Anyone E2E the Superior Hiking Trail?

[AndyB]

I'd like to hear from folks who have hiked the SHT in one trip.
Wheels are turning....

AndyB

[map man]

I hiked the full trail (except for the part around Duluth) northbound in 2006 and southbound in 2007. I hiked most of it each time in mid to late May, after the snow melted and before the mosquitos came out. It's a great trail. I really enjoyed myself. No shelters, but a lot of great designated tent sites and the chance to take a shower from time to time as you hike through many state parks on the way. Lots of waterfalls. Lots of views of Lake Superior. A decent number of trail towns to resupply -- Two Harbors, Beaver Bay, Silver Bay, Finland, Tofte, Grand Marais. Your request isn't very specific, but I'd be happy to fill you in on more details if you want them.

[stranger]

How long is the trail from Twin Harbours to the northern terminus?

Also I understand there is a fire road or snow mobile road that could be used to link the Duluth section to Twin Harbours, know anything about this?

What would you say are the best towns to head into for groceries, motels, etc...? What state parks to you walk through?

I know that Andy B character and what he's getting up to!

[AndyB]

i sent you a PM, Map Man, but you don't have to respond by PM, I ment to post my questions in this thread but spaced out.

[map man]

I'll answer AndyB's questions first, then Stranger's.

First, here's the link to the pertinent web site: http://www.shta.org/index.php
Lots of info at this link.

Back when the Two Harbors to northern terminus section was only 205 miles I took 20 days nursing a very sore IT band after the first week. The next year, with no knee issues, did it in 17. In both cases I only had two weeks to hike in May and had to come back later in the year to knock off what I had left. I have only hiked the very southern end of the AT, between Springer and Franklin and I would say when comparing difficulty that you could hike a couple more miles a day on the SHT than on that southern part of the AT, if you've ever hiked there. I'm guessing the difficulty of the SHT is similar to that of the CT-MA section of the AT, since it sounds like your experience is in New England.

There is never a train of thru-hikers on this trail no matter what time of year you go (prime hiking season is mid-May to mid-October). You will see a lot of section and day hikers on weekends (though not on the very northern part beyond the last state park -- that part is never crowded) and not a lot of folks on weekdays. In my experience I've seldom had other folks at tentsites on weekdays but almost always do on weekends.

Since they added some new trail recently in the south the non-Duluth part is about 230 miles, give or take. The Duluth part is about 40.

I don't know anything about how to connect Duluth to the rest of the trail. Some words about Duluth. It's set up for day hiking. There is no overnight camping anywhere on this section of the trail except at one commercial campground (Spirit Mountain) around ten miles from the south end of the trail. Several miles in the mid to north part are routed on city sidewalks. That's not my idea of a trail.

Here's a listing of trail towns and state parks with mileage marked from the northern terminus:

North end: 0 miles
Judge Magney State Park: 28.7
Grand Marais (a little over a mile off trail): 52.4
Cascade River SP: 70.3
Tofte (2.5 miles off trail): 99.0
Temperence River SP: 103.3
Crosby Manitou SP (no plumbing): 127.2
Finland (1 mile off trail): 139.0
Tettegouche SP: 153.8
Silver Bay (about 1.5 miles off trail): 164.4
Beaver Bay (about a mile off trail?): 169.5
Split Rock Lighthouse SP (about 1.5 miles off trail): 178.0
Gooseberry Falls SP: 188.7
Two Harbors at County Road 301 trailhead (5 miles off trail?): 203.9
Rossini Road trailhead: about 230

State parks: they want only paying customers to use their showers. A tent-site costs a little less than $20 last I checked. You need to pay for a vehicle pass if you want to park at the state parks.

Motels and resupply: all of the cities I listed have motels with Grand Marais, Silver Bay and Two Harbors having the most. These three towns also have full-blown grocery stores. The other towns at least have smaller markets with Tofte having the slimmest pickings (convenience stores only, I believe). When I hiked I went with others and always had two vehicles which we could leave our food and supplies in and shuttle forward as we went, so I have no experience trying to hitch. The trail has the reputation of being hiker-hitcher friendly.

[stranger]

Great information Map Man...

I always heard the 205 figure thrown around, personally speaking, I think it's silly to have started construction on the Duluth section without a plan to link it to Twin Harbours, I've also heard you cannot legally camp there, so don't really understand the logic in extending it.

I have a copy of the most recent guidebook and there is a mention of a woods road/snowmobile road that can be used 'in theory' to connect the two ends, although from what I recall they mention the road only gets cut once per year, so it's mostly overgrown and probably un-hikeable in most places. Problem is the guidebook is back in NY so cannot confirm this information.

Thanks for the mileage distances and town listings, awesome information. I've stayed at some of those state park campgrounds on my road trip last year and know the drill, well worth the $20 in my opinion.

Cheers.

[Cookerhiker]

Just finished hiking about 200 miles of the Superior Trail yesterday. Hiked southbound from the northern terminus near the Canadian border, left my car at the then-southern terminus at the trailhead parking lot on Fox Farm Rd. The backpacking portion has since been extended about another 10 miles south. The 40 miles closest to Duluth are day-hiking only.

Got a shuttle north from www.superiorshuttle.com (http://www.superiorshuttle.com). Resupplied via mail drops at 2 locations: Grand Marais and Finland. Did a slackpack day out of Finland with the helpful services of an impromptu Trail Angel who provided a shuttle for gas money. In general, I found hitching easy and the locals friendly.

I had never spent much time in the upper Midwest north country and found it quite scenic. The SHT is very reminiscent of Maine & New Hampshire in that the forests are maple, birches, evergreens, lakes, ponds and the terrain is roots & rocks. The ups and downs are not as extreme - no more than 600' at a time - but they're very steep, often with rock or built-in log steps but sometimes on loose dirt. I'd say the specific AT stretch most similar to the SHT is the first 15 miles of the 100 Mile Wilderness out of Monson. But of course, one key difference is the SHT has frequent views of Lake Superior.

Wildlife: didn't see any moose or bear, didn't hear wolves, but did hear loons on some of the lakes. Mosquitos were still out the first week whereas my experience in Maine showed them gone by mid-August. Flushed several grouse. Saw one beaver making his way across a lake with branches in hand for his house. Lots of designated campsites but not always near water or the water is dry. That latter point is probably the biggest surprise; despite all the lakes, ponds, rivers flowing into Superior, waterfalls, etc., several creeks are dry so you really need to plan your camping around water availability.

Nice trail - I recommend it highly.

[Odd Man Out]

Lots of designated campsites but not always near water or the water is dry. That latter point is probably the biggest surprise; despite all the lakes, ponds, rivers flowing into Superior, waterfalls, etc., several creeks are dry so you really need to plan your camping around water availability.

I gather you are not camping right by the Lake? I've enjoyed backpacking and camping by Lake Superior, Michigan, and Huron - unlimited amounts of water!

[Cookerhiker]

2 places to consider: in the northern portion, the trail actually goes along the lake shore for about 1.6 miles. There are several potential stealth sites in this brief stretch. We didn't camp there because we hit it mid-morning. But later on, we arrived at Gooseberry Falls State Park where there are walk-in sites reserved for backpackers and cyclists. Unlike the drive-in sites which are in the trees, our campsite was right on the lake front. Looking at the waves crashing against the rocky ledges reminded us of Acadia NP in Maine.

There's another state park that the SHT touches - Kadunce River - which may have sites near the lake.

Keep in mind the SHT stays back in the woods because a state highway runs along the shore. But views of the lake are frequent. One night, we dry-camped on Mt. Carlton where we enjoyed very clear views of the lake from the flat rocks where we cooked dinner. Unfortunately the night was cloudy so we didn't see a sunrise. In fact, that next day was an all-day soaker; not much fun hiking.