Duluth, MN recommendations

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 5:02 pm

The family is heading up to the North Shore of Lake Superior for vacation and I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for some caches in the area. Looking for both family-friendly as well as more difficult ones to go after by myself.

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:40 pm

I am heading to Duluth myself to cache next weekend. Duluth and the North Shore drive is awesome, one of the greatest areas in the country to visit. You will want to see some of the many waterfalls and lighthouses. There are caches at most of them.

Also, check out the SHT (Superior Hiking Trail) which winds thru Duluth and then NE along the seashore, but mostly up in the hillside, offering great views of the lake. There are a number of caches along the SHT.

If you have the time, you might want to get a MN state park pass and do the "Wildlife Safarri" themed caches at each of the state parks. I hope to do a few, and like last time, I imagine they take you to the waterfalls in each state park.

I have done about 10-15% of the caches in Duluth, so any list that I would suggest will be incomplete at best, as there are many I have not tried yet. But let me give ya a list of some good ones I have visited, with the understanding that this is an incomplete list:

GC26BE Enger Tower. A old cache from 2001, a MN COTM winner and one of the most visited caches in MN. A fantastic aerial view of Duluth and the Lake. My #1 recommended cache for Duluth.

GCNXRA Choo Choo 1 A PNG, but it takes you to the historic and beautifully restored stone depot. There is a great rail museum there now.

GCR3J1 Chester Park Trail A tough cache to get, but that is the point. If you ever want to work on the Fizzy Challenge, you will need a D/T cache of 5/4 and this is one of the few around.

GCMRQH Tischer Creek. Another tough cache that you will need for the Fizzy D/T, since it is 5/3.5. This is several stage multi in a beautiful creek area, however it has frustratingly hard micros to find along the way. Hard, but not impossible.

GCNRDV The Depps The first of many man waterfalls as you work your way north on 61.

GCG7EQ One of the several caches at Gooseberry Falls. This one is a virt by the road, and an EC is colocated. Do both,and then go to the shore for Fire and Ice, a good EC at the lakeshore. Robin and Seth had fun climbing on the rocks here.

GC1B87B Split Rock. The most photographed lighthouse on the North Shore. Dont miss it.

GC17XHA Shovel Point Prize. Awesome views of rock cliffs and the lake and one of the best hikes on the North Shore.

GCQF3T Silver Island Treasure....the only one on this list I have not visited, but on my to do list. I have passed it a couple of times now, and both times were at the end of a caching day when I did not have enough left in the tank to get this very tough cache. This is a very challenging cache, by all reports. You have to climb out on the breakwater rocks out to a small island and hoist yourself up on to the rocky ledge.

zuma

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 7:58 pm

(GC5EAB) Joint on the Point. Hidden on May 30th, 2002 and almost 600 finds. While driving NW in Superior, it is about a 1/2 mile across the water. But you need to go into Duluth, then head back SE toward Wisconsin.
The Challenge is DRIVING to GZ. The roadway out to the beach is really nice, as well as the lift bridge you need to cross in Duluth. Watch for PI approaching GZ. The view of Lake Superior is very peaceful!
Be sure to map it out before you go!

This cache is on our Bookmark List and is VERY family friendly!

Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2010 8:40 pm

Thanks for all the recommendations. zuma - I remember you had mentioned the Shovel Point and Silver Island caches so I had them on my list and plan to do Gooseberry and Split Rock since that is where we are staying. We were possibly thinking of driving up to T-Bay, but I guess we'll just see what we can find since there are plenty to choose from.

Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 1:23 pm

JimandLinda wrote:

(GC5EAB) Joint on the Point. Hidden on May 30th, 2002 and almost 600 finds. While driving NW in Superior, it is about a 1/2 mile across the water. But you need to go into Duluth, then head back SE toward Wisconsin.
The Challenge is DRIVING to GZ. The roadway out to the beach is really nice, as well as the lift bridge you need to cross in Duluth. Watch for PI approaching GZ. The view of Lake Superior is very peaceful!
Be sure to map it out before you go!

This cache is on our Bookmark List and is VERY family friendly!

Great suggestion. We went and checked it out, and enjoyed it a lot.

thanks

zuma

Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 3:04 pm

We did a quick trip up the shore last week and we'll be going back to do the tough stuff this fall. Check out a series called Hidden Streams. They start with Hidden Streams and then the name of the stream. I think they all have puzzles involved, but they are easy and the areas are really hidden gems in the city.

I'm a bit partial to that area, with my dad being from there and spending a lot of my childhood and youth romping all over, but our feeling after our trip last week is it's much like Marquette Michigan...even the park and grabs are stunning.

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:00 pm

Nice pix of WI-Zumette at "Joint on the Point"! Very Happy

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 7:32 pm

We thought the same thing about Duluth-Superior being very similar to Marquette. Similar old buildings built of similar stone, same ore docks and harbors, and many high quality caches.

We get up to Marquette several times a year to visit our son & daughter-in-law, and felt right at home in Duluth-Superior last month.

cYa, Jim & Chris

Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 3:29 pm

kungfuhippie wrote:

Looking for both family-friendly as well as more difficult ones to go after by myself.

Does this mean that the "difficult" ones should be NOT family-friendly ... so like 4's and 5's in the bad part of town :-O