Superior Hiking Trail logistics

[stranger]

Scenario:

I don't have a car and will need to get from NY to the northern terminus of the Superior Hiking Trail.

Can fly or train into St. Paul/Minneapolis, Greyhound goes into Duluth...the Superior Shuttle does not service Duluth and I'm not a fan of hitching 'on route' to a hike.

So the question is, how would one get from St. Paul or Duluth to the northern terminus? Would be good to hear from anyone in the area.

Thanks in advance, please stay on topic

[Dogwood]

There are some shuttlers. I thumbed to near the northern terminus. The shuttlers I questioned were too pricey fro me. It was one of the more memorable hitches getting to a hiking destination. Lots of truckers on their way to/from Thunder Bay Canada on that road from Duluth.

[map man]

The Superior Shuttle makes regular stops and runs from just north of Two Harbors to the Arrowhead Trail trailhead (about 16 miles from the northern terminus, if memory serves) daily Friday through Sunday during hiker season. If you are hitch-hiking averse, maybe a taxi from Duluth to Two Harbors (I think that's about 20 miles, but I don't have an atlas in front of me) and then catch the shuttle heading north. It's a good idea to let them know ahead of time if you want to go farther north than Grand Marais. SHTA.org has a lot of good info if you haven't looked at that yet. If you call the SHTA store in Two Harbors those folks might know of good samaritans willing to help you out.

[stranger]

I don't have a problem hitching, I just don't like to do it 'on my way' to a hike because I like to have a very clear timeframe on when I start, which one cannot do if hitching.

Thanks Mapman, that's what I was thinking, taxi to Two Harbours, shuttle to northern terminus, I spoke with the manager of the shuttle and he didn't seem overly confident the shuttle would be running in 2012, but hopefully it will continue. I will contact the shop at Two Harbours, they are very helpful, was there twice last year.

Money is not a huge factor, I don't mind paying someone a fair few bucks to get to where I want to go, for me it's usually well worth the money in terms of conveinence.

Dogwood, were you able to hitch up to the terminus or did you need to roadwalk?

Thanks again

[Dogwood]

I was planning on a ST thru but instead diverted to Isle Royale NP via ferry at Gran Portage in Minnesota after I found out the ST was in a more severe drought situation than I initially realized so I actually did not hitch all the way to the ST northern terminus. I did no road walking from Duluth to Gran Portage. I got 3 hitches one right after the next with zero waiting around time.

[Erin]

St. Paul is three hours south of Duluth. Duluth is easier and just south of Two Harbors by 20 miles or so. If you don't want to do the shuttle, you could easily catch a ride from Duluth to Two Harbors and on to the north terminus point, Grand Marais. There are several hiker stores in Duluth that may be able to hook you up and the whole area from Duluth north is hiker friendly. We did the shuttle, but two of our group hitched to pick up our car with no problems.

[AndyB]

I've flown from Duluth to Cleveland Hopkins a few times, so don't rule out flying into Duluth. I honestly don't remember how economical it was compared to flying into Minneapolis/ST Paul.

[stranger]

Didn't think of that Andy, good point, I'm thinking about tacking this on after our LT hike

[hotsallyhoffer10]

So that is a bit about me!

That's exciting - keep us updated, hope everything goes smoothly!
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