Minnesota's North Shore is a winter playground

LAKE SUPERIOR | Land offers places to ski, snowshoe and more

I slipped off my snowshoes and hiked on a beaten track of hard-packed flakes through the woods to the edge of a rock cliff 200 feet above a shimmering, azure Lake Superior.

Cold silence.

A chilly December breeze blew off the lake, slapping waves against the ice-encrusted shoreline.

Minnesota's craggy North Shore is a mesmerizing place, revered by scores of visitors in summer and fall -- and fewer in winter. But cloaked in snow and ice, it's a winter playground for restless souls, offering cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, hiking and alpine skiing.

On a recent weekend, I sampled some of those offerings and rediscovered why the North Shore is one of Minnesota's jewels.

Here's what I found:

Dan and Sarah Klein of Minneapolis were all smiles when I encountered them on their way to a log cabin in Tettegouche State Park near Silver Bay.

Laden with backpacks and pulling sleds with their gear and two young children, they cross-country skied and hiked the 1.7-mile trail into Tettegouche Camp.

It's the only way to get to the four rustic cabins that the Department of Natural Resources rents there. The old cabins have electric lights, propane heaters and wood stoves -- and no running water, TVs or phones. A modern heated shower-restroom building serves guests.

The remote cabins are nestled in the woods on Mic Mac Lake and surrounded by hiking and skiing trails.

''There's no better place around to ski,'' said Dan Klein, 33. ''The rugged terrain is gorgeous."

''There's just something about being out here in the winter . . . it's so beautiful. And there are no calls from work. It's just a great way to spend family time together.''

The North Shore is a nirvana for cross-country skiers; there are many miles of groomed trails in a half-dozen state parks and elsewhere.

The North Shore also is one of the premier snowmobile destinations in the state. The area often gets plenty of snow, thanks to its proximity to Lake Superior.

The acclaimed North Shore Trail winds 150 miles through the rugged woods from Duluth to Grand Marais.

''It's kind of the backbone -- a corridor that leads to many other trails,'' said Tom Peterson, trails and waterways manager in Two Harbors for the Department of Natural Resources.

''You can leave Duluth and go up to the Gunflint Trail and Saganaga Lake, or to Ely, Grand Rapids, Silver Bay, Two Harbors . . . all over the place. So there's a lot to do.''

He estimates 15,000 to 20,000 snowmobilers travel the trail each winter. ''We've had as many as 2,000 a day on some sections,'' he said.

The heavily wooded terrain varies from flat and smooth to very hilly, ''and we have views of the lake. What more could you want?'' Peterson said.

And then there's Lutsen Mountains. The ski resort is considered one of the best skiing areas in the Midwest, with the longest, steepest runs and some of the most impressive scenery this side of the Rocky Mountains.

I learned to downhill ski there more than 30 years ago when Lutsen was a modest ski area with a lone chalet at the base of Eagle Mountain.

Oh, how it's changed.

These days Lutsen resembles a Colorado ski resort, with condos, townhouses and other on-hill lodging. There's a bigger chalet with live music. The ski area itself has more than doubled in size and now covers 1,000 acres, with 90 runs and a nearly 1,000-foot vertical drop.

Yahoo!

Talk about heart-pounding exhilaration. It was like driving a Ferrari. I blasted down the hills with youthful abandon -- and had to remind myself that I was 55, not 25.

Later, I rode Lutsen's red gondolas to Moose Mountain and joined the crowd of skiers and boarders basking in the afternoon sun. Far below, Lake Superior sparkled a beautiful blue.

Stacy Menke, 27, of Prior Lake, and Shawn Meyer, 25, of Shakopee were admiring the panoramic view from the sundeck at the new Summit Chalet.

''It's beautiful,'' said Menke, a first-time visitor. ''It's really good skiing. We've been having a blast.''

Meyer perhaps summed up the North Shore's allure:

''You can't get a view like this anyplace else in Minnesota.''

Scripps Howard News Service