Minnesota travel, Ely, Lake Itaska,What to see and do?

If you go to Itaska State Park, you can spend a day easily playing in the water and exploring and walking over the Mississippi River. When we were there a few years ago, they had boat tours, double decker boats that carried 75 or so people. Very interesting ride.

Fishing and hiking if you're into that at Itaska.

This is me standing in the middle of the Mississippi River:



And my wife standing at the head waters:

In Ely Minnesota a great restaurant is Burntside Lodge I think is the name. It is a old style resort for actors and wealthy people form the 1920s. Not cheap but good and in the middle of the woods but good roads.

Casinojunkie wrote:
We plan to head from Cedar Rapids, IA to northern MN, such as Ely, Grand Rapids, Lake Itasca then back home. Would love to hear from folks as to what is a must see, do, great restaurants, good campgrounds etc.
Plan leave Sat. Sept. 17 and be on the road for about 2 weeks.
Thank you for your input.

Check out the state parks! They usually are the best accommodations around, with a couple of disclaimers:
Not all have electric sites, and very few have full hook-ups. All sites at all parks are now reservable - meaning even if you pull up to the gate looking for a spot, you have to go online (or have the ranger do it) to "reserve" your site. Electric can be hard to get, but since you are going in the late season, the odds of finding one are pretty good. Jay Cooke near Duluth and Bear Head Lake on the way to Ely are two great ones - but popular, so get online quick. Most are tight for "big rigs", but with your size 5th, you shouldn't have issues, just note the length of the site when reserving - what is reported is the total length available for trailer and tow.

Moved from Technology Corner

Make sure you hit up the North shore on Lake Superior on your way to or from Ely. Many great places to stop in at.

Tettegouche State Park has some nice hiking to the lake and to a couple waterfalls. And can't miss Betty's pies near Two Harbors.

STANG23L wrote:
Make sure you hit up the North shore on Lake Superior on your way to or from Ely. Many great places to stop in at.

Tettegouche State Park has some nice hiking to the lake and to a couple waterfalls. And can't miss Betty's pies near Two Harbors.

Ditto on the State Parks. All of them along Highway 61 are spectacular.

Itasca State Park is awesome. Don't miss it. Grand Casino Hinckley has a beautiful RV Park. Along Lake Superior: Burlington Bay Campground City Park, Two Harbors MN. Get a site in the upper level overlooking the lake. Betty's Pies is a great place for burger and pie! Grand Marais MN along the lake. Grand Marais RV Park and Marina. Dockside Fish Market has great food! We drove up Hwy 61 to the Canadian border. Tettegouche State Park has a waterfall. Also Splitrock State Park Lighthouse is beautiful! If you have time when you head back, Pipestone National Monument in SW Minnesota is interesting.

sdianel wrote:
Itasca State Park is awesome. Don't miss it. Grand Casino Hinckley has a beautiful RV Park. Along Lake Superior: Burlington Bay Campground City Park, Two Harbors MN. Get a site in the upper level overlooking the lake. Betty's Pies is a great place for burger and pie! Grand Marais MN along the lake. Grand Marais RV Park and Marina. Dockside Fish Market has great food! We drove up Hwy 61 to the Canadian border. Tettegouche State Park has a waterfall. Also Splitrock State Park Lighthouse is beautiful! If you have time when you head back, Pipestone National Monument in SW Minnesota is interesting.

Good advise but OP was not even thinking about the area along lake superior I would by pass Ely and do the above

Note the parks in Grand Marais and Two Harbors are city parks and have full hookups - no State Park in Minnesota has full hookups.

The Casino in Hinckley is a good sam 10 10 we paid 27.89 per night up there this summer

X2 for North Shore. Lakehead boat basin has an RV park on a pier overlooking the harbor. Great entry point to north shore from Duluth just across the canal park. Don't want to take away from Ely, but unless you are going to fish, canoe, back country stuff, north shore is a must.

The North Shore is usually crowded with campers and sightseers. You are going at a good time to miss the crowds, I think. I definitely recommend it. Plenty of nice waterfalls, good hiking trails (both short and long), nice views of the big lake, and pleasant campgrounds. Some folks like to drive the Gunflint Trail through the north woods and camp in one of the NF CGs. In Grand Marais, get a pizza at Sven and Ole's, and take the short walk out to Artist's Point. Walk around and into the picturesque Split Rock Lighthouse. A few miles south of the lighthouse, unhook and drive to Palisade Head for a spectacular view of the lake far below.