• Date Circle Tour Completed
• Favorite Spot and/or Experience
• Member

September 19-October 3, 2003
We just completed a wonderful Circle Tour! It was WONDERFUL! Our favorite spots were: Mackinac Island; Wawa, Ontario; Rossport, Ontario; Rainbow Falls; Terrace Bay, Ontario; Judge C.R. Magney State Park; Grand Marais, Minnesota; Bayfield, Wisconsin.
Douglas & Marjorie King, Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin

September 1961
We did the Circle Tour in September 1961 - the first year it was open. We stayed at campgrounds in a tent. The first night we were in Kakabeka Park. We were the only ones in a tent. Everyone else had campers or RV’s. It rained hard that night - we were told later that was the hardest rain since weather was recorded. By the time we were approaching Sault Ste. Marie we came upon a slight detour. The hard rain had washed away a beaver dam - I’m not sure what river. That rushing water washed away a culvert leaving a huge gully in the road. Someone told us a carload of young people heading for Sault Ste. Marie from Wawa went off the road at the point of the gully and flew into the opposite side. We stayed another night in a roadside campground - very impressive and well cared-for. It continued raining, so rather than set up a tent in bad weather we drove all night and headed home. We would like to do the trip again - I’m sure there are many more hotels and other developments by now!
Dave & Dorie Carlson, Two Harbors, Minnesota

October 11, 2003
Favorite spot: Porcupine Mountain are in Michigan and Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario. Favorite Experience: Visiting wildlife preserves in Michigan. Complaint: Weren’t enough pull-off spots in Ontario to look at view.
Ferne Franks & Ian McKenzie, London, Ontario

October 19, 2003
Our favorites included the Munising area on the South Shore, with the various trails and waterfalls to be explored. Our trip was late enough in the fall that many of the big tourist activities had closed for the season, so we inquired at the park headquarters and learned of the trails. The foliage was breathtaking! We were very moved by the Whitefish Point Lighthouse for the Edmund Fitzgerald and delighted by the tour of the light keeper’s home. The scenery of the North Shore, though just past peak, was awe-inspiring … the tomato herb garlic soup at the Blue Water Inn in Grand Marais, Minnesota, is to die for. We really depended on the Lake Superior Travel Guide for the planning of this trip, and in deciding spur-of-the-moment trips as well.
Amy Arnao Washburn, Wisconsin
Beverly Jensch, Bayfield, Wisconsin

October 4, 2003
Highlights included the Mackinac Bridge and Tahquamenon Falls.
Cynthia Sorensen & Catherine Warzala, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

My husband, my 94-year-old mother and I took the Circle Tour around Lake Superior August 28-September 7, 2003.
My mother lived in Superior, Wisconsin, all her life and had never been around the Lake. I wanted her to see the sun set on Lake Superior, which we did see in Ontario. It was beautiful. Our favorite spot is Two Harbors. We have a motorhome and stayed at the Burlington Bay Campground on the lake for three beautiful days. We could not have asked for nicer weather. Great shopping in Two Harbors. Last year we stayed there over Labor Day and never saw the lake, as it was so foggy then.
Jerry & Cathy Bergeron, New Brighton, Minnesota
Connie Byrnes, New Brighton, Minnesota

September 18-25, 2003
We began at Duluth and traveled east. A couple of enjoyable memories: Kakabeka Falls was a highlight! A bear was the greeting party at Terrace Bay, Ontario, when we stopped at the Aguasabon River Gorge! He was having some lunch at the garbage can when we drove up. We have pics! Lake Superior is beautiful, but wild on the days when the wind was whipping!
Doug & Maureen Duckert, Lodi, Wisconsin

October 3, 2003
Left on September 23rd. Went from home to Duluth to Ashland and around that way. Marvelled at the mountains north of Sault Ste. Marie - they and the trees were beautiful!
Murrell & Vernice Ward, Lakefield, Minnesota

• Date Circle Tour Completed
• Favorite Spot and/or Experience
• Member

We completed the Circle Tour on October 4, 2003
We really enjoyed Tahquamenon Falls.
Michael & Sharon Kuchta, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

July 28-August 22, 2003
We cycled clockwise (naturally!) from Duluth to Duluth. All natives very friendly, all around the lake. Shame no bear sightings, but we were sure they were sighting us as we passed them by. Enjoyed meeting Jenny and Paul Abell at lunchtime between White River and Wawa. Glad to read they made it safely back to Thunder Bay. Favourite places, among many: Wawa (great Wings Night), Batchawana Bay (Scrumptious barbecued ribs and warm water to paddle in), Bayfield (a sailboat trip with Paul Bratti and a really memorable gourmet dinner at the Old Rittenhouse Inn), Port Wing (such generous hospitality at Garden House B&B from Karleen & Tom Tjepkema, not to mention Tom’s delicious interpretation of a “real traditional American Breakfast“). We didn’t get to Paradise, but we had a happy Christmas between Munising and Marquette. Lake Superior Travel Guide was most helpful - invaluable! Thank You!
Carole & Christopher Whitfield, Bladford Forum, Dorset, United Kingdom

November 1, 2003, 12:01a.m.-7:38 p.m.
The topography and views from Marathon to Thunder Bay were extraordinary. If we had more time, Sault Ste. Marie looked like an interesting town to explore.
Guy Partch, Duluth, Minnesota
Ben Bertsch, Duluth, Minnesota

October 12, 2003
Copper Harbor was favorite spot and every lighthouse along the way.
Gina DiSanto, Townsend, Tennessee

September 9-17, 2003
My husband and I recently completed the Lake Superior Circle Tour. We left September 9, 2003, and spent our first night in Paradise, Michigan, where we continued the tour west around Copper Harbor and then on to Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ontario. We had a super time and especially enjoyed viewing the islands and touring some of the lighthouses along the Lake Superior shoreline. Our favorite spot on the trip was Palisade Head in Minnesota. Climbing the rocks and enjoying the view was a very calming as well as a picturesque experience. The weather was beautiful and the fall colors at Palisade Head were beginning to show.
Ron & Joyce Mammoser, Milan, Michigan

1982
Stopping at the Bayfield Inn for the trout dinner.
Tom Brueshaber, Minneapolis, Minnesota

I have done the Circle Tour about five times. The last time was the summer of 2002. I have videotapes from some of the tours.
The single most incredible spot is the pull-out just before the road cut on Highway 61 after leaving Grand Portage, Minnesota, and before arriving at the Pigeon River boundary. The view there is probably the most spectacular on the entire drive. It is astounding to look down on the treetops. Then to see the azure blue water with all the many islands like emeralds tossed into the sea. Isle Royale is on the horizon looking mysterious. What more can one ask for? Build a house there and I’ll buy it! I love the Agawa Pictographs in Lake Superior Provincial Park. Chippewa Park in Thunder Bay is wonderful. And of course, clambering around on the rocks at Gooseberry Falls is a great time. Good times are too numerous to mention on Lake Superior!
Ronald Englehart, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Completed the Circle Tour on September 30, 2003, at Whitefish Point, Michigan. We started in Sault Ste. Marie on September 21st.
Our favorite spots were the waterfalls, especially Rainbow and Kakabeka and Munising. Also Miners Castle at Pictured Rocks and watching a freighter dock in Two Harbors.
Linda & Bob Banfield, Stroudsberg, Pennsylvania

August 2003
Pukaskwa National Park.
Mary Salter & Candy Roberts, Guthrie, Minnesota

• Date Circle Tour Completed
• Favorite Spot and/or Experience
• Member

August 3-September 6, 2003
We just completed the Circle Route around Lake Superior. It was great. We left on tour of the lake on August 3rd, and ended on September 6th. We had many favorite spots but two of them are the amethyst mines near Thunder Bay and also Old Fort William at Thunder Bay. The best thing about the fort was the delicious beef stew they served just like they did 100 years ago.
Douglas Koch, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

August 7-11, 2003
Solo motorcycle Circle Tour aboard a ’00 Kawasaki ZR- 750. I camped every night; the best spot was at a little state forest campground tucked away in the Keweenaw. I had the place pretty much to myself and it was lovely.
Jon Duncan, St. Paul, Minnesota

August 22, 2003
There were a lot of them, especially Wawa, Ontario, and Copper Harbor, Michigan, but it’s hard to pick just one! It was a very special trip for us! We picked blueberries right along the shores of Lake Superior on the Scenic Beach - there were tons of blueberries there! We also enjoyed the new Highway 11 from Hoyt Lakes that was featured in August/September issue of Lake Superior Magazine. We stayed at Fisherman’s Point Campground which was run by very nice, knowledgeable people who knew all about RVing! We really enjoyed this trip and you folks at LSM are part of why it was so enjoyable!
Don & LaVonne Ruud, Fergus Falls, Minnesota

July 12-20, 2003
We completed the Circle Tour this summer. Our favorites were: 1. The North Shore (a perennial favorite), 2. Ontario Provincial Parks - Neys, Rainbow Falls and Pancake Bay in particular. We had campsites right on the lake and enjoyed those!
John/Debbie/Randy/Brian Murphy, Rosemount, Minnesota

September 8-15, 2003
He just loves the “whole darn lake!“
Robert Poull, Grafton, Wisconsin

July 2-August 12, 2003
This summer we completed a six-week bicycle tour of Lake Superior from Thunder Bay to Thunder Bay; all 2,100 plus kilometers of the Circle Tour. Beginning a day and a half behind schedule (we soon realized that schedule should not be a word in a cycling vocabulary) we started out on the Big Lake Tour in the early afternoon on Wednesday, July 2 and finished, oddly enough, as planned, shortly after dusk on Tuesday, August 12. As the largest of the Great Lakes, it didn’t take us long to understand why the Big Lake is truly deserving of its Ojibwe and contemporary names. Exceeding all our expectations, the tour was amazing.
Jenny & Paul Abell, Toronto, Ontario

September 29, 2003
Minnesota North Shore - just thought it was the prettiest place around the whole lake - especially north of Lutsen!
Judy & David Garceau, Ishpeming, Michigan

August 21-September 7, 2003
Black River Recreational Area; seeing a black bear near Marathon.
Todd Winnell Family, Petoskey, Michigan