Breathtaking Bean and Bear Lake Beauty

Fall in Minnesota is one of the most beautiful times to go hiking, but it is also quick to come and go. For this reason, it seems fall brings the most hiking traffic to the trails. Or perhaps this is just the case when you hike the beautiful Bean and Bear Lake section of the Superior Hiking Trail in Silver Bay, MN. It’s inspiring to get out there and see all of the people making use of the trail!

It’s our passion to inspire others to go outdoors, or better yet, take them on the trail with us!  We were thrilled to bring our friends Brittany and Joe on their first ever backpacking trip!  They were spoiled going the first week of October, which was the peak time for fall colors in that area. We went for an overnight trip to Bear Lake campsite. (This is the same campsite we were engaged in 2016, read about that backpacking trip here.)

With the popularity of this site being right on the lake and it being the peak time for fall colors, we knew it would be best to hike in early on Saturday morning. We got on the trail by 9:45 AM and were at our site by 11:30 AM. The hike was slippery in some areas. The whole week before it had been raining a handful.

Reminder for new hikers, it is REALLY important to break in your hiking boots before hitting the trail. Brittany was planning on hiking in tennis shoes but last minute took our advice and got a pair of hiking boots the night before our hike. By the end of the weekend, she had some rough blisters (good thing we had a first aid kit with plenty of bandages). Tennis shoes can work on this trail but you will likely be more comfortable in something that’s waterproof with a harder sole to traverse the muddy, rocky trail.

We were able to get to our campsite early and luckily were the first ones to arrive at this very popular spot, so we had our pick of where to set up our tents.  All of the sites on the Superior Hiking Trail are free and available on a first come, first served basis; however, if other campers do arrive you are supposed to share your site if there is space available.

With views like this, it’s no wonder there were nearly 10 groups of campers that came by our site that day hoping to set up camp.

After setting up camp we took about a 1.5-mile hike up the trail to the overlook of Bear Lake. You can also see Bean Lake off in the distance. This overlook was one of the busiest I’ve ever seen on the Superior Hiking Trail. It’s a popular spot for photographers because of it’s picturesque views and the fact that it is very doable in a day.

We brought some of our favorite pre-made campfire meals to treat our new backpacking friends right. We made garlic cheese roll-ups, naan pizza, and of course, brats over the campfire. There’s no better way to wake up on a crisp, rainy fall morning than having a quesadilla and some aero press coffee.

Peace, love, and hike thru life!