Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Minnesota / Superior Hiking Trail

Superior Hiking Trail: Bean and Bear Lakes (Silver Bay to Tettegouche)

Superior Hiking Trail (Penn Boulevard, Silver Bay, to the Highway 1 trailhead)

The Superior Hiking Trail Association (SHTA) calls this “Very challenging and scenic section with views of Lake Superior and inland forests.” Between Silver Bay and Tettegouche State Park, the trail climbs over Round Mountain and Mount Trudee, passes cliffs above Bean and Bear Lakes, and crosses the Baptism River at High Falls.

It’s 11.1 miles point to point, and the 6.8-mile Bean and Bear Lakes Loop from Penn Boulevard makes a shorter overnight with a campsite near Bear Lake.

The hike

From the Penn Boulevard trailhead in Silver Bay, the SHT climbs onto a ridge above two small lakes. The SHTA lists the landmarks as Bean and Bear Lakes, Round Mountain, Mount Trudee, Raven Rock, and “the Drainpipe,” which it describes as a series of giant rock steps. Backpacker’s 2013 trip, which ran the other way from County Road 6, noted a “Rocky Trail” stretch near a cliff edge, views down to Bear Lake and Bean Lake “well below the ridge,” and a last view of Lake Superior before dropping into Silver Bay, with the taconite plant in the distance. A 2021 post on The House, an outdoor retailer’s blog, says there is “not much shade on this trail.”

Continuing north, Backpacker passed a crossing of the Twin Lakes Trail, the Nipisiquit Lake Trail crossing with views of three lakes, and the view from Mount Trudee, then scrambled the Drainpipe, which it called a short, grayish outcrop. The trail then crosses the Baptism River on a bridge at High Falls, which the SHTA calls “the highest falls entirely in Minnesota.” The bridge at High Falls was closed for replacement in 2025, and a Minnesota DNR news release from November 2025 announced the new pedestrian bridge had opened. Backpacker suggested refilling water at the Baptism River.

Water deserves planning. The SHTA warns that smaller sources “can dry up in late summer,” and a Perfect Duluth Day essay about an August hike south from Finland describes creeks running dry for about ten miles until the writer reached the falls on the Baptism River and swam and drank for an hour.

The section ends at the Highway 1 trailhead, west of Highway 61. Tettegouche State Park also has a lot at Highway 61, which needs a state park vehicle permit (SHTA).

For the next section north, see Finland to Sonju Lake. To the south is Gooseberry Falls to Beaver Bay.

Tips

Camping

SHT campsites need no reservations, fees, or permits, and every site must be shared, according to the SHTA. Camp only at designated sites (hammock campers too), never at trailheads, and limit your stay to one night. Build fires only in the fire ring, use the latrine, pack out all trash, and use a bear canister or hang your food. Most sites are designed for nine or fewer people, and groups of eight or more must read the SHTA’s large-group page. Don’t stay at a Tettegouche State Park campsite unless you have reserved it.

The SHTA lists five campsites between Silver Bay and Highway 1.

Inside Intel: This Big Wild World’s Susan Gleissner recommends the East Palisade campsite, just north of the Bean and Bear Loop, over West Palisade: it’s larger, has more flat tent spaces, and has a “slightly better flowing water source.”

Trail facts

The Lowdown

A wet crossing at West Branch Palisade Creek:

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Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.