Stop for lunch at Nanabioujou.  It is about 7 miles north east of Grand Marais.  If you like good food and history, you will not be disappointed,

Lunch at Naniboujou.

Greetings, Ranger.
A couple of my favorites are north of Grand Marais.
1) The overlook just south of the Canadian border crossing on your left part way up the hill. Check out both of them. One is just a pull off, the other is a rest area with a nice overlook of the bay.
2) The Kadunce River. It is about 15 miles north of Grand Marais. There is a parking area and a hiking trail. IF the water is low and there is no rain forecast, hike up the river bed into the canyon. It is quite beautiful. Get into the canyon above the natural amphitheater and hike up as far as you can. There are waterfalls in there that are worth seeing. You would need to spend an hour at least, but it is one of the coolest hikes that I have done. Be ready to wade up to knee deep if you want to go way up into the canyon. You can actually hike all the way up to the top and get out of the canyon that way, and then hike down the trail, but you would spend 1 1/2 to 2 hours doing that. What ever you do, take your time and just enjoy the North Shore.  Gene.

Go to the Minnesota State Park website. (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)
This will show the state parks and wayside rest areas along your route.  Most of which will have trails to hike, waterfalls to see or rivers to trout fish in.  The Rustic Inn, just before Two Harbors has great food, pies and homemade sweets.  The wild rice meatloaf dinner is awesome.  South of Two Harbors on the scenic highway there is Russ Kendalls Smokehouse, if you like smoked fish this is a must stop. Try the sugar cured king salmon.
I hope this helps
Upnorth

Old Salt wrote on Aug 11^th, 2015 at 12:23am:


Mid-September, depending on when I leave the Park. My dates are firm within a day or two each way, but not nailed down just yet.

When are you doing this? We're headed that way Thursday for a weekend getaway. A few favorites.

1) stop just across border to buy cheap gas. Grand Portage SP has a nice 1/2 mi trail to High Falls (highest falls in MN).
2) stop at Grand Portage National Monument to see the old fur trading post(that's how they paid for canoe trips back in the day). Nest climb Mt Rose trail just across street. Great overlook.
3) Stop at CR Magney SP to hike Devils Kettle on the Brûlé river. Half of it disappears never to be seen again.
4) stop at Grand Marais for a meal. Since you like fish I'll suggest the Dockside Fish Market. If you like pizza, go downtown to Syds Frozen Custard. I know custard doesn't sound like pizza, but both the wood-fired homemade pizza and custard make a great meal. If it's nice, go up on the roof for an awesome view.

I'll give others a chance to speak up on the rest of the shore. Let me know if you have questions.

I'm looking for recommendations on the best places to stop, or things to see, along Highway 61 south from the border to Duluth. I don't expect to have a ton of time in any one place, so I'm thinking stops of roughly 30 minutes or less. I'm open to anything: short hikes, great food, etc.

Ranger