SHT: Cascade River State Park to Judge Magney State Park
Grand Marais, MN
Back on the SHT again! Our usual tradition every autumn is to take a trip out of state, perhaps to a national park, and spend a week camping and day hiking. Well, much to the tune of 2020, COVID threw a wrench in that. What else is new? We took the opportunity to plan an extended weekend on the north shore - five days in the crisp September weather, taking in all the views the north shore has to offer! We revisited some fun areas we’ve been to on day hikes in the past, and discovered new wild places. Things didn’t completely go to plan, but everything worked out in the end and it was a lovely trip for our little family!
Due to the last-minute nature of the trip, we couldn’t arrange for the SHT shuttle. We didn’t want to do an “out and back” route, so we opted to drive separately so we could shuttle ourselves with our own vehicles. We got into Duluth around 5:30 PM on Wednesday, checked into our hotel, then took Crimson for a walk along the Lakewalk. We stopped at a local outfitter to get some stove fuel, ate dinner at Fitger’s on their patio, then picked up a crowler from a local brewery on our way back to the hotel. It was kind of nice not worrying about meeting a shuttle - we were on our own time!
Day 1: Cascade River State Park to North Bally Creek Campsite
We hit the road by 7am and drove separately up to Judge Magney State Park. Then we ditched a car and carpooled down to Cascade River State Park where we planned to start our five-day trek. We hopped on the Cascade River Loop and passed some beautiful fall colors while we hiked through a forest packed with birch, pine, and maple trees. The trail followed a forest road for a little while, then dove back into the woods and passed a beautiful overlook - a high bluff in the distances alive with bright red, orange and yellow.
After that the trail was pretty uneventful until we reached camp! We stopped at South Bally Creek first, and it was packed (with quite a loud group we might add). We were lucky to find North Bally Creek completely empty! We had our first pick of the tent pads, so we set up camp, and watched as six other groups of various sizes filtered into the campsite. It was the busiest we’ve ever seen an SHT campsite, but everyone was so nice and we all made room! It was fun to sit around the campfire and chat with other hikers for a while, but eventually the cold drove us into our tent!
Day 2: North Bally Creek Campsite to East Devil Track River Campsite
There was a frost warning overnight, and we ended up having Crimmy sleep inside our sleeping bags! We packed up camp bright and early, scarfed down some coffee and breakfast bars, then hit the trail in an attempt to warm up! Frost covered all the vegetation along the trail and steam rose from Sundling Creek as we crossed over the boardwalk. Next we hiked through a long, mostly flat section with lots of boardwalks, logging road crossings, and bear scat. The SHT overlaped with the North Shore State Trail for a short time, and we enjoyed the leisurely walk through the forest.
We came to the Pincushion Mountain trailhead, then hiked over a mostly flat section with lots of nice, new boardwalks. We hiked up to Pincushion as a day hike years ago, and it was just as pretty as we remembered, this time with a pop of fall colors just starting to come in. We relaxed on the top for a long time, taking in the views and lying in the sun, finally feeling warmed up from our frigid morning! The views from the top were simply gorgeous - we sat up there on a huge, rocky dome speckled with trees and looked down at Lake Superior and the lush forest below. Not a bad sight.
Eventually we continued hiking, and made it to the Devil Track River campsites pretty quickly. There was no one at the West site, but it was very large and we were worried about it filling up with big groups (more specifically loud groups, like the night before at S. Bally Creek). We crossed the river to East Devil Track, a much smaller campsite with only two tent pads - perfect! We pitched our tent on a nice flat area on a ridge above the river, took a nap, had some snacks, and took in the beauty of our campsite!
Another group joined us later in the afternoon - Mike and Marnie, also from South Minneapolis! We chatted with them around the fire for a long time and swapped hiking stories, then turned in for the night. Overall it was a nice day of hiking - pretty easy section with very little climbing, one of our favorite views along the whole trail.
Day 3: East Devil Track River Campsite to Crow Creek Campsite
We got on the trail around 7:30 Saturday morning and started our ascent up to Barrier Falls Overlook. The waterfall itself wasn’t visible through the trees, but the view of the canyon lined with pines and the remnants of a sunrise coming up over Lake Superior was all we needed! Before long we came to our favorite view of the day, a huge opening in the trees with a perfect view of Lake Superior for a quarter mile stretch. It almost felt like we were in an alpine meadow - the trail was lined with tall grass, the occasional pine, and a touch of fall colors. We followed this open ridgeline for a while, then came through a long section of up and down through the woods, which was quite tiring!
Finally we made it to Crow Creek Campsite - a nice little spot on a creek bordered by a sloping hill and cliff. Unfortunately, the site was a complete mess . There was no one around, but there was “crap” everywhere - food poorly hung in a tree, dishes and gear spread out all over camp, and clothes hanging from trees. Quite disappointing. We set up camp in our own little corner, then got a fire going. It was a little awkward when around 6:30 three girls and a dog came into camp, and stated they had been there since Thursday and asked us what we were doing there. We had to politely explain the rules of the SHT - campsites must be shared so long as there is room. Oddly enough they had no idea what the SHT even was, or that there was a backpacking trail along the north shore at all - they had hiked in a mile from the road, where they parked their car. Maybe if they took the time to read the sign posted in the campsite they would know, but instead they used it as a coat hanger…Everything turned out alright - they felt bad, offered us a beer, and Crimson had a blast playing with their dog for the rest of the night!
Day 4: Crow Creek Campsite to Judge Magney State Park
We slept in Sunday morning, then hiked past the Kadunce River gorge which was deep, rugged, and beautiful. We crossed Highway 61, then made it to the lake walk section! One and a half miles directly on the shore of Lake Superior. We sat and relaxed on the beach for a while and just admired the lake. It was a beautiful morning, sunny and warm, and we reflected on our trip and felt grateful for the time we’d had so far out in the woods.
There were tons of people camping right on the lake, illegally, if we may add, but no one seemed to care. We hiked past some locals searching for agates, got lost, and luckily they gave us directions! It’s harder than you might think to walk 1.5 miles along loose stones - strangely fatiguing! We got sort of lost again (shocking, right?) then found a boardwalk which joined back with the SHT. The trail weaved through thick woods and a boggy area, then we came to the first of three Brule River Campsites - we planned to choose one of these for our final night on the trail.
Well, as we were checking out South Brule Campsite, we came to the realization that the water source was completely dry. So we moved on to the North site - dry. Starting to feel a little stressed, we got to the Northwest site - DRY. Yikes. We were about 7.5 miles in for the day, and the next place to stop was Judge Magney State Park, where our car was waiting for us three miles away. We were disappointed, but it’s impossible to camp somewhere without a water source! We didn’t really have a plan for what we would do when we got to the car - go home early? Try to find a hotel? Well our lucky stars aligned and there was a last-minute cancellation at Judge Magney State Park, and we were able to snag a campsite there!
We set up camp, then went into Grand Marais for a well-deserved feast - ice cream, pizza, wings, and beer. And cheese curds! Just what we needed. Plus, we fed Crimmy nearly half a pack of Kraft singles - she earned it! Overall it was an amazing hike - it felt great to spend so much time on the SHT, and autumn is the best time of year to be up there. Perfect weather, no bugs, and the fall colors were gorgeous. We can’t wait for our next trip!
Hope you enjoyed the post! Check out the rest of the pictures in our gallery