Upper Manitou Forest Preserve If you’re looking to find some of the largest and oldest trees on the North Shore, check out the Upper Manitou Forest Preserve. It includes one of the best remaining examples of what the North Shore forest was once like. The 2,450-acre preserve is full of sugar maple, yellow birch, white spruce, and white cedar. They are estimated to be more than 300 years old. Some of the trees growing in the area are more than 5 feet in circumference! That is significant for a maple tree, especially along the North Shore where maples tend to [...]

About the Superior National Forest The Superior National Forest is an almost 4 million-acre forested area that is located in the Arrowhead Region of the state of Minnesota.  The forest also encompasses the greater Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). The forest is home to the tallest natural peak in Minnesota, Eagle Mountain, which is 2,301 feet tall and offers spectacular views over the vast forest. The Superior National Forest is part of the United States Forest system and offers unlimited recreational activities year-round. You will be treated to different images of the forest as the season change. The deep [...]

There are not many old-growth forests remaining in the state of Minnesota. We on the North Shore are lucky enough to have three of them that can be easily accessed. What is an Old Growth Forest? An old-growth forest is a forest that has not undergone any unnatural changes or major disturbances (e.g. logging) for at least 100 years. These forests contain young, mature, and dead-standing trees and have a multi-layered canopy. They tend to recover from natural damage like wind and fire faster than disturbed forests and create a habitat that is ideal for diverse wildlife. Old-growth forests are [...]