This Minnesota Lake Town Is The Perfect Getaway For Nature-Loving Creative Types

Minnesota is home to one of the Midwest's best backpacking and thru-hiking destinations, the Superior Hiking Trail. An especially pretty part of it begins in Grand Marais, a charming lake town that has lots to offer travelers who love art and other creative pursuits. It's worth a stop whether you're exploring the trail or craving a low-key vacation combining nature and culture. Located beside the Sawtooth Mountains and Lake Superior, this 1,300-person community revolves around a bustling downtown harbor filled with fishing boats, seabirds, and sapphire-blue water. Grand Marais is also home to the state's oldest artist colony and the North House Folk School, a center for learning traditional handicrafts.

Art is everywhere you turn in Grand Marais. You'll see painters capturing scenes of the harbor at Artist's Point, which offers some of the region's best views of both the shoreline and the mountains. A slender path flanked by tide pools and sculptural basalt rocks leads to a lighthouse and an island-like spot that's festooned with pine trees. 

After checking out this landmark, pop into the downtown shops and galleries to find one-of-a-kind pieces by local artists. Betsy Bowen Gallery & Studios specializes in woodblock prints of the Northwoods that often grace the pages of children's books. Meawhile, Sivertson Gallery shows works by more than 60 artists, including regional talent and Canadian Inuit creatives. If you've been dreaming of purchasing handmade bowls and mugs you can use in your day-to-day life, be sure to browse the wares at Grand Marais Pottery. Or visit the green space at nearby Broadway Art Park, where the shop's owner, Mike Smieja, sometimes makes new pieces on his potter's wheel.

Grand Marais is an excellent place to unleash your own creativity, too. If taking up tapestry weaving, leatherworking, or blacksmithing is on your bucket list, the North House Folk School has a workshop for you. Located on the picturesque harbor, this education-focused nonprofit brims with opportunities to try Scandinavian folk arts such as bark basketry and kuska cup woodcarving. It also honors the artistic traditions of several northern cultures with a wintertime Arctic film festival and a summer solstice celebration that includes crafting mini-courses, maritime music performances, and two-hour rides on the Hjørdis, an old-school steel schooner named after the Norse goddess of war. 

The nearby Grand Marais Art Colony is the perfect environment for learning how to paint, offering instruction in watercolor, acrylic, and oil techniques. You can also take classes in cyanotype printing, kinetic sculpture, ceramics, and more, which are often led by award-winning artists and professors from Minnesota colleges. Teaching isn't the colony's only claim to fame. It hosts solo and group art exhibitions in its Studio 21 gallery space, plus a summer arts festival and a fall event featuring author readings and writing workshops.

Should hunger strike while you're exploring the arts, make your way to Dockside Fish Market for a fish-and-chips dinner prepared by the culinary artists from Fisherman's Daughter. This eatery also offers smoked, wild-caught Lake Superior fish as well as soups and desserts. If you're thirsty, head to Voyageur Brewing Company for a craft beer made with refreshing water from Lake Superior. If you're seeking a non-alcoholic refreshment, you're in luck: The taproom offers 1919 root beer and Uffda kombucha, among other alcohol-free options.

Some of the most exquisite art in Grand Marais comes from Mother Nature. You can enjoy much of it from the hiking loops in Sweetheart's Bluff Nature Area, which is on the west side of the Grand Marais Recreation Area. In addition to being easy enough for new hikers, the short, smooth Lake Loop is accessible to people in wheelchairs. If you'd like to wander through the woods before gazing at Lake Superior, that's the path to take. If you'd like to admire the lake from a bluff, the Overlook Loop is the place to start. When you reach Sweetheart's Bluff, the main overlook, you'll see Artist's Point and its lighthouse in the distance, surrounded by deep-blue water. As you descend the bluffs, you'll find several picnic areas and another stunning view of the harbor.

To experience the area's beauty in another way, consider a stunning road trip around Lake Superior or a guided hike that involves night-vision equipment. Local companies such as Low Light Experiences will guide you along stretches of the Superior Hiking Trail for this memorable activity. The special, lightweight gear unveils all sorts of stars you can't normally see in the night sky, making the vastness of space more apparent than ever. If you love stargazing and have more time to explore northern Minnesota, consider incredible waterside camping at Voyageurs National Park after your trip to Grand Marais. As an International Dark Sky Park, it's a prime place to see meteor showers, the northern lights, and an array of stellar stunners.