Get Away for the Day to Silver Bay

There are few feasts for the eyes like fully colored fall foliage in northern Minnesota. Nestled among the trees, about halfway up the North Shore, is a lovely place to make your home base for an autumnal adventure: the city of Silver Bay.

Home to Tettegouche State Park and part of the Superior Hiking Trail and just a 15-minute drive from Split Rock Lighthouse, Silver Bay is a hub for all things North Shore.

“[Silver Bay] is kind of the center of all these things,” says Alice Tibbetts, president of Silver Bay’s North Shore Adventure Park.

However, there’s much more to Silver Bay than its proximity to what you already know — it has its own identity and attractions just waiting to be enjoyed.

One such landmark is the Black Beach, which is, believe it or not, exactly what it sounds like. Its unique black sand is less than a mile from town, and even when the summer heat has gone, you can stick your toes in it and enjoy the sights and sounds of Lake Superior. 

The beach is just the beginning of what Silver Bay has to offer.

“There’s a whole world of things up the hill,” says Melissa Dressely, principal of Do North Marketing.

Amenities in Silver Bay include next-door neighbors Timber Coffee Company and Zoe’s Pizza Kitchen as well as Black Beach Mini Golf.

Between those two ends of town, just off Highway 61, is the North Shore Adventure Park. The park features ropes courses, ziplines, and axe and knife throwing. The ropes course has five different levels of difficulty: yellow, green, blue, black and double black.

“No matter your confidence or skill level, there’s something for you,” Tibbetts says.

At the end of each course is a zipline, one of which is the Dual Racing Zipline. Its twin 400-foot cables form a race track unlike any you’ve experienced before (unless you’re a veteran zipline racer, which I suspect you are not).

The park also has an area for children ages 3-6, the Lil’ Rascals Playground. Otherwise, if you’re uninterested in high-speed or high-altitude thrills and prefer the security and comfort of earth beneath your feet, Tibbetts says watching friends take on the course can be just as fun as doing it yourself.

North Shore Adventure Park is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays from September 4 to October 13. Groups of 15 people or more can take on the course mid-week in the fall by making a reservation on the park’s website, www.northshoreadventurepark.com.

If you prefer your outdoor adventures to be more serene than rip-roaring, the nearby Baptism River within Tettegouche State Park is exactly what you’re looking for. It has natural beauty that is almost entirely undisturbed.

“I hike that all the time, I almost never see anybody,” Tibbetts says.

A couple of miles up Baptism River are the High Falls: the highest waterfall entirely inside Minnesota. While Grand Portage’s High Falls are a little higher, they stray into Ontario, so, like Justin Trudeau’s half-brother, they can be safely ignored.

Returning to town, rest assured that the North Shore is a welcoming place for people of all stripes, including LGBTQ+ people.

“Everyone is welcome here,” Dressely says. “We work hard at saying we’re a welcoming place.”

Silver Bay’s North Shore neighbors in Two Harbors just held the first-ever Pride celebration in Lake County this July.

“Organizers say Two Harbor’s first ever Pride was fabulous and they’re looking forward to return[ing] next year,” reports FOX21 Duluth’s Drew Kerner.

Dressely has a number of tips for spending a day (or more) in Silver Bay. The first is to book your lodging as early as you can. Another is to make sure you check the hours of attractions if you’re visiting in the off-season outside of summer.

If lakeside lodgings are already full when you book, Tibbetts says to take a look at inland resorts. She says they’re often slept on, but offer a great combination of beautiful woodland views with peace and privacy while still being very close to the lake.

For more help planning your trip to Silver Bay, you can find an itinerary, as well as other resources, on Dressely’s website, North Shore Explorer MN (www.northshoreexplorermn.com).

“This, I believe, is absolutely the best of the North Shore,” Tibbetts says.