Cool, not a bad idea to reserve ahead of time.  I'll report back here if there is any new handling of sites at the office in Two Harbors when I visit there this weekend.

The sites in the state parks are reservable, so you could probably reserve them now if you wished. IIRC, in the parking lot near each bank of sites, there is a drop box/reservation board that tells you of what sites are open. I'd imagine if you're hiking through the area on the weekend, it would be well advised to reserve something ahead of time. One year we got to the state park and all sites were occupied or reserved and we had to (illegally) camp out in a clearing near a park service garage.

Thanks for the replies.

We plan on picking up the guidebook this coming weekend and taking a look.

For the campsites, they're first come first serve - how quickly in the day do they typically fill up?

Jay

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I would certainly second the opinion on this stretch of trail and also the "problems" it holds for campsites (established). But as mentioned, there are plenty of clearings.

I too can not shed any light on other parts of the trail, as this is all I have hiked. Unfortunately. I hope to rectify that problem before too much more time gets away.

Mark

I've hiked twice from Temperance River State Park to Crosby-Manitou State Park. Its an excellent section of the trail though I can't speak to other parts of the trail. Its not a terribly difficult segment of the trail...there are a few areas that are a bit challening, but then you can go a full day of relatively flat hiking. We did this over three nights and the biggest issue here was finding a campsite. We had problems  one year finding a site between Temperance and the Caribou River (all sites we're taken), but there were plenty of clearings to camp. The multi-purpose site at the Caribou River is tremendous. Two full out sites along the river with waterfalls and great swimming. If you want to camp in Crosby Manitou park you'd be wise to reserve a site ahead of time. I did this segment with a group of about a dozen 15-year olds and it took us more or less two and a half full days.

I can't help with recommendations since I've never been down that trail but one of my favorite places to research areas I've neve been in is (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links); They have excellent maps and descriptions as well as dividing the infomation by type of travel: hiking, mountain biking, or canoeing. I've used them for a couple of years now and while some areas are still sketchy (like my home area) they are quickly filling in.

Good luck and enjoy.
Chuck

I've done day hikes out of Tofte and Grand Marais. The area up near Canadian border is also nice, in the Pidgeon Falls area.

Seems like you would find lots more info on a backpacking forum.

try Backpacker magazine forums, for one - they have a Midwest regional forum that covers the area.

I'm looking at a backpacking trip on the SHTA and I'm looking for reccomendations on what parts of the trail are good rather than just picking a section out from the map.

I'm planning on heading in sat or sunday of memorial day weekend and staying through possibly wednesday morning, so 3-4 days, probably 3 nights.  It is probably possible to get dropped off at one end so a 3-4 day long hike would probably work, otherwise it'd be an out/back trip.

Thanks in advance!

Jay