Fall color spot up north?

I am planning a trip up north soon, (Never been up north before) I was wondering any of you guys have a recommendation spot where I should go?
(Within 3-4 hr. drive)

Thanks

 

once you get within an hour of duluth in any direction theres a lot of nice scenery

 

Stop at Gooseberry Falls and Temperance River state parks along the North Shore. They'll be kinda crowded at this time of year, but they're fun spots to walk around and look at leaves/river/etc. If you want to camp up there, get a reservation now.

 

I always head up 169, drive around Mille Lacs and head north from Garrison. Alot of nice scenery up there as well.

 

go to the birth place of the mississippi... a little help on the name of that lake

 

itasca

 

goseberry falls is an awsome place to go. and if u have time go up past the north shore to grand Marae.....sorry i not know how to spell it.

 

My girl's favorite spot in the world (and she is from Thailand) is Grand Marais.... YMMV

 

gooseberry was awsome this year, even with the river being low

 

yea like the other guys say, come up by me.... the trees were already starting to turn last weekend when i was in lutsen.

 

"fall colors during spring ****** please"

 

Grand Marais huh? Is there any state park near there?

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/list_alpha.html

 

yea cascade state park 10 miles before GM and 10 after Lutsen...

 

Just ran the Moose Mountain Marathon last weekend, and I was surprised to see quite a few trees changing already this year. Wasn't like that when ran it last year. It's right around the Temperance River/Lutsen area that a few other people have recommended. Great views up there, especially from the Superior Hiking Trail. We stayed at the Caribou Lodge just south of Lutsen. It's at the ski resort, and prices weren't too bad. The Condo's are vastly superior to the room, though.

While SHT has some very beautiful scenery, it is definitely not a leisurely stroll. It's a very rugged trail with some very nasty ups and downs (note the elevation changes saved on my GPS watch from the race).

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/dashboard.mb?episodePk.pkValue=1349741

But if you like hiking, I'd highly recommend checking it out. The easiest place to get to the trail up there is probably at Temperance River.

 

^^^Lol the superior hiking trail....I used to rip that up on my mountain bike, from Lutsen to Gooseberry...before they really started to come down on us for biking on a hiking trail. Lots of crazy down hills, rock drops, technical climbs...the list goes on.

I believe the best place, which is a pretty easy hike is Carlton Peak. the trail head is just up the Sawbill trail road a couple miles and the hiking trail to the peak is only 1.5 miles. (about 15 miles south of lutsen)

At the top you're above tree line and have a 360 view. The best!!!

 

Grand Marais' on this map:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/map.html

 

Yeah, we ran up Britton Peak (right next to Carlton), and the view was amazing. We didn't go completely to the top, but even from our point of view you had an excellent view of Superior.

John, here's a few crappy cell phone pics to give you an idea of what the colors were like last Saturday:
South of Temperance - http://www.thebarricks.com/images/2006_MMM/09-09-06_0932.jpg
Britton Peak (about 3/4 up) - http://www.thebarricks.com/images/2006_MMM/09-09-06_1201.jpg

Random shots - http://www.thebarricks.com/images/2006_MMM/