The Forest Road 115 Trail Head marks
the start of my afternoon hike.

Over the past few days, the subject of the Superior Hiking Trail has come up in conversation. We see a lot of folks who are making the hike from one end to the other. Sometimes they are doing it segment by segment. We field calls from the trail, when cell phones are in range, asking if we have replacement parts for stoves or water filters or repair kits for sleeping pads. We have delivered things to road crossings and State Park Ranger Stations. We hold food caches in the back room. We commiserate when the weather is bad.

I’m guessing the red pine plantation was planted
by the Citizen’s Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930’s
but I haven’t been able to confirm that.
If you have any information on it, please let me know.

But over the last few days another subject has come up: does Stone Harbor offer guided trips on the SHT? We have always taken people out on hiking day trips but have never “officially” offered it. So we thought we could at least take a look at a couple of segments to see whether it would be worthwhile.

This snowmobile trail is wide open
and no motorized vehicles are allowed here in the summer.

A picture can’t capture the sheer majesty of this Pine Canopy along the Superior Hiking Trail

The segment I picked was a 6.2 mile trek from Forest Service Road 115F to the Pincushion overlook parking lot. I am not going to go over what you can read in the Guide to the Superior Hiking Trail–that is informative and gives you a little history of the area.

I was trying to look at from a different perspective. If you are intimidated by the thought of hiking the trail or wondering if you can handle the rigors of the trail, this is a good section to try. The hike took me exactly 2 1/2 hours. I was alone except for my two friends who follow me everywhere, so I was moving at a good pace.

The creek was high but luckily the trail was dry.

Most of the trail is fairly flat and where it follows the snowmobile trail, it is quite wide. (In fact, this segment is great for Nordic Walking with friends.) And then just when you think you can handle this quite well, the trail gets narrow, steep and rocky. The last bit is spectacular as you look out at Lake Superior in the distance. Just don’t get preoccupied with the scenery right there because you may trip and fall. But don’t despair, Pincushion is not that far away.

The boardwalk keeps hikers dry along this
sometimes-marshy segment of the trail.

Could you take your family on this hike? I don’t know why not. You may want to make one adjustment however, depending on the age of the kids. There is a spot where the trail crosses the Old Ski Road. That is before things get tough and it would be a great place to get picked up, or turn around. It shortens the hike some, but your kids will thank you for it.

If you look closely, you can see Grand Marais and Lake Superior. Even at this distance she is amazing!

All of this can be done on your own. However, if you would feel more comfortable having a guide with experience and Wilderness First Aid credentials, by all means give us a call and we will set you up. And if you do want to do it on you own, stop in and we can get you the information you need to have a wonderful hike.