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Greetings all!
My DH and I would like to travel to Minnesota for vacation next year, but have no idea what would be a good area for a mix of sight seeing and camping. We like to camp at state parks. We are thinking late June to August for a time frame.
Thank you for any suggestions!
Along the Mississippi River. Red Wing on up. Northern Minnesota in September would be beautiful. If fishing and playing on the water northern Minnesota. Boundary waters comes to mind for an adventure.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WyoNewk
West shore of Lake Superior is about as pretty as any drive. Bring your passports if you have them and continue to Thunder Bay.
Yeah... Canada has some spectacular Camping!!!!
Northern WI and UP Michigan too.
We got laughed at pretty hard for 'tenting' in Canada in October... Learned to appreciate heated bathrooms to do dishes!.
We did a trip from MN on north and around the lakes to New Brunswick. That was pretty nice. It was one leg of a 12 week trip. We only stayed 2 nights in a motel (during an illness).
We have never camped in Canada...guess we will have to get passports! but the UP ... we have spent the last several years in northern MI and UP...and Northern WI - my DH spent his childhood on Washington Island...I have only been to Door Co once
He might be intersted in a trip that involves going around the lakes...could we do it in 2 weeks?
I enjoy investigating a new spot in the cold winter months here in antipation of the up coming trips!
We are considering leaving the TT at home and doing it in a tent. We would like to get into some remote areas that we are not able with the 26' home on our backs! I admit I am spoiled by the nice toasty propane heat though...
You could go around one lake (Superior) easily in two weeks. Not "the lakes."
I'd think twice (or more) about leaving your camper at home. I've seen man-eating flies and skeeters in Canada (and Montana and Colorado) that could be life-threatening without some kind of protection. I remember my late wife hopping out of the truck for less than a minute to take a picture of some wildflowers along the road. In those few seconds she had at least a dozen bites on her legs and arms that weren't healed two weeks later. That can happen anywhere (states or Canada) if you hit a hatch wrong, but I've seen it in Canada much more often. I've flown private aircraft into Canada and Alaska few times, and one of the requirements is (or at least used to be) that you carry mosquito nets for each passenger in case you're forced down in the wilderness. It's not just a matter of comfort; it can be life-threatening. We've camped in Canada where we didn't dare leave the camper because the mosquitoes were so thick. It's a little unusual, but it's sure nice to have screened windows if needed.
We always carry a couple tents in our camper. Do that and if the urge hits you to take off on a trail, you can just grab the tent and backpacks and be on your way, then have the comfort of your camper when you return.
You probably won't need much heat, but you might find the AC to be a godsend. The last time I was in Thunder Bay (the northern-most point of Lake Superior), it was June and 106 degrees! (And we didn't have AC in our little truck camper!!!) Usually if you can camp close to the Lake it'll be cool, but if the breeze is in the wrong direction the lake doesn't help.
I've not been far down the east shore of Superior, but my brother, who lives in Minneapolis, has a couple times and enjoyed it. The west shore is really beautiful from Duluth up -- one of my favorite road trips in the U.S.
ooookkkk...thanks for the heads up about the bugs! I am a bug magnet even if there arent any around. Not sure I like the idea of life -threating misquitoe packs...I spend the summer smelling like a nice smoked oak, and deet anyway :/
I think DH was thinking we would bring both TT and tent, so that confirms it! a the west shore is winning the race for the trip! Looking forward to the trip, maybe Ill just stay in the truck though
I also like to carry a few "fly strips" in the camper. I know they're gross, but they work (if they're fresh). Once while camping in Canada we came across some tiny winged bugs that actually crawled through the screens! Another time, in Pueblo, CO, we ran into a major hatch of black gnats. Those things were swarming all over town. We called everywhere looking for fly strips and finally found some at a Dollar Store. Every other store was sold out! LOL
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