Holiday Winter Events Duluth North Shore

bentleyville christmas lights show

Holiday, Winter Events and Travel Attractions in Duluth and Minnesota Lake Superior North Shore

We’ve just posted in SuperiorTrails.com our calendar of interesting events and attractions along the North Shore for the Holiday and upcoming Winter.

BentleyVille Christmas Lights Duluth, MN
A fantastic winter holiday wonderland in lights – Bentleyville Christmas Lights Village

Among the top Holiday Events in Duluth, the premier Christmas and Holiday event is the BentleyVille Tour of Lights Christmas Lights Village. It is a terrific holiday activity for families and people of all ages.  Duluth changes its Bayfront Park into a Christmas and Holiday Village with a gazzilion scenes artistically created with steel and colored lights (over 3 million lights). At the center of the village is a 12 story Christmas Tree (see picture). There is no admission charge (although donations are accepted) and there is free hot chocolate and other Christmas goodies offered. But this year it is a drive-through event vs. walking. The village is open from November 21st to December 27th.

On the weekends, an event that is especially popular with the kids is the North Shore Scenic Railway’s Christmas City Express (ala Polar Express) train between the Duluth Depot (decorated as the North Pole) and Fitgers Brewhouse complex. The Depot is just across the expressway from Bentleyville so you can park near Fitgers to do some shopping or dining and then ride the train to Bentleyville and return later. Another treat for kids is Santa arrives on the Christmas City Express to set up shop in the Fitgers Inn Mall to meet the kids and find out their Christmas wishes. (see the video below)

Duluth Christmas City Express Video


Another popular Duluth Holiday attraction is the Glensheen Mansion Christmas Tours where you step back in time in a re-creation of how all the rooms in the mansion were opulently decorated for the holidays. The weekend tours start November 17th and run through January 6th. Glensheen also hosts a special Holiday Bazaar the first weekend in December creating an outdoor village on the grounds of the estate with over 40 artisans & merchants setting up shop.

The first year we attended the Bentleyville Show there was snow on the ground so we also took in some snowshoe hiking at one of Duluth’s parks. If you are a winter sports enthusiast, there are several good hiking, cross-country skiing and snowshoe trails within the city of Duluth. There are also two city run ski hills (Spirit Mountain and Chester Bowl) for downhill skiing and snowboarding. See our Winter Events & Links page for more info.

John Beargrease Sled Dog Race
Tim Calhoun of Tomahawk, WI was an early leader in this John Beargrease race and was a winner of the UP200, Michigan’s largest sled dog race.

Another popular winter event in Duluth (and in fact along the entire Minnesota North Shore of Lake Superior) is the annual John Beargrease Sled Dog Race, which is the longest Sled Dog Race in the lower 48 states (around 400 miles from Duluth to the Canadian border and back). For some of the racers this is a warm-up for the famous Alaskan Iditarod Sled Race. Other racers are working their way up to some day compete in the Iditarod. You can watch the race from several intersections and check-in points along the route. Most popular are the starting and finishing lines but you will often get an even closer look at the racers at one of the viewing points along the route. The race runs over four days and runs 24 hours a day, although racers are required to take a minimum # of hours of rest stops. When we attended the race we also brought our snowshoes along and did some of the several great snowshoe and cross-country trails that dot the North Shore.

We’ve listed other recommended events at our North Shore Winter Events Calendar. You can also check out the Duluth Chamber Events Calendar for other travel attractions.

Happy Trails,

Roscoe

Wisconsin Lake Superior Ice Caves

The Bayfield Ice Caves

Touring the ice sculptures of the Bayfield Lake Superior Ice Caves was easily the most popular 2014 & 2015 winter event around Lake Superior. In 2016 and since that time, the Lake Superior Ice was not safe enough to allow travel to the Ice Caves and Formations.

But the winter Lake Superior Region Weather Forecast provides hope that travel to the Sea Cave formations will be possible, perhaps as early as Feb 1.

Bayfield Ice Caves
Ty Daniels tool this shot in 2014 from the inside of one of the ice caves
Bayfield Lake Superior Ice Caves
Jo in front of one of the many ice cave sculptures done by Mother Nature

In 2014, For the first time in 5 years the ice on Lake Superior around the Bayfield Peninsula and the Apostle Islands was thick enough for people to safely hike out to the unique ice sculptures that form in the caves formed in lake shore bluffs the Apostle Islands National Park mainland. See some photos and directions to the Ice Caves from our last visit – Wisconsin Lake Superior Ice Caves.

Tips on Visiting the Ice Caves

If you go up to Bayfield to see this display of Mother Nature sculptures, here’s a few tips for you.

While at times snowshoes would be helpful to travel to the caves, it is likely when you go thousands of people have already trekked out across the ice and snow to the see the caves. So expect the trail to be quite tamped down. (However if it snows heavily just before you go, this may change.) So if you have ice cleats that clamp on your boots, bring them along. Or wear whatever boots you have that will give you decent traction on ice or snow. If you’ve got some ski poles or hiking sticks, bring them.

Also pack a beverage and some energy or granola bars. I figure the hike across the ice to the caves is about a mile and the hike along the caves could be almost a mile. So figure at least four miles round trip and extra time to explore the caves means you’ll be out there a few hours. And this amount of time also means a bathroom break prior to your trek wouldn’t hurt either (Because of the high bluffs the caves are formed in, you can’t sneak off into the woods for a pottie stop!).

Directions to the Ice Caves

The Ice Caves are accessed from the Meyers Beach unit of the Apostle Islands National Park. The road to the beach is off Highway 13 four miles east of Cornucopia, Wisconsin or 17 miles Northwest of Bayfield, Wisconsin. There are places to eat and get grocery items at both locations. Here is a link to our  Lake Superior Region Snow & Weather Reports page for information on traveling.

Lodging. You’ll want to Google for motel accommodations in Bayfield, Washburn, and Ashland as your best bets for finding a place to stay. If all what is available is booked, it is feasible to get lodging in Superior, Wisconsin as via Hwy 13 it is about 60 miles to the Ice Caves from Superior. There are spots between Ashland and Superior that are closer – like Iron River and Brule – but my guess is if Ashland – Bayfield motels are filled for your desired dates, these would be filled as well. Make your reservations as early as you can.

We hope to see the caves again this year. Maybe we’ll see you there.

More Ice Cave Photos and Directions on Visiting the Ice Caves

Ross

Snow Report – Wisconsin, Minnesota, Upper Peninsula

Snow Across Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula

Winter in Wisconsin – looking off the deck of our house

Dateline January 10, 2016. Resort, pub owners, restaurants, convenience stores – all sorts of businesses across Minnesota’s North Shore, Northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are happy folks because they’ve finally had some snow and normally cold weather.

Joining in the merriment are winter recreation enthusiasts – snowmobilers, snowshoe hikers, cross-country skiers, and the like who have been looking forward to going “up north” to enjoy their favorite winter hobby. With the recent spell of very cold weather, ice fisherman should be happy too.

Snow storms have swept across the entire Lake Superior region. Recent snow is good news for the annual John Beargrease Sled Dog Race being held the last week in January. Ashland and Bayfield are getting more snow, setting things up nicely for the Apostle Islands Sled Dog Race being held the first weekend in February. Jo and I attended this popular Bayfield Area Sled Dog Race a few years ago and enjoyed watching the competition. In the Upper Peninsula from the Porcupine Mountains to Houghton and the Keweenaw have received several inches of snow. Ditto for Marquette, Michigan, which will be hosting the UP 200 Sled Dog Race in mid-February. Also happy are the folks in nearby Trenary, Michigan who are hosting the 23rd annual Outhouse Race the last Saturday in February.

Snow Report Lake Superior
Snow Depth around Lake Superior, Jan 10. 2016

Snow conditions for winter sports east of Marquette all the way to Sault Ste. Marie are good. These good  winter recreation conditions continue to exist all the way around Lake Superior into Ontario from the Soo to Wawa to Red Rock/Nipigon. See the January NOAA Snow Report Map for Lake Superior Region shown here. From Thunder Bay, Ontario down across the US border to Grand Marais, Minnesota there are good conditions for x-c skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, and most winter sports. The region is expected to receive snow showers several days of the coming week and temperatures are cold enough to hold the snow.

If you like winter in the northland, looks like you’ll have the conditions to enjoy it. See our Lake Superior Snow Report & Winter Recreation page for links to the latest weather reports and conditions on snowshoe, skiing, and snowmobiling trails. When they are open, the Bayfield Lake Superior Sea and Ice Caves (see pix at top of the page) are the number one winter attraction around Lake Superior.

PS In 2013 Jo and I attended the UP 200 Sled Dog Race (see our report and pictures). Maybe this year we’ll catch that Trenary Outhouse Race?

Roscoe

UP 200 Sled Dog Marathon

up 200 sled dog race

Start of the UP200 Sled Dog Marathon – Marquette, Michigan Upper Peninsula

Friday night in Marquette thousands of people lined up along snow covered West Washington Street to watch the beginning of the UP200 Sled Dog Race, a qualifying competition for the famed Iditarod Alaskan race. Downtown businesses provided a festival atmosphere with music and entertainment plus several serving free hot chocolate and coffee. Frank Moe of Bemidji, Minnesota drew Bib #1 and starting position for the 24th running of the UP 200 (which is actually 240 miles in length).

up 200 sled dog race
Musher Frank Moe and his team of “athletes” roar out of the starting gate
up 200 sled dog race
Kevin Malikowski’s team running along the lower harbor

Sunday afternoon around 1 pm, Ryan Anderson of Ray, Minnesota crossed the finish line winning his fourth in a row and unprecedented UP 200 race. His neighbor Keith Ali also from Ray, Minnesota finished second. Ali had previously won the race three times. Ryan Reddington, who came all the way from Alaska to compete, finished third. Reddington’s grandfather was a founder of the famous Iditarod Sled Dog Marathon. Another Minnesotan, Troy Groeneveld finished fourth. Martin Koenig of Seeley Lake, Montana finished fifth.

We had a companion accompany us to the race: Flat Stanley – a paper cutout pal of our Grand Niece Kylah who is using Stanley as part of a school project. Stanley was there at the beginning and at the finish line.

Flat Stanley at the UP 200 Sled Dog Race
Flat Stanley was there with Jo to watch the start of the race
Flat Stanley at the UP 200 Sled Dog Race
Flat Stanley was also at the finish line to see Ray Anderson win the race

Restaurants & Dining in Marquette

Sunday afternoon Jo and I went searching for a place to have lunch downtown and discovered Donckers Restaurant. Donckers is a blend of a candy & confectionary store, an old tyme soda fountain, and deli restaurant serving a large variety of breakfast, lunch, and dinner selections. Located downtown on West Washington Street a few blocks from the harbor. A funky place full of old fashioned character that has been well-earned since the establishment has been in business since 1896 and at this same location since 1914. The business was started by Fred Donckers as a simple, open air stand featuring candy, fresh fruit, tobacco and $.05 hot-buttered popcorn. As the business expanded, Fred moved indoors and built the current location adding a full service soda fountain and dining services.

Donckers Restaurant.
Donckers soda fountain has all the “sweets” your tooth would want, including their own line of chocolate candies
Donckers Restaurant.
Down the hall from the soda fountain is a coffee house atmosphere with a combo playing mellow tunes while others are playing board games

Jo had their Cheese Steak special and I had the Apollo Vegetarian sandwich. The sandwiches were delicious. Jo’s hot sandwich was thinly sliced beef with red peppers, onions, mushrooms, and cheese sauce was served hot and juicy and earned 5 stars. My veggie sandwich had ample portions of fresh, crisp vegetables- spinach, lettuce, onion, cucumber, and avocado spread – topped off with a slice of swiss cheese. Both of us had the veggie chips over the kettle chips. Pop was self-service in a large 20 oz tumbler.

Donckers Restaurant.
Upstairs is the Deli with a decent variety of sandwiches, wraps, salads, and soups. After the order this couple received their pet rock placeholder!
Donckers Restaurant.
We found a free table overlooking Washington Street. The retro table and chairs were quite comfortable. We didn’t have to wait long to exchange our rock for our food order.

The service is Deli style. You place your order and then are given a “pet rock” with a number on it as identifier of your order. When your meal is ready a staff member hunts you down, delivers your food and utensils, and retrieves the pet rock. We didn’t have to wait long for our order and it was served by friendly wait staff. It was apparent the staff has a good time and enjoys providing good and friendly service to customers. The prices are reasonable and made more so by the senior discount they gave us. We’ll definitely be back.

Ross