Notable Cities and Towns in Minnesota

Minnesota's notable places beyond the Twin Cities range from the Iron Range's mining towns to the North Shore's artist communities to the river towns of the southeast.

Duluth
More than a port — Duluth's Canal Park (restored warehouse district, the Aerial Lift Bridge, the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center), Leif Erikson Park, and the Fitger's Brewery Complex (a converted 1881 brewery on the lake shore) make Duluth a destination city. The North Shore begins at Duluth's eastern edge.

Grand Marais
The finest small town on the North Shore — an art community of 1,300 people with the Gunflint Trail (the 57-mile route into the BWCAW), the Grand Marais Art Colony (one of the oldest art schools in the Midwest), and the best restaurants on the North Shore. The harbor's breakwater light, the Artist Point overlook, and the old-growth forests immediately behind town give Grand Marais extraordinary character for a tiny place.

Northfield
"Cows, Colleges, and Contentment" — the Northfield motto. The home of Carleton College (one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the US) and St. Olaf College (renowned music programs), Northfield's historic downtown preserves the site of the failed 1876 James-Younger gang bank robbery (the Northfield Bank Raid — the gang's first failure, which effectively ended the Jesse James gang's careers as bank robbers).

Stillwater
A Saint Croix River town of Victorian preservation — Minnesota's "Birthplace of Minnesota" (the first territorial convention met here in 1848). The Lowell Inn (1927, on the National Register of Historic Places), the antique shops on Main Street, and the St. Croix River's scenic setting make Stillwater the most pleasant day trip from the Twin Cities.

Ely
The gateway to the Boundary Waters — the soul of Minnesota's wilderness tourism. The Boundary Waters outfitters, the International Wolf Center, the North American Bear Center, and the wilderness-oriented culture of the town give Ely a character of genuine wilderness immersion.