The Best Places to View Fall Colors Around Duluth

The summer warmth is slowly collapsing into the edge of fall. The best places to view fall colors around Duluth are about to burst to life with amber, scarlet, and flaming orange.

The North Shore will unveil a spectacle of fall colors that feels like it might slip through your fingers if you blink. At Fitger’s, we make sure you don’t miss any magical moment.

Duluth hands you an autumn feast for every sense. For your camera, it has that perfect shot. For your soul, it offers you to savor the breeze, or simply standing still in the sunset over Lake Superior, all within a stone’s throw of Fitger’s Luxury Lakefront Hotel.

These places in Duluth will make you fall in love with fall colors all over again.

Hawk Ridge

It’s a ridge where sky meets earth in a kaleidoscope of raw color and wild air. Hawk Ridge sits high above Duluth, offering front-row seats to nature’s fiercest display.

You will find hues vibrating under the cool autumn sky. One moment, you’re frozen by the sight of red maples blazing, leaves rustling as if they’re catching fire.

As if nature couldn’t contain herself, you see hawks and eagles fly with wings spread wide, soaring south through a sky alive with colors.

In the area below Hawk Ridge, you’ll have Lake Superior where you can step onto the trails. It’s where you will feel the world beneath you shifting as you walk through trails bright with fall colors. The colors you’ll see here will blend into one another – scarlet, golden birch, towering aspen – almost like a painting.

And just as you are taking it all in – the scream of a red-tailed hawk overhead would pull you back into the moment. You’ll then remember that you have more places in Duluth to visit to fully enjoy fall colors.

Gooseberry Falls State Park

Just at an hour’s drive, you’ll reach Gooseberry Falls where you’ll be greeted by the thunderous roar of water surging over jagged rock.

Sugar maples will smile at you with a blaze of orange and intense red. It seems like someone took a brush and painted the landscape.  The trail calls you further, the falls roaring in the background as you push deeper into the park, where the colors become something else – almost too vibrant, too real to touch.

Keep moving until the trail breaks open to show the endless stretch of Lake Superior. It’s right there with a vast, moody blue stretching toward the horizon to counterbalance the color above.

As you walk inside the Gooseberry Falls State Park, you will feel the leaves crunch underfoot, and sharp, cold air fill your lungs.

The colors, the rush of water, the pounding roar of the falls will all come together as one mesmerizing experience. Fall in Duluth is everything happening at once. And you’re right in the middle of it.

Enger Tower

Do you want something closer and still within Duluth’s grasp? Enger Tower is a monument you must see – five stories of stone pushing upward from the city below, reaching for the sky. And from the top, it’s something else.

You’ll have the whole city spread beneath you and Lake Superior stretched out into the distance. Here, too, you’ll find yellows, deep reds, and oranges, but it turns the view into something that goes beyond breathtaking – into something you feel more than see.

Below the tower, the surrounding park offers calm in contrast to the view’s wild reach. You will see Japanese-inspired gardens there, where you can sit, slow down, and soak in the fall season. It’s a great spot to grab a bench, sit still, and take it all in. The city, the lake, the trees – they’re all in motion, but somehow frozen for just this fall.

Split Rock Lighthouse State Park

You’ll find the lighthouse farther along the North Shore. You’ll know it when you see jagged cliffs and ancient rock dominating the view.

It’s weathered, yet beautiful. Its historical significance aside, the park is a sight to behold in fall. The trees bleed their colors into the horizon and the air feels electrically charged. That lighthouse is standing alone – you will see it silhouetted against the lake, surrounded by hills of gold and streaks of red.

And if you’re wondering why every lens within a hundred miles points this way, come October, you’ll find the answer when you see it yourself.  The Lighthouse Loop Trail wraps around this place through a forest colored with the crack and crunch of leaves.

You’ll again witness the fall palette with its full glory here. The path coils upward yet it pulls you deeper into the trees until, suddenly, it breaks wide open. It has a brilliant panoramic view. You’ll see the lighthouse against blue waters with the rolling forest behind. It’s an overwhelming contrast.

Once the hike’s over, and your senses have quieted, step inside the lighthouse museum, where you’ll find shipwrecks and survival legends whisper through the halls.

Gunflint Trail

The Gunflint Trail, fifty-seven miles north of Duluth, is where Minnesota’s wild side. It is a ribbon of rugged wilderness. It’s not a trail that demands intention. We won’t recommend it for the fainthearted or the curious passerby.

Superior National Forest is on both sides with the road slicing through it. Every mile is more beautiful than the last. The gunflint goes on for miles and miles all the way to the boundary waters.

Tips for Your Fall Color Adventure in Duluth

Duluth’s fall is the brightest late September to mid-October, but it’s unpredictable. If you want to catch it, you’ll have to chase it. At Fitger’s, we guide you so you capture the moments that wait for no one.

You’ll also have to dress up for the occasion. Fall near Lake Superior isn’t a gentle nudge if you’re not ready. Jackets and boots are essential. The scenic trails can get uncomfortable if your shoes aren’t sturdy enough.

Weekends can feel too crowded. If you want to avoid crowds, show up early or, better yet, go during the week.

Conclusion

Duluth and the North Shore come alive in fall with wild and swirling colors of gold, orange, crimson, amber, and red.

All these places are unique in their own way, but they’re sure to give you an experience that you’ll feel right down to your core. Staying at Fitger’s makes it even more amazing. All our hospitality, staff, and resources are at your service. Book your stay at Fitger’s before you miss the fall colors this season!