Grand Marais is a small harbor town on the north shore of Lake Superior, in Cook County, Minnesota, about 110 miles northeast of Duluth. It is the last significant town before the Canadian border at Grand Portage and the most appealing stop on the entire North Shore Drive.
The town has genuine charm — a working fishing harbor with its 1922 breakwater lighthouse, an art colony, the traditional-crafts North House Folk School, and a compact downtown of independent shops and restaurants — and sits at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA), one of the most extensive lake-and-portage paddling regions in the world. Outfitters in town can rent canoes, arrange permits, and provision extended backcountry trips into the BWCA.
The Gunflint Trail heads inland from Grand Marais through boreal forest to the BWCA, passing the trailhead for Eagle Mountain — Minnesota's highest point — and the strange disappearing Devil's Kettle waterfall in Judge C.R. Magney State Park. In summer the fishing is excellent; in winter the area is popular for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and dogsledding.