Duluth's Downtown Lakewalk
Crowning the tip of giant Lake Superior is Duluth, a contemporary city teeming with history and spirit. It's Minnesota's largest city outside of the Twin Cities area. With its lakeside setting and an incredible array of things to see and do, Duluth has become a popular place to get away for a few days of fun.
The center of activities is the waterfront. At Canal Park, a unique aerial lift bridge rises to let massive seafaring vessels enter the harbor. It's easy to spot ships carrying the flags of countries halfway around the world. A retired ore carrier, the William A. Irvin, offers tours, and the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center tells details of Great Lakes shipping, including tragic shipwrecks (list historic attractions). Sightseeing cruises explore the harbor itself (list tours/excursions).
Along the edge of the waterfront is the Lakewalk, a boardwalk for strolling or jogging, plus a bike path and trail for carriage rides. Nearby are Bayfront Festival Park, with a season of outdoor concerts, and a creative playground. The Great Lakes Aquarium (list science/nature centers) has about 70 species of fish from the Great Lakes and other freshwater lakes and rivers of the world. There's also an Omnitheater near the waterfront.
Nearby are downtown Duluth and The Depot, home to a theater, art, history and children's museums (list arts attractions), plus a train museum with an extensive collection of historic railroad cars. Also downtown is the Fond-du-Luth Casino. Lodging is available at many hotels/motels, bed and breakfasts/historic inns, and other lodging properties.
On the east side of town, the lakeside estate Glensheen is open for tours of the 39-room mansion, carriage house and formal gardens. On the western end of town is the Lake Superior Zoological Gardens and the trailhead for a bike trail along a wooded ridgeline. Cyclists can follow the Willard Munger Trail 65 miles to Hinckley.
Other Duluth favorites are the Duluth Huskies Northwoods League baseball, charter fishing, and sightseeing motorcoach tours. There are beautiful gardens at the lakefront Rose Garden and at Enger Tower along the Skyline Parkway.
Numerous scenic parks in town have hiking and cross-country ski trails, and nearby Jay Cooke State Park also has beautiful trails (list state parks). Both downhill and cross-country skiing are available at the Spirit Mountain (list ski areas).