My fall color photo trip on the north shore of Lake Superior was very short this year. I ended up shooting on Sunday 9/29. It rained on Friday and Saturday night. I pulled into Goose Berry Falls State Park Saturday evening about 20 minutes before sunset and about 2 hours after the rain had ended for the weekend.
Sunday morning I awoke at 5am to an outside temperate ranging from 34-38F depending on how close/far away you were from the lake. (It is warmer by the lake.) It is less than a 20 minute drive north to the overlook about 1 mile south of the light house. While I waited for the sky to start to lighten up I laid out my plan for the day.
I started shooting images around 5:45 after a short hike to rocky beach. There were several other photographers that were shooting in the same general area. After a great sunrise I worked my way north up highway 61. There a series of places in the SawTooth mountain range that I typically drive through looking for photos. If you want orange and red maples you need to drive inland away from the lake.
I was feeling like I was shooting a few days too early this year. Typically the last weekend in September and the first weekend in October is when the color peaks up north. In hind sight I made a good choice because 4 days later the winds & rains cranked up and most of the color will hit the ground.
I got some nice images and enjoyed the drive around the backwoods. I was happy enough that by Sunday afternoon I decided to drive home as I had enough quality images that I was satisfied. Goose Berry Falls State Park --> SawTooth Mountains --> Grand Marais --> Finland --> Two Harbors --> Kingston... 5am --> 8pm.
