patio that lives up to their love for the outdoors. We weren't able to stop on our last trip so we don't have a favorite that we recall, but they have a full food menu and diverse tap list.
(not visited in 2019)
Hoops Brewing
Hoops Brewing is also in Canal Park. It's huge with a modern Beer Hall vibe, a great place to hang out with friends. They brew all their beer with the pristine waters of Lake Superior and currently have 16 beers on tap since this was our last stop of many we only tried their IPA, which was solid. When we were there, their beer styles were pretty by the book, but it looks like they have a Guava Wheat on tap now, maybe we'll see more experimental brews from them in the future, but it looks like their main focus is to stick with the basics and perfect those.
(not visited in 2019)
Lake Superior Brewing
Lake Superior Brewing is Minnesota's oldest Microbrewery. They pride themselves on taking age old recipes and improving them.
What surprised us the most was their location, it looked like they were on the book end of an office building and their taproom resembled more of a laid back garage party. And that they brew a delicious Blueberry infused Hefeweizen, such a fun twist on a traditional Hefe!
OMC Smokehouse
OMC Smokehouse is like O.M.G Smokehouse because O.M.G is it so amazingly delicious. We got the Brisket Tacos and Spicy Chicken Sandwhich delivered to Bent Paddle Brewing and we couldn't stop talking about the place. A Duluth must! (They even have vegetarian options)
Jake said he wanted to eat it for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner last weekend, but we could only make it happen for one meal and we enjoyed every.last.bite! Highly recommend!
Va Bene Caffe
Va Bene Caffe is located right along Lake Superior with amazing views of the aerial Lift Bridge and vast waters. We got a table right at the window, they also have a few tables outside for summer service. They are a modern Italian restaurant with a menu to please anyone! We got wine and a Mojito and split their Pesto Pasta, we absolutely loved this spot, we'll definitely be adding this to our list of favorite places to eat in Duluth.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory
It's time to treat yourself with delectable sweets from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. They're located in Canal Park and are serving everything from handmade fudge to chocolate dipped pretzels and melt in your mouth truffles...oh so good!
Duluth Pack Store
After some sweets, it's time to shop. Duluth Pack has been making premium handmade canvas and leather bags since 1882. We own 2 and they still look brand new. They even make growler packs and sell top outdoor brands like Patagonia, Filson and Mountain Hardware at their Canal Park Storefront, not to be confused with Duluth Trading Co.
All Pints North
All Pints North Summer Brew Fest is located on the shores of Lake Superior. It's been voted one of the best Beer Festivals in the nation by Hop Culture Magazine. (and there were only 12 chosen!) It's run by Minnesota's Craft Brewers Guild, a not-for-profit organization who aim to promote Minnesota breweries. We have yet to attend, but hope to make it out next year.
Lester Golf Course
Jake's huge into golfing, so we decided to check out Lester Golf Course on Sunday with views of Lake Superior, beautiful course and views!
Other Things to do in Duluth that we
unfortunately haven't done yet (or it's been years):
Grand Marais
Lutsen Mountain Ski Resort
Sara's Table
Russ Kendall's
Rustic Inn
Northern Waters Smokehous
Surf...seriously
We hope this inspires a new adventure to Duluth to try new activities, visit new breweries and food! Cheers!
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