LONG WAY DOWN. The High Falls at Tettegouche State Park in Minnesota. (Photo by Joe Passe | CC BY-SA 2.0)

While you’re up visiting Grand Marais, Minnesota, be sure to stop by (although you should really camp there for a few nights) Tettegouche State Park. 

Tettegouche (pronounced tet-a-gooch) is maybe the most beautiful of the many state parks on Minnesota’s North Shore, replete with trails, waterfalls, pine-fresh air, and campsites galore.  

One of Tettegouche’s biggest pulls is the Baptism River, which creates staggering waterfalls as it meanders towards Lake Superior. The best hikes in the park showcase these features: Two-Step Falls and High Falls. High Falls has earned its name: At 70 feet, it’s the tallest waterfall in Minnesota, and there’s plenty of space at the bottom to swim, fish, or relax and enjoy the truly breathtaking view. 

Don’t worry, as you won’t be entirely offroading it with these hikes, although they do connect to the greater Superior Hiking Trail. Neither are too long and are jam packed with the kind of vibes Eau Clairians are known to love: boulders, forests, wildlife, rivers, bridges, and pines-a-plenty.

The park comes with superior access to Lake Superior – if your heart desires, you can take a jump into those cold waters, or simply chill out on the rock beach and skip stones as you watch the sunset across the lake.  

Tettegouche has excellent camping sites and is centrally located on the North Shore, giving you access to Grand Marais, Duluth, and all the other wonderful state parks in the area. 

To learn more, visit exploreminnesota.com.