Skip to main content

Gooseberry Falls State Park

Image
By

Minnesota 61 along the North Shore of Lake Superior is an amazing drive.  From Duluth to Grand Portage, the North Shore Scenic Drive offers spectacular views and countless recreational activities.  One of the most popular spots along Minnesota 61 is Gooseberry Falls State Park.

Upper Falls - Gooseberry State Park

The centerpiece of Gooseberry Falls State Park are the Upper, Middle, and Lower Falls.  All three falls are rather close together and very accessible from the Gateway Plaza Visitors Center.  The Upper Falls sit north of the MN 61 bridge over the Gooseberry River.  Both Middle and Lower Falls sit below the bridge.  There are many vantage points for each of the falls and they make for impressive viewing.


Geologists date the falls to two events.  The basalt rock found at the falls were a result of a long inactive rift zone from 1.1 billion years ago.  Further, the retreat of glaciers from the Great Ice Age over 10,000 years ago carved out the rocky gorge the Gooseberry River and falls traverse.

Further upstream from the Upper Falls is the Fifth Falls.  It is about a two mile round trip hike from the Visitor Center.

Besides the falls, there are over 20 miles of hiking trails and numerous campsites open in the summer.  The Gitchi-Gami State Trail runs through the park which is a paved bike/recreational trail.  During Winter months, snowshoeing, snowmobiles, cross-country skiing, and ice climbing are extremely popular within park grounds.

Middle Falls

The park dates to the early 1930s and its development was assisted greatly by the Civil Conservation Corps (CCC).  The Corps laid out many of the trails, the original campgrounds, and picnic areas.  One of the retaining walls built by the CCC is known as "The Castle in the Park". Today, the Gateway Plaza Visitor Center honors the members of the CCC that developed the park.

All photos taken by post author - August 2006.

Further Reading:

How To Get There:
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Thurmond

By
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is best known for whitewater rafting and other forms of adventure tourism.  Yet, found in the hollows and isolated valleys are quiet farms and former coal mining towns.  Well off the beaten path and isolated from much of its surroundings, Thurmond provides a unique view into Central West Virginia's industrial past. Thurmond began as a railroad town in the late 1800s.  Sparked by the arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and the local coal industry, Thurmond quickly grew into a sizeable transportation and coal center.  When it incorporated as a town in 1903, Thurmond was a full-fledged community - home to two banks, two hotels, and many other services and stores. A CSX freight train passes the old coaling tower in Thurmond.  It was here that many steam locomotives would refill and refuel. Thurmond was home to a C&O railyard which serviced the numerous steam engines passing through the narrow valley.  Thu...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Tale of Tollhouse Road, western California State Route 168 and failed Piute Pass Highway

By
Western California State Route 168 is entirely located in Fresno County and is linked historically to the Tollhouse Road corridor.   Tollhouse Road is one of the oldest highways in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County. The corridor presently begins in at Clovis Avenue in downtown Clovis and extends northeast to Huntington Lake. In 1866 the Woods Brothers established mining claims on Pine Ridge. In 1867 Fresno County would grant the brothers a toll franchise to construct a roadway to the desirable logging areas atop Pine Ridge and near Dinkey Creek. The Woods would establish a tollhouse at the start of their franchise road and lumber mill. The lumber mill attracted settlers which led to the establishment of the mountain town of Tollhouse. Fresno County would purchase the Tollhouse Road in 1878 and make it a public highway. The county would remove the tolls and incorporate the corridor into the existing county road network. Prior to the establishment of Clovis in 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old Dunlap Road (former California State Route 180 in Yokuts Valley)

By
When California State Route 180 was commissioned in August 1934 the alignment in took in Sierra Nevada range was very different than from today.  The original highway alignment from Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) to east Grant Grove (then part of General Grant National Park) originally followed what is now Ruth Hill Road, Dunlap Road, Pinehurst Road (modern California State Route 245), Dark Canyon Road (partially now Forest Road 14S45).  After funding fell through for the planned Kings Canyon Road the was corridor eventually picked up as a 30-mile-long cooperative project between the Division of Highways and Federal Government.  Much of current alignment of California State Route 180 bypassing Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) and Dunlap was complete by 1941.  The post-1941 alignment of California State Route 180 in Squaw Valley was shifted onto what was once Dunlap Road in Squaw Valley.  This alignment itself was later bypassed by modern California State Route...
Post a Comment
Read more