Superior Hiking Trail - 3 day recommendations?

May 4, 2018 9:09 AM

Planning a mid-June backpacking trip on the Superior Hiking Trail with my wife. Looking for recommendations for a route. I'd prefer to start by taking a shuttle and hiking back to the car.

I've backpacked before (but not for a looong time). My wife has not ever gone backpacking. We're solid on gear but don't have a planned route yet. I'd like to hit a trail section that allows for 15-20 miles of total hiking with 2 nights of camping. My old typical weekend trips were 5-10-5 (miles per day) routes. I don't think we'd have trouble completing a 10 mile trek in a day but it would be a little nicer to take it slower and enjoy the walk.

I have the 2018 trail guide and maps, but am a little lost as to where I should start (and how we go about arranging the shuttle?)

posted by caution live frogs to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

Best answer: I haven't done any overnights, so I can only be marginally helpful with that aspect, but I have done a lot of day hikes on the SHT, and a colleague of mine who just happened to be in my office while I was composing this answer is an SHT expert and has done plenty of overnights.

1. Avoid the section near Gooseberry Falls where the trail is closed from storm damage. A pretty big section of that is roadside hiking and it wouldn't make sense to do that on a 3-day trip. This closure and other trail issues are clearly highlighted on the SHT web page, so you probably already knew this.

2. Colleague says the section from crosby-manitou state park to caribou falls wayside is his favorite, but pretty intense with elevation changes. The campsites there in particular are supposed to be really great.

I haven't done that section, but another section right near it is one that I would highly recommend: the area around Sonju Lake, which is just west of Crosby-Manitou and it's adjacent to the Colleague-recommended section. So our combined recommendation is: Do the last two sections on this page in either order.

Also he says the shuttle is very low friction. IME the community around the SHT is really great and you won't have any issues.

My wife and I live in Duluth; feel free to drop a memail when you're up! We'll be happy to help make your trip a good one.
posted by dbx at 9:39 AM on May 4, 2018

Shug Emery takes frequent hikes on the SHT and does a wonderful job filming his experiences. You may want to have a look through his playlists and see if any specific sections appeal to you.
posted by rocket at 9:36 AM on May 7, 2018

Response by poster: We hiked from Finland Rec Center to Aspen Knob, taking a day hike into Crosby-Manitou to see the falls. Camped at Sonju the first night, Aspen the second. Due to heavy thunderstorms we hiked out a day early - had planned to stay at Egge on the hard night, but instead took the North Country Trail as a shortcut back to Finland parking lot.

Trail was great - thanks for the recommendation! We’ll definitely be back to check out other sections.
posted by caution live frogs at 5:25 AM on June 17, 2018