Duluth’s Aerial Life Bridge
One of the best things to do in Duluth, Minnesota is to take a walk along the shoreline at Canal Park. The area is best known for the iconic Aerial Lift Bridge over the canal leading from Lake Superior into Duluth’s harbor. There are also a bunch of shops and restaurants along Canal Park, and recreation opportunities – running, biking, swimming, and so forth. When I was there, it was the perfect day for such activities, too, as a gentle breeze blew in over Lake Superior.
Swimming to some ruins at Canal Park
Lake Superior became a topic of conversation for the family throughout our weekend in northern Minnesota. That only seemed fitting, since we spent that time celebrating my father’s 70th birthday on its shoreline outside of Two Harbors, Minnesota. The questions all began during the nearly three hour drive north from the Twin Cities suburb where I grew up.
A tugboat in Canal Park
Is Lake Superior the biggest lake in the world?
By surface area, yes, Lake Superior is the biggest lake in the world at more than 31,700 square miles.
How deep is Lake Superior?
At its deepest, the lake is 1,332 feet deep.
How much shoreline is there?
Enough to drive from Duluth, MN to Miami, FL – 1,826 miles; a few miles of it is paved with a trail around Duluth’s Canal Park, which is definitely the place to be on a warm summer day.
Duluth across the breakers
We asked all sorts of questions, most times just throwing them out there as some sort of I wonder thought. We even found answers to odd questions we didn’t think to ask or wonder about in the first place. For instance, did you know that if you took the three quadrillion gallons of water in the lake and spilled it out on the surface of the earth it would be enough to cover North and South America in a foot of water? Yep. It’s true. Not quite as odd is that the average depth is 483 feet, although it’s still something we didn’t think to ask despite wondering about the lake’s deepest point.
A fountain in Canal Park
Lake Superior’s temperature ranges from the 30s to upper 50s year round, so, despite being a brilliant color of blue, it’s not a terribly inviting place to swim. It’s a tad chilly. Nonetheless, there are a few beaches along the lake, including one at Duluth’s Canal Park. I recommend skipping it, though, and becoming a kid again by climbing on the massive rocks that line much of the park’s shoreline. It’s the perfect kind of fun and way to stretch your legs.
The giant rocks on Lake Superior’s shoreline at Canal Park
That is one large and deep lake. There was me thinking Lake Erie was big!
Did Gordon Lightfoot come up at all during the conversation?
LOL. No. No Gordon Lightfoot. The conversation, even for much of the weekend, was all about the lake. It was so calm and blue – not at all what we had expected – that we kept pointing things out or wondering different questions.
Hey, there was discussion about the location of the wreck of the Edmund Fritzgerald, the topic of his song.
I remember the Fitzgerald, but guess I forgot any talk of the song.