HIKE, BIKE, SKI & BEACH WHERE TO WHEN YOU NEED A STUDY BREAK

By Jimmy Lovrien jlovrien@duluthnews.com

Duluth’s outdoor culture is a huge draw for people moving to the area. Maybe it factored it into your college decision. But between studying, eating and sleeping on campus, it’s easy to get stuck in the college bubble.

Don’t forget to get some fresh air every once and awhile. There are plenty of wooded trails within walking distance of the local colleges, so take advantage of them.

Your school’s outdoor program might be a good start and could help connect you with others interested in day hikes or weekend camping trips. In the meantime, head outside and get started on this list. Hiking, jogging and snowshoeing trails

With access off Woodland Avenue and Arrowhead Road, Hartley Nature Center, boasts miles of single-track trail, forests, wetlands and rock outcroppings. And the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Bagley Nature Center, just across Arrowhead from Hartley, is lined with wood-chip trails and offers a commanding view of Duluth and Lake Superior at the top of Rock Hill.

Both Chester Park, located between UMD and The College of St. Scholastica, and Congdon Park, on the opposite side of Mount Royal from UMD, have trails running parallel along rivers full of waterfalls and cliffs.

The Miller Creek Interpretive Trail, by Lake Superior College, is less than a mile long but has 14 spots of ecologic interest along the way. Trail maps are available at lsc.edu.

From the University of Wisconsin-Superior, it’s a straight shot down Belknap

Street to the Osaugie Trail, which runs along the waterfront. Landmarks on the path include the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center and the S.S. Meteor Whaleback Ship Museum. These parks aren’t seasonal. During the winter, the snowcovered trails are packed down for walking, jogging, snowshoeing and fat-tire bike riding while Nordic ski trails are groomed in parts of Chester, Bagley and Hartley. Parts of Duluth’s famed Lakewalk are still roughed up from storm damage last year, but it’s still worth a trip

BREAK: Page 9 down to the lake to see what all the fuss is about. While it’s still warm out, you can buy an ice cream cone out of an old gas station, the Portland Malt Shoppe, or a fish burger out of an old boat, Lakewalk Galley. However, things get really interesting after the tourists leave and the storms rise. Just be careful out there; the waves have been known to throw rocks.

Mountain biking heads east from Canal Park to Lester Park. The Cross City Trail through Lincoln Park and other western neighborhoods will connect the two once complete.

Duluth is now a destination for mountain bikers. With trail systems throughout the city, almost all linked by the 40-mile long Duluth Traverse, you’re never too far from a singletrack shared use trail.

The closest two sections of the Traverse are in Chester Park and Hartley Park.

Check out your school’s outdoor program or stop by a local bike shop for bike rentals.

Swimming Beaches

If you plan on swimming in Lake Superior, you better hop in soon. Water temperature will drop and won’t bounce back up by spring finals. It’s not unheard of to still have ice chunks on the lake in May.

In fact, their mayor even encourages it. Wisconsin point is a 35-minute drive from Duluth campuses, about 19 minutes from UWS. To get there, pass through Superior on Highway 53 and take a left on Moccasin Mike Road before the road turns into four lanes.

Brighton Beach

Unlike Park Point and Wisconsin Point, Brighton Beach is covered in stone, not sand.

Chester Park has a single chairlift, a small downhill run and a modest terrain park.

But it’s a convenient hill if you don’t want to make the drive out to Spirit Mountain. With its proximity to UMD and CSS, it’s not uncommon to see students carrying their skis and snowboards down the street toward the park.

Mont du Lac Resort

If you’d prefer a leisurely bicycle ride on flat pavement, head down to the Munger Trail, a paved trail on the western side of the city that heads toward Jay Cooke State Park, or the Lakewalk, a paved trail that

Park Point Beach Park Point, the longest freshwater sandbar in the world, is a good place to start. After driving across the Aerial Lift Bridge from Canal Park, follow South Lake Avenue until you reach a bend in the road. You can access the water there, the 12th Street Beach, or continue along Minnesota Avenue for about five miles until you reach Park Point Recreation Area, which boasts beach house, volleyball courts and other amenities. Just don’t have a bonfire on the beach — that’s illegal. Wisconsin Point Fires are, however, allowed on Wisconsin Point in Superior.

It’s a great place to watch waves crash along the shore during the gales of November (and if you’re lucky, surfers) or skip rocks when the water calm. To get there, head east on London Road until you cross Lester River, then keep along the shore when the road splits.

Downhill Skiing and Snowboarding

It might feel like winter is a long ways away, but it’s coming. And in Duluth, it stays around awhile. Unless you want to spend the entire school year indoors, you better embrace it.

Spirit Mountain Spirit Mountain is the largest and most popular ski hill in town, and as a college student you have access to special season pass rates.

Chester Bowl

A sign explains the flag warning system at Park

ALL THE LAUGHS

Duluth was part of a sketch on “Saturday Night Live” in 2006 that featured a morning show takeover by the house band — whose theme song grows increasingly aggressive. Meanwhile, there is accompanying video of the Central Hillside, the Aerial Lift Bridge, a man shoveling and some sweet vocals — and emoting — by Scarlett Johansson. Now “Fly High Duluth” has just become part of the local lexicon. In another act of hilarity: soon after the 2012 flood, Sexhawk released the song “Duluth is Still Afloat in Our Hearts” as a caricature of a tribute song. Front man Cory Ahlm growls the lyrics, offering a portrait of the infamous night — and a gift: “Let this song be your towel.”

IT’S COMPLICATED

Bob Dylan, man. The folk musician-weldergrand-prize-winner-ex boyfriend of Joan Baez was born in Duluth, but moved to Hibbing when he was schoolaged, freaked out a buncha squares, and now we can’t agree about what to do with him. Like him versus lump him. Truly, you can’t have a Duluth soundtrack without him — especially since the very Duluth public radio station KUMDFM devotes weekly air-space to him. Pick a tune or many: the that’s cool. This band has an entire album called “Duluth,” which includes a song called “Duluth.” Still, the song that really revs us at a show: “Winners.” When Dave Simonett sings about the “pretty little city built on a hillside,” well, your school spirit really swells.

AND SPEAKING OF HILLSIDES songwriter has been known to drop in a line or two about something decidedly northern Minnesota-ish. Our pick: how about the mid-70s “Something There is About You.”

SPEAKING OF TRAMPLED

While we haven’t named a street, built a fest or designed manhole covers in their honor, Trampled By Turtles started in Duluth. And they still act like they like us, so

Among the fresher picks on this list: “Oh, the Hillside” by Ingeborg von Agassiz is a spare and gorgeously sung electro-folk song that references a treacherous Lake Avenue, pigeons, the Aerial Lift Bridge and the Lakewalk — among other landmarks and weather references. Meanwhile, The Boomchucks’ “Hillsider” is also a landmarkdropping song — though Jamie Ness and Brad Nelson offer a more born-here, I’ll-die-here rock ’n’ roll take.

GRAB A GUITAR

Charlie Parr, man. He’s a lowmaintenance local folky best paired with a campfire. Parr’s “Over the Red Cedar,” from his 2015 release “Stumpjumper,” landed on the list. Parr used to pop up for weekly shoulder-to-shoulder shows at Fitger’s Brewhouse, and it was like stepping into a world where people spoke in dance. These days he tours a ton, but continues to play out regularly when he is home.

MOVING ON

Mary Bue doesn’t live here anymore — but some of her stuff does: a broken dishwasher, toaster oven, bins full of clothes, books, bits of her heart. Bue, a yogirocker now based in Minneapolis, includes “The (Stuff) I Left in Duluth” on the post- including “Christmas City” on this list, we’ve almost certainly gotten it stuck in your head for the foreseeable future. Merv Griffith (ask your grandparents) sang Don Peterson’s song about Duluth’s picturesque winterscape. Peterson also invented the word “nicicle,” a treat for any pun aficionado. Expect to hear it as the season nears. It hits its fever pitch during KBJR’s Christmas City of the North parade.

MORE WHITE STUFF idea guy whose pirate radio station begat Homegrown Music Festival.

More Music Trivia

D-Town album “The Majesty of Beasts.” It’s an old-school, hairshaking, rock ’n’ roll song that finds her ripping away at her guitar.

SNOW AND MISTLETOE

Our apologies. By

Low, too, has considered snowscapes. The famous, albeit low-key, Duluthbased trio’s “Last Snowstorm of the Year” references the hard grounds, the long nights and suffering in the dark. “And we wrote all those songs,” Alan Sparhawk sings in the quick-hitter.

Fun fact: It was also covered by Minnesota band Hippo Campus on an album produced by Sparhawk. Low fans also mentioned the song “Starfire” — a song for the musician-

If you’ve ever hummed along to the theme song from “Friends,” know that you are paying homage to a former Duluth-y who made it big. The pop duo behind the catchy tune are Danny Wilde and Duluth native Phil Solem. The band’s break-out tune was “Just The Way it is, Baby,” which landed on Billboard charts. Solem graduated from Duluth East and, if Facebook is to believed, currently lives in Nashville.

Bob Jansen displays his pride pins in conjunction with Pride Fest in 2006. News Tribune file