Minneapolis to Ely
 

Need suggestions of not to miss sites and route with food suggestions. Arriving on a Saturday at 1pm in July. We have a cabin for 7 days in Ely

I'm assuming you mean you are arriving at the Minneapolis airport at 1pm?

If so, it will take 30-45 minutes to get your luggage and rental car. The quickest route to Ely is about 4 hours, which means you won't arrive at your cabin until close to 6pm. That doesn't leave a lot of time to stop at any sights along the way.

The above route is going north on I-35E through St. Paul, then continuing north as it merges with I-35W to become just I-35. Continue on that to Cloquet then head north on 33 to Virginia, then take 169 to Ely.

A more scenic route (which takes 5 hours) is to continue on I-35 to Duluth, then head north along the shore of Lake Superior to Silver Bay, and then take Hwy 1 to Ely. There are several state parks along that route between Duluth and Silver Bay, and you could stop at Betty's Pies for some food. However, like I said it is a 5 hour trip which means you wouldn't arrive in Ely until about 7 pm without making any stops. Betty's can be busy so allow an hour (?) for that which really leaves little time for anything else unless you are willing to arrive at the cabin after dark.

It might make more sense to take that longer/scenic route back to Minneapolis depending on when your departing flight takes off.

The scenic route is what I have considered. 1 pm is the time I expected to be rolling out of the airport . Most likely will never be back to the area and wanted to take the scenic drive. If you were only going to stop at one park to stretch your legs and a few pictures which park would you stop at?

Does Betty's just serve pies?

Thanks

Betty's Pies serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Like I said it's fairly busy because of all the tourists. You could probably find a better meal with no wait in Duluth if you're going to take the scenic route, but I am not real familiar with Duluth dining.

http://www.bettyspies.com/

As for the parks, that is a tough question to answer. Gooseberry Falls is the southernmost one, it is a fairly short walk to a series of waterfalls (which are the main attraction). Split Rock Lighthouse is the next one - the lighthouse is actually a state historic site and requires a separate admission if you wish to take a tour of it. Great views of the lighthouse and the lake from the state park. And finally, Tettegouche has short trails that lead to the top of cliffs overlooking Lake Superior.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_par...lls/index.html
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_par...use/index.html
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_par...che/index.html

Theoretically you could do two of them in an hour-ish. If I had to choose two, I'd drop Tettegouche. If I had to choose just one, I'd choose Gooseberry simply because you will have great views of the lake along the drive up.

Or, for a super quick stop, google Palisade Head. You could do Gooseberry then later stop at Palisade Head. It's a minute off the highway, no real trails, just walk over to the cliff edge and check out the views. Could be as quick as 5-10 minutes if you want.

I would do the scenic route and make a quick stop at Canal Park in Duluth and then at Gooseberry or Split Rock Lighthouse on the North Shore before you reach Hwy 1. I don't know where you live, but it does stay light in Northern MN until well after 9 P.M. in July. I grew up in that area and go back often and they never do fireworks until 10 P.M. as it isn't totally dark until then. I agree you might enjoy Betty's Pies unless it is super busy. We have stopped at Rustic Inn when Betty's is super busy. It is also good.

We always just drive straight through. It is so gorgeous in Ely and the Boundary Waters that we want to get there asap. It is about a five hour drive for us just west of Minneapolis to Burntside Lake in Ely. We do stop at Gordy's in Cloquet for some burgers to keep the kids fed on the drive. It is generally packed but the line goes relatively quickly.

Have a great trip.

Canal Park in Duluth is nice, but it is generally busy and crowded in summer. I would not plan on any stop being 'quick'.

If you want to stop in Duluth, I'd suggest Fitgers for a restaurant and then visit the Rose Gardens nearby. I believe there are other restaurants in that area as week but don't know it well enough to make any recommendation. The Rose Gardens are beautiful with a great view of Lake Superior

http://www.superiortrails.com/duluth-rose-garden.html