MN Trip planning, Lake Superior

[Snowman]

Planning a trip with the misses this summer north from Duluth along lake Superior. We'll be hotel/moteling it, so Just looking for any tips, cool places to stay and see. I hear that the mosquito is MN state bird so is there a time to avoid up there. Thanks!

[johnny]

greetings...

you staying usa or going canadican too...

i did usa only to grand portage... it was near 4th of july... it was 90deg at night and 100deg 80%hum at day... it was miserable cause it was bumper to bumper the whole way... then the 1 to the 169 back... still a mess with those whack tourists...



putts some snow studds on and go now... ice caves... yeeeehaaaaa...

j o

[Snowman]

That's what I hear, mid summers a bitch.

Prob go when the crumb crunchers are still in school and moms & dads haven't cleaned the WeanieBago yet.

Would like to get up to Canukland if possible and see some of the north shore.

[WayneDW]

I've done the circle tour twice. Road wise and traffic wise the USA side is much better.  especially the U.P. of Michigan and northern Wisc. Primarily because there is basically no such thing as a paved county road in Canada and you need to get off the main Hwys to get away from traffic.
  If you have time don't miss MN hwy 1 between Finland and Ely. It may be the nicest ride in MN. But it will take you away from the big lake.
Oh, and, unless you go in the winter, there is no way you can avoid mosquitoes.

[enb54]

Might be a little late for this post... Wife and I did the Lake Superior Circle Tour several years ago in a sort of roundabout way. We left Duluth, MN and headed North to Thunder Bay, ON and then continued along the North Shore past Sault Ste Marie, ON and down to North Bay, ON and New York City to visit relatives. After about 3 weeks of visiting we headed back up to Sault Ste Marie and crossed over to the Michigan side to resume our Circle Tour, continuing on to Superior, WI. We had a great time and I would definitely recommend the trip. To avoid all the traffic and tourists, we left in late August and finished at the end of September.

[Snowman]

Thanks! We have planned for after Labor Day when the Mn schools go back. Hoping to miss the traffic and crowds. I think it is a great area but don't want to be around the family vacation - clogged roads & 15mph traffic. Thanks for the info. Wifey doesn't like a lot of traffic around the motorcycle and only rides with me occasionally. happy wifey - happy lifey!

[GoatLord]

I've done this a couple times also, once midsummer and once after labor day.

The first time I went north first, around the north edge of Superior and back across the UP on (IIRC) US 2. The traffic on 2 sucked, it was the least fun part of the trip.

The Canadian side was awesome. No traffic, decent road, and (at least on my trips) no apparent LEO activity (until we got to Quebec, that's a different story).

Took the ferry up lake Huron to Manitoulin Island, one of my favorite parts of the trip.

The north side of Superior is gorgeous and it feels very remote up there. It was also quite cold, probably something to do with the proximity of the lake. Be prepared. A large part of that ride is also pretty far from MC shops. I lost a chain in the backwoods on a Sunday, and was fortunate enough to be able to limp into Sudbury and find a shop. Should have planned ahead better there.

The lakes are fun, but IMO the Canadian side is the can't-miss portion.

[enb54]

Double yes to the lack of motorcycle shops and parts in Northern Ontario. We have only 1/10 the population of the USA, so that also means only 1/10 the facilities, plus that (Northern Ontario) part of the country has only 1/10 (maybe even less) the population of the southern part of Ontario. You really need to plan ahead, but it was fun for us and we really enjoyed the experience and all the people we met on the Circle Tour! You'll also get to see all the Fall colours...

[seabee#1]

Did the trip once in Aug. Kinda disappointing, hot, humid, so foggy you couldn't see the lake.
I'd recommend riding east of Duluth to Copper Harbor MI, love that area!