Everyone who visits Duluth knows to visit Canal Park, however the more savvy person knows that a short trip up the shore to Two Harbors is a fantastic idea. Whether you have kids that want to throw rocks, birders who want to find feathered friends, or boat watchers that enjoy watching lakers enter the harbor, Two Harbors is a great destination. It is 26.2 miles from Canal Park (heard of Grandma’s Marathon?!). One of my own grandkids is spending the week with us. We started Grammy and Grampa camp up the shore!
- Use the Marine Traffic App to figure out when a ship will arrive. Works anywhere in the world … river, lake, sea, ocean!
- Park at the Two Harbors Lighthouse (free … not crowded)
- Let the kids throw stones on the beach next to breakwater
- Walk out the breakwater to the lighthouse
- Hike around the rock point looking for birds (Lighthouse Point eBird Reports). Birding will be better during spring and fall migration. There are lots of mountain ash and crabapple trees to attract birds (blossoms and fruit)
Do some combination of the above!
My own pics from today …
Hiking / Birding (Whitefish Bay Laker / Eastern Kingbird)
Lupine are just beginning to bloom
From a colder visit … to show the breakwater and one of the lighthouses (there are two).
Two Harbors? Absolutely! Agate Bay with the iron ore & taconite loading docks often has migratory birds in the calm waters near the boat landing and breakwater. But don’t forget to take a short hike along the trails east of the lighthouse and near the old brown stone quarry. Finally, 1/2 miles away, a hike along Burlington Bay beach near the city campground on the east side of town will provide birding surprises particularly on a calmer day.
I love to bird the campground area in October and November!