Our family of 4 traveled to Duluth during the summertime to visit family and explore the area.
A vacation to Duluth offers many great outdoor adventures including waterfalls, hiking, lakeside beaches, and some yummy places to eat.
Below lists the best food and places to explore in Duluth!
Free Itinerary at the bottom of this post!
TIP: Lodging books up early here. Be sure to book as early as possible to get the place you want and a somewhat reasonable rate! There are some rentals with really great views of the Lake Superior.
5 Places to Explore
1. Gooseberry Falls State Park
Gooseberry Falls is located about 40 minutes northeast of Duluth. Definitely worth the drive to explore this area!
From the parking lot, it is an easy hike to the waterfalls. They have a wheelchair accessible path from the visitor center to main falls area which is about 1 mile. Here is the park website for more info.
I recommend using the ‘AllTrails’ app if you want to find more trails to hike here.
Be sure to hang on to young kiddos as there are some steep cliffs/drop offs in this area. I had a little anxiety kick in here.
After taking in the beauty of the waterfalls, we decided to hike out to Lake Superior via the River View Trail. This is less than a 1 mile hike to the lake from the lower falls.
Again, hang on to those young kiddos as there are steep drop offs in this area.
The short hike out to Lake Superior is a must for these breath taking views! Pack a picnic and enjoy it by the lake!
2. Enger Park & Tower
Enger Park surprised me. It is a very well maintained park with lots of flowers and stunning views of Duluth.
Bonus: There is a mobile coffee vendor called Twin Port’s Express in the parking lot at Enger Park. You could check out their Facebook page to see if they are open when you plan to visit. They also sell ice cream, smoothies, and breakfast burritos. And they make affogatos (my favorite)!
3. Canal Park
Canal Park is a very popular and busy area. It is home to the Aerial Lift Bridge and North Pier Lighthouse.
You will have to pay for parking while visiting this area.
There are also many restaurants in Canal Park, although we did not dine in this area. One I wish we would have tried is Northern Waters Smokehaus.
Here is the Canal Park Website with full details on what they have to offer.
4. Park Point
Park Point was definitely less busy than the Canal Park area and offers some nice lakeside beaches!
You will probably have to wait for the lift bridge (that raises for ships entering/leaving the harbor) to get to Park Point, so factor this into your drive time.
5. Great Lakes Aquarium
It rained on our last day here, so we decided to visit the Great Lakes Aquarium. This was a big hit with our toddler.
They have 2 floors packed with fun and educational exhibits.
Here is the Great Lakes Aquarium website for hours and ticket info.
The Food Scene
Duluth has a great food scene! Below are some of my favorite stops, but I did not make it to all that were on my list!
Breakfast
- At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Cafe – Great place for breakfast, lunch or dinner! I gobbled down my pancakes before I could take a picture (topped with a maple mascarpone and a filling of your choice)… so good!! Save room for pie or take a mini pie to go!
- Dovetail Café – Good coffee & a quick, simple breakfast (breakfast burrito, breakfast bagel sandwich)
Lunch/Dinner
- Duluth Grill – fresh, local, and they grow their own produce on site.. this was my favorite restaurant we tried in Duluth!
- OMC Smokehouse – Expect a wait! Worth it? Yes! We ordered this to-go so the wait wasn’t as bad. While we were waiting, we went across the street to Love Creamery and had dessert before dinner!
- Cedar Coffee Company (in Two Harbors) – We stopped here after visiting Gooseberry Falls. Yummy sandwiches and delicious coffee beverages (including my favorite.. an affogato!). They have a nice picnic area backing up to the woods!
- Sir Benedict’s Tavern – we ordered sandwiches for take out and had a picnic at Brighton Beach Park!
- Places I wish we would have made it to: Northern Waters Smokehaus, Ursa Minor, Lake Ave, Bent Paddle
Dessert
- Love Creamery – Honestly, the BEST ice cream that I have ever had. They have some fun yummy flavors (my favorite was Chamomile Honeycomb)! Even their vanilla ice cream was soooo good (and I don’t usually like plain vanilla)!
- Positively 3rd Street Bakery – My sister-in-law gave us some cookies from here! They were amazing!!!
Other Things To Do:
- Leif Erikson Park (along the Lakewalk, pretty flowers)
- Hartley Nature Center
- Jay Cooke State Park (20 min southwest of Duluth)
- Chester Park Loop Trail
- Hike Lester River Trail
Free Itinerary
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