Fall Colors North Shore Minnesota
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Hiking, biking, birding, driving, sailing, paddling and more for fall colors!

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 Minnesota North Shore Fall Colors

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North Shore Fall Color Tours
w w w . n o r t h s h o r e f a l l c o l o r s . c o m

Green
Pines, cedar, spruce, balsam
Trees Changing
Maple, aspen/poplar, oak, birch, tamarack
Peaking Fall Colors

North Shore Fall Color Progress Indicator

Fall Color and Bird Migration Report
[  p u b l i s h e d   a b o u t   e v e r y d a y  ]

North Shore Fall Colors 2011! Fewer people, cooler temps and things you don't see in the cities.

>>Report for September 17, 2011

Fall Color Status:  Clear skies, bright sunshine, low humidity, cool and breezy. Maples, birch and aspen/poplars have started to change. Many birch in the upper North Shore area are turning bright yellow along Lake Superior. Generally colors are best for maple and oak from mid September into early October. Colors for birch and poplar/aspen are last two weeks of September into mid October. Tamarack changes to lemon yellow at the end of September into early October. We report fall colors into two areas; the lower North Shore and upper North Shore. I35 road construction - try using Hwy 23 which connects Sandstone to Duluth. It is a very scenic fall colors drive and will get you away from the hustle of I35. Well worth the extra time...

FALL COLOR REPORT FOR LOWER NORTH SHORE / DULUTH AREA / HWY 61 MILE 0 TO MILE 70>>>Duluth through Little Marais, which includes Tettegouche State Park, St. Louis and Lake Counties. Current Report September 17; use early fall color routes. Very nice early colors. Birch are turning bright yellow from Silver Bay through upper North Shore along Lake Superior. Maples are turning on early season routes. There are some road closures due to forest fire activity in Lake and Cook Counties. You may encounter smoke, reducing visibility on roadways. See more info about road closures. Awesome time of year to hike North Shore trails and explore the area.

FALL COLOR REPORT FOR UPPER NORTH SHORE HWY 61 MILE 70 TO USA / CANADA BORDER >>>All of Cook County from Schroeder up through Grand Portage, Gunflint Trail and the Canadian border area. Current Report September 17; use early fall color routes. Birch are turning bright yellow along Lake Superior. Maples are turning bright red on the Caribou Trail, Oberg Mountain tour and Honeymoon Bluff tour. There are some road closures due to forest fire activity in Lake and Cook Counties. You may encounter smoke, reducing visibility on roadways. See more info about road closures. Awesome time of year to hike North Shore trails and explore the area.

Great opportunities exist for wolf, deer and red fox watching along Hwy 61, especially at night. Wolf sightings are on a sharp increase due to over population and Colvill has been a hot spot the past two weeks. Between 9pm and midnight last week we saw 6 wolves, 5 red fox and 32 deer on Hwy 61 between Grand Marais and Judge Magney State Park. Another large white wolf near Colvill fire hall last night, following two deer along the roadway. Wolves are commonly seen on and along Hwy 61 in Cook County in the; Lutsen area, Cascade River State Park area, up and through downtown Grand Marais, Colvill, Kadunce River Wayside area, Judge Magney State Park and Hovland.

2008 and 2009 - very late fall colors ended rather abruptly Oct 15th and 17th as strong fall squalls rolled in. Watching these storms rip leaves off trees and spin up Lake Superior into huge shore pounding waves, is a spectacular scene.

>>Keep these things in mind;

Watch out for ticks... we've been finding very small deer ticks on dogs and people. Hard to believe but, deer ticks are very active during the warm fall days and often attach in the very private body areas. Deer ticks are a recent invasive species that has moved into North Shore areas, possibly from excessive deer populations. (might be a good place to find an area to deer hunt.)

Please be courteous to those that don't want to drive as slow as you. Turn-out in a safe location and let faster traffic pass. Not everyone is leaf looking. People live and work here too. Thank you!

2011 Report Archives

fall_colors_09012011 | fall_colors_09042011 | fall_colors_09062011 | fall_colors_09072011 fall_colors_09082011 | fall_colors_09112011 | fall_colors_09142011 | fall_colors_09162011
 

See fall color images of Oberg Mountain from September 30th, 2010.

See fall color images of Cascade River from September 30th, 2010.

Images below of incredible severe thunder storm driven by smoke plume from Pagami Creek fire in BWCA near Ely. Produced mesocyclone with hail over Cook County. Sky was black with pea sized to one inch hail with ash in it. Images from 4pm Monday September 12, 2011 below.

Pagami Creek fire produced mesocyclone over Cook County MN

Looking west over Grand Marais, Minnesota at head of Pagami Creek fire. Approx. 60 miles away.

Pagami Creek fire produced mesocyclone over Cook County MN

Looking north over Gunflint Trail, Minnesota at smoke filled mammatus clouds caused by Pagami Creek smoke plume

Pagami Creek fire produced mesocyclone over Cook County MN

Another image looking north over Gunflint Trail, Minnesota at smoke filled mammatus clouds caused by Pagami Creek smoke plume

SPECIAL EVENT>>Split Rock Lighthouse State Park Beacon lighting and anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald Nov 10th. read more about this event...

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