Travel Blog | Superior Trails Travel Planner

Curry Park Campground Ironwood

January 15, 2022April 30, 2023 C. Ross Reinhold

Review Ironwood, Michigan Municipal Campground Curry Park is on the Western edge of Ironwood, located on US Highway 2. It is a city owned campground and is located next to Gogebic County Fairgrounds. Until recently we didn’t realize the campground was as extensive as it is. We had the impression it was primarily a tenting campground with only a few sites suitable for RVs. We also had the impression it wasn’t well-maintained; it looked somewhat “rustic.” In the fall of 2021 finding a vacant RV campsite was a challenge due…

Woodland Park Campground – Grand Marais

January 15, 2022May 18, 2022 C. Ross Reinhold

Campground Review – Grand Marais, Michigan Municipal Campground Woodland Park is situated on a bluff overlooking Lake Superior. It is one of our favorite RV campgrounds because it is located on one of the most popular rock hound and agate hunting beaches around the Big Lake. The campground is only three blocks from the main business section of Grand Marais and four blocks from the town swimming beach situated in a warm water bay off Lake Superior. The park is also at the Eastern Edge of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.…

Silver Bay Campground-Black Beach

January 14, 2022May 18, 2022 C. Ross Reinhold

Black Beach Campground at Silver Bay, Minnesota The city of Silver Bay has recently opened a RV and Tent Campground adjacent to Black Beach Park. There’s a total of 49 campsites suitable for RVs. Some RV sites are 20/30 amp electric-only sites; while others are 20/30/50 amp electric sites with water and sewer hookups. Park amenities include Free Wi-Fi, a modern shower/bathhouse, a potable water station for those sites without water hookups, fire rings with grills, and easy access to nearby Black Beach Park on Lake Superior. There is no…

Grand Marais Rock Hound Festival

January 12, 2022April 17, 2022 C. Ross Reinhold

After the cancellation due to the “dampendic” last year, the annual Rock, Mineral, and Agate Fest resumed in Grand Marais, Michigan the second weekend in September. For years this annual convention of Rock Collectors and Agate Hunters had been hosted at Muskallonge State Park, about 20 miles East of Grand Marais on the shores of Lake Superior. Counting the years the event was held at Muskallonge, the 2021 fest is the 13th annual gathering of Rock Hounds and amateur mineral geologists. In the past at Muskallonge, the event was entirely…

Duluth Christmas Holiday Lights | Bentleyville

December 26, 2021November 18, 2022 C. Ross Reinhold

Visiting Bentleyville Tour of Lights, Duluth’s amazing Holiday & Christmas Theme Park Every year Duluth volunteers take over Bayfront Park to create a Christmas Village of 5 million lights. Besides displays of Santa, Reindeer, the Nativity, and other icons of Christmas there are loads of light displays depicting Duluth landmarks like the Aerial Lift Bridge, Enger Tower, Canal Park and favorite annual events like the Tall Ships Festival. We first visited Bentleyville in 2010 and had a great time wandering through the displays. We’ve been back a few times since…

Fall Color – Black River Scenic Byway

October 25, 2021May 18, 2022 C. Ross Reinhold

We were in the Ironwood area at the end of September, about a week early for the best fall color along the National Forest Scenic Byway from Ironwood to Black River Harbor. The best fall color was actually in Ironwood at the Curry Park campground. Even though it wasn’t full color along the Scenic Byway, it was a beautiful sunny day for a drive and the fall landscape was quite colorful even so. On the way to the harbor we passed Powderhorn Mountain Ski Area with attractive splashes of color…

Fall Color Lake Superior Circle Tour

October 4, 2019April 2, 2022 C. Ross Reinhold

Lake Superior Fall Color Scenic Drives If you are considering doing the Circle Route around Lake Superior in the fall and want to have the best chance of catching good fall color, here’s my recommendations of best scenic fall drives around the Lake. Western Upper Peninsula Fall Color The earliest fall color occurs in the Western Upper Peninsula. Peak color occurs around the end of September and early color is about mid-September. So I’d start my trip in Ironwood, Michigan. If you are coming from Minnesota or through Western Wisconsin…

Bayfield Arts Festival

May 15, 2019May 16, 2019 C. Ross Reinhold

The middle weekend of July is Bayfield’s Annual Festival of the Arts & Gallery Tour. In 2019 this will be the 57th annual celebration (July 20 – 21). The arts and crafts portion of the event is held in the park along Bayfield’s waterfront and includes a variety of traditional artistic media (paintings, sculpture, photography, etc.) as well as unique craft items like pottery, jewelry, wood carvings, and more. In addition there is Gallery Tour where a number of local galleries and artisan studios host open houses, gallery exhibits, special sales and working demonstrations…

Rock Hound – Spring Agate Hunting Trip

April 4, 2019May 18, 2022 C. Ross Reinhold

Agate Hunting and Rock Picking in the Michigan Upper Peninsula In early May we headed up to Lake Superior’s south shore near Ironwood, Michigan to get an early start on searching for agates on some of our favorite rock picking/agate-hunting beaches around Lake Superior. You can see photos of some our finds at the bottom of this post. We stopped first at Black River Harbor Scenic Area and spent an afternoon and the following morning on the beach. Had some modest success. The second day, before we went rock picking,…

Pickwick Restaurant | Duluth

October 26, 2018January 28, 2019 C. Ross Reinhold

Thanksgiving Dinner at the Pickwick Restaurant – Restaurant Review The Pickwick Restaurant & Pub has been a Duluth landmark since 1914 at the same location next door to the historic Fitgers Brewery complex. The Pickwick actually started life in 1888 as the “Old Saloon” within the Fitgers complex itself, but moved to its current location in 1914, bringing some furnishings and artifacts from the original saloon. The aged oak furnishings, woodwork, and wall murals testify to its Old World feel, reminding me somewhat of Chicago’s historic Berghoff restaurant. Knowing about…