Northshore camping options

Hi all,

My wife and I were planning on spending some time climbing the cliffs on the north shore of lake superior (Tettegouche SP) over the 4th of July. Turns out the all Minnesota DNR campground around the area are booked. I was wondering if you have any alternative suggestions to camp in the area. We'll be attempting to send hard during the day so it would be nice if the campground is quite. Apart from that, we're pretty much ok with putting up with everything else.

Good thing there is an immense amount of backcountry campsites within the National Forest and infinite amount of dispersed camping options.

Hello,
I live in Finland, have you climbed on the Shore before? Where are you climbing? Which routes do you have in mind?

4th of July is one of the busiest weekends of the summer up here and it is really hard to find a site in the state parks unless you reserve them ridiculously far in advance. However, depending on when you would be arriving there is usually space in one of the two campgrounds along Hwy 1. They are state forest campgrounds but managed by Tettagouche SP, Finland and Eckbeck are their names. Both are on the right hand side of the Hwy 1 just a few miles up from 61. They have bathrooms, water and usually flat tent pads. Some of the better sites are reservable too...

Steesh wrote:Hello, I live in Finland, have you climbed on the Shore before? Where are you climbing? Which routes do you have in mind? 4th of July is one of the busiest weekends of the summer up here and it is really hard to find a site in the state parks unless you reserve them ridiculously far in advance. However, depending on when you would be arriving there is usually space in one of the two campgrounds along Hwy 1. They are state forest campgrounds but managed by Tettagouche SP, Finland and Eckbeck are their names. Both are on the right hand side of the Hwy 1 just a few miles up from 61. They have bathrooms, water and usually flat tent pads. Some of the better sites are reservable too...

Thanks for the suggestions Steesh!

We have actually never climbed at the shore before and have not set our sights on specific routes.We'll definitely spend the first day at the Palisades and another day at either Palisades or Shovel point depending on how Day 1 goes. Do you have any suggestions, advice and/or recommendations for climbing on the 4th?

Palisade head is the better area to climb. Shovel point would be a better intro location though. SP has more easy routes and anchor bolts at the top of many of them. But if you only get to climb one place, make it palisade.

There is also a lot of superior hiking trail campsites in the area. They would require a hike in but they aren't reservable and they all have multiple tent pads. If the site isn't designated as a multi group site you'll probably be sharing a smaller location with others. All the sites are free, no permit or anything. Plus they are a lt quiter than stayin at the state park.

Have fun

What kind of climbing are you looking to do?

There are stellar routes at both Palisade and Shovel. As mentioned above, Palisade offers more diversity but requires more experience. Expect big crowds of climbers and non climbers at both locations on that weekend. With blueberries ripening around that time Palisade parking will absolutely be a nightmare. Like anywhere else, if you get up early enough you are sure not to have trouble securing parking and a spot atop some of the classics. However, if you do get there and it's a zoo, depending on your range Palisade is big enough to have routes available throughout the day and almost all the climbing there is full on!

I tend to stick to the inland routes on the weekends to avoid summer crowds and climb on the shore on weeknights. Mystical Mountain has a bit more of an approach but phenomenal trad routes and is well worth the solitude. Just be sure to check in at the Wolf Ridge office before heading down to the mountain.

Hope this helps in planning your trip!

Steesh wrote:What kind of climbing are you looking to do? There are stellar routes at both Palisade and Shovel. As mentioned above, Palisade offers more diversity but requires more experience. Expect big crowds of climbers and non climbers at both locations on that weekend. With blueberries ripening around that time Palisade parking will absolutely be a nightmare. Like anywhere else, if you get up early enough you are sure not to have trouble securing parking and a spot atop some of the classics. However, if you do get there and it's a zoo, depending on your range Palisade is big enough to have routes available throughout the day and almost all the climbing there is full on! I tend to stick to the inland routes on the weekends to avoid summer crowds and climb on the shore on weeknights. Mystical Mountain has a bit more of an approach but phenomenal trad routes and is well worth the solitude. Just be sure to check in at the Wolf Ridge office before heading down to the mountain. Hope this helps in planning your trip!

We are from Madison,Wi and our local haunt is Devil's lake where we TR upto 5.11a and trad climb upto 5.9. We probably would like to split the time between trad climbing easy pitches and try and get on some of the harder routes on TR. Thanks for the suggestion on Mystical Mountain we are totally game to check out other areas. We haven't spent much time climbing in MN except at Taylor Falls.My wife is from the state and we eventually hope to move near the cities so we'd love to scope out climbing opportunities the state has to offer.