Visiting Superior Forest

Minnesota is famous for its lakes, but northern Minnesota is also covered by enormous stretches of forest, wetlands, ponds, and remote wilderness. During my visit to Superior National Forest, I came across small ponds like these almost everywhere. One was filled with lily pads while the other was almost completely covered in duckweed.

I also saw dozens of frogs along the edges of the ponds. Somehow, despite seeing them constantly, I failed to get a decent photograph of even one.

Northern Minnesota was one of the more remote parts of the continental United States that I had explored. Superior National Forest stretches across a huge portion of northeastern Minnesota near the Canadian border, with thousands of lakes and enormous areas of woodland.

White birch trees like these were common throughout the forest and helped give the landscape a distinctly northern appearance.

I also photographed this small reddish bird while exploring the forest. I originally called it a sparrow, although I never confidently identified the species.

Wildlife in Superior National Forest

Chipmunks were much easier to identify. I’ve photographed them in so many parts of the United States that they’re almost becoming a recurring character on my travel pages.

I initially thought this bird was a prairie chicken, but later learned it was a grouse. Based on its appearance, it seems to be a ruffed grouse, a species found across the northern forests of North America and commonly hunted as a game bird.

Black Bears

By far the highlight of my time in northern Minnesota was visiting a black bear sanctuary in the Superior Forest region. Unlike a zoo, the bears here were wild and free to come and go. They remained in the area because food was regularly available, which meant there were usually several bears around at any given time.

The story I was told was that the sanctuary began after a local resident repeatedly had problems with bears getting into his cabin and stealing food. At first he tried killing the animals, but more bears kept appearing. Eventually he changed strategies and began feeding them instead. After his death, others continued what he had started, eventually turning the area into a place where people could observe wild black bears at unusually close range.

Seeing several wild bears this close was easily one of the most memorable wildlife experiences from my trip through Minnesota. Some were resting while others wandered through the forest looking for food, and because they were free to leave whenever they wanted, the experience felt very different from seeing bears behind an enclosure.

My visit to Superior National Forest was relatively short, so I only saw a small fraction of what northern Minnesota has to offer. I’d like to return someday for a much longer wilderness trip. Between black bears, moose, wolves, countless lakes, and enormous areas of forest near the Canadian border, this is the part of Minnesota I’d most like to explore again.