Travels with Twinkles: Two Harbors, Minnesota

August 6 - 8, 2017:

It’s about a 100 mile ride today south on route 61 with lots of RV’s, boats and cars carrying canoes and kayaks. In spite of the traffic, it was an easy uneventful ride, the way I like it. There is so much to see and do along this north shore of Lake Superior, it’s difficult to not stop at every little scenic roadside pull off and State Park.

We are set up in the Burlington Bar Campground in Two Harbors, Minnesota by noon time. It is a municipal campground operated by the city of Two Harbors. It is a crowded campground, but as it is right on the shores of Lake Superior and very scenic. It is a popular and crowded campground as it’s on the Lake Superior shoreline and very scenic.

There is a walking trail right from the campground to downtown with a few restaurants, bars and shops. We drove downtown, not knowing our way around, to find a very interesting Duluth & Iron Range Railroad Depot (D&IR) with two beautifully restored Steam Locomotives and various other cars. Locomotive 229 is a enormous 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone class Steam Locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1943. Locomotive 3 is a 2-6-0 Mogul class Steam Locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1883 and was the first Locomotive obtained by the D&IR in 1883. Locomotive 3 was nearly lost on delivery when it was on a barge being towed by a ship to Two Harbors when a sudden violent storm came up on the Lake. The Lake County Historical Depot Museum is a great one all about the history of the logging and mining industries, shipping on Lake Superior, the building of the D&IR Railroad and the Ore Docks in Two Harbors.

It's a monster !

The Duluth & Iron Range Railroad Depot

Locomotive # 3 known as the "3 Spot"

The restoration is so well done

Nice to see credit being given to dedicated volunteers

The 3 Spot had a rough voyage to Two Harbors

Rails and Sails really met at Two Harbors

The Two Harbors downtown area is also pretty scenic, it a nice folksy
kind of town.

The Courthouse is really special

Interesting mural on downtown building

One of my favorite signs downtown, didn't try the pizza

Another favorite sign, but the business is closed

Downtown view

Also within walking distance is the historic Agate Bay Light Station and the enormous Ore Docks of the Minnesota Iron Company which built and operated the railroad. In front of the Ore Docks is moored a famous Tug Boat, the “Edna G” built in 1896 which is on the historic register and has a fascinating history. It was retired in 1981 and at the time was the last wood fired steam powered tug boat on Lake Superior. The Lighthouse is the only remaining operational Lighthouse on Lake Superior although the original fresnel lens and oil lamp has been replaced with an electric beam. They also rent out rooms in the Lighthouse as a B & B to fund the operation. Also adjacent to the Lighthouse is the Pilot House of the 600 foot Steam freighter the “Frontenac” which was grounded in a storm on November 22, 1979 and scrapped.

The Agate Bay Light Station

The view form the top

The remains of the Frontenac

You can still turn the wheel

The Frontenac in better days

The Two Harbors Ore Docks

An ore ship at the docks which remain partially open

The famous Edna G tug boat in front of the docks

The current Two Harbors came about due to the discovery of rich deposits of iron ore in Vermillion Range near Soudan, Minnesota. Minnesota Iron Company bought 17,000 acres of land to build a railroad to move the iron ore and chose Agate Bay as the terminus and shipping port on Lake Superior. Initially Agate Bay was created as a construction camp for the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad and the Iron Ore Dock facilities. The railroad was completed to Agate Bay in 1884 and shipments of Iron Ore started immediately. Agate Bay became a boom town and was incorporated into Two Harbors in 1907. In additional to Mining, Lumber was also a huge industry with about 35 logging camps in the area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Harbors,_Minnesota

We visited two other great State Parks just north on Lake Superior, the Split Rock State Park and the Gooseberry Falls State Park. The Split Rock Lighthouse is one of the most popular tourist sights in Minnesota. The Light House was built in 1910 after a very deadly storm period in November 1905 on Lake Superior where nearly 30 ships were wrecked. The Light House operated until 1969 when it was decommissioned and taken over by the State of Minnesota.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_Rock_Lighthouse

The Split Rock Lighthouse, note the fog horns in the foreground

The stairway

The fresnel lens

It was something like 190 steps down to the lake,
originally they has a engine powered tram up this
hill to bring in supplies

At the lake you get a beautiful view of the lighthouse

Gooseberry State Park is another great park built by the CCC starting in 1934. It is a series of five waterfalls on the Gooseberry River with areas where you can walk over the rocks and in the river. There are signs indicating that it isn’t recommended to swim in the water, but it doesn’t seem to be taken seriously or enforced by the number of people in the water. It was very crowded giving us throwbacks to our visit to Yellowstone National Park.

It's kind of like a waterpark

Swimming not recommended

We watched this guy jumping across the rocks for a while,
then left not wanting to be witness to an accident

Another interesting scenic point along route 61 is the Silver Creek Cliff. The original old route 61 went along the cliff side, but these days you ride through a tunnel.

The view from the old route 61 along the cliffs

A lone climber on the cliffs facing danger

We are enjoying the dangers of Castle Danger Brewery in Two Harbors which seems to doing a booming business. They presently have a sizable operation and are expanding.