Hiking
Our house is located just down the block from the Superior Hiking Trail and Hartley Park. From our house, it is a pleasant hike down to the lake/rose garden (4.5 miles) and downtown Duluth and the aerial lift bridge (~6 miles). You can take the city bus back home.
If you're up for a shorter hike or just want to spend time in nature nearby, Hartley Park has a nice network of trails and a visitors' center with exhibits and naturalists.
Cross-country skiing
Hartley park has a beautiful classic-only, wooded ski trail system (~5km). Other good places to go ski in Duluth are:
- Piedmont trails (~4.5km classic, 1km skating) with humorous signs and a great overlook of the St. Louis river.
- Lester Trails (11km classic and skating, ~4km lighted)
- Magney-Snively (13km classing and skating)
- Spirit Mountain (~17km classic and skating)
Birding
In fall, hawks migrating south get funneled to Duluth along the Lake Superior shore to Hawk Ridge Observatory. It's a fun outing even for non-birders (like us), because you get to see birds up close when naturalists talk about recently banded birds. It's a short, 10-minute drive from our house (or you can hike there on a spur trail off the Superior Hiking Trail).
Mountain Biking
Whether in summer or winter, the 12 miles (19km) Hartley Park's off-road biking trail system are a draw. The trails are further away from the visitor center, so you can expect to have a nice time without running into hikers.