North Shore in winter

Facts checked against official sources on November 11, 2026

Photo: Pete Markham, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Park hours: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., 365 days a year
Winter camping: Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse, Tettegouche, Crosby-Manitou, Cascade River
Groomed classic ski trails: Gooseberry Falls 12 mi, Tettegouche 15.5 mi, Cascade River 17 mi
Ski pass: Age 16+: $10 a day or $25 a season
Vehicle permit: $7 a day or $35 a year (Grand Portage is free)
Roads: Check 511mn.org before driving Highway 61

In this guide

What stays open in winter
Winter camping on the North Shore
Groomed ski trails and the ski pass
Snowshoeing, winter hiking and fat biking
Driving Highway 61 in winter
Current alerts (November 2026)
Before you go

Short answer: The North Shore state parks stay open all winter, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. Five of them (Gooseberry Falls, Split Rock Lighthouse, Tettegouche, George H. Crosby Manitou and Cascade River) are on the DNR's list of parks with winter campsites. Three groom classic cross-country ski trails: Gooseberry Falls (12 miles), Tettegouche (15.5 miles) and Cascade River (17 miles). At most parks, shower buildings, campground water and most campsites close for the season, and you need a $7 or $35 vehicle permit plus, for skiers 16 and older, a Great Minnesota Ski Pass.

This guide covers the eight Minnesota state parks on Highway 61 between Two Harbors and the Canadian border: what stays open in winter, where you can camp, where the trails are groomed, and how to check the highway before you drive. Park details come from each park's DNR record, pulled November 11, 2026. Winter conditions change week to week, so treat the numbers as the starting point and call the park before a trip.

If you are planning a summer or fall trip instead, start with North Shore state parks compared or the Duluth to Grand Marais drive.

What stays open in winter

The DNR's state park rules set park hours at "8 a.m. to 10 p.m., 365 days a year." Every vehicle needs a state park permit: $7 for one day or $35 for a year-round permit. Grand Portage State Park is the exception. Its DNR page says vehicle permits are "not required at this park."

What closes is the seasonal plumbing. Water, showers and flush toilets in the campgrounds shut down in October at most parks. The DNR lists year-round vault toilets at every park on this list except Grand Portage, where the highway rest area bathrooms are open 24 hours. Visitor centers keep shorter winter hours:

Park	Winter building hours (DNR)	Year-round water or flush toilets
Gooseberry Falls	Visitor center and Nature Store daily, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.	Flush toilets and drinking water at the visitor center
Split Rock Lighthouse	Park office daily, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (call ahead)	Flush toilets at the Trail Center
Tettegouche	Visitor center Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. (mid-October to mid-May)	Potable water for bottles at the visitor center
George H. Crosby Manitou	No office hours; contact Tettegouche	Vault toilets only
Temperance River	Office hours "subject to change," listed as daily noon to 3 p.m.	No potable water over the winter
Cascade River	Office 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (call 218-387-6000)	Vault toilets year-round
Judge C.R. Magney	Unstaffed outside Memorial Day to Labor Day; contact Cascade River	Vault toilets year-round
Grand Portage	Information desk daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; rest area bathrooms open 24 hours	Drinking fountain and bottle filler in the visitor center lobby

The Split Rock Lighthouse itself is a Minnesota Historical Society site, separate from the state park. The park's DNR page says the lighthouse visitor center "is open limited hours in the winter" and gives the historic site's number, 218-226-6372. For the lighthouse in other seasons, see the Split Rock Lighthouse visiting guide.

Winter camping on the North Shore

The DNR's winter camping page lists five North Shore parks with winter campsites. In most of them only a handful of sites are plowed, and the rest are walk-in or ski-in.

Park	What the DNR says about winter camping	Winter catch
Gooseberry Falls	"Camping is available year-round." After snowfall, all but sites 42 to 44 are walk or ski-in only	Campground roads are not plowed. Stop at the visitor center to arrange an unplowed site
Split Rock Lighthouse	Listed for winter camping. The 20 cart-in sites are about 2,000 feet from the parking lot	"Carts are not available in the winter." The DNR suggests a backpack or sled
Tettegouche	"Eight sites are available in winter" in the Baptism River Campground, typically sites 4, 13, 14, 17, 22, 26, 31 and 32. Walk-in, cart-in and group sites are also open if you bring a shovel and a sled or backpack	The DNR lists showers in the Baptism River Campground as "year-round for registered campers," but also says campground water "is currently OFF for the season"
George H. Crosby Manitou	Backpack sites only, up to 4.5 miles from parking, open year-round	Winter parking is limited to the lot by the entrance kiosk. No cell service, so reserve before you arrive
Cascade River	Camping is available year-round on plowed drive-in sites	The DNR's park page gives two counts: "seven drive-in campsites" plowed, and elsewhere three rustic plus three electric sites
Temperance River	Not available. The DNR lists the campground as "CLOSED for the season"
Judge C.R. Magney	Not available. "There is no winter camping."
Grand Portage	Not available. Day-use only park with no camping or lodging

The DNR fee page lists one set of camping fees with no separate winter rate: drive-in sites at $20 to $35 a night, cart-in and walk-in sites at $20 to $25, and backcountry sites at $20 to $23, plus tax. Electric hookups add $10 a night. Reserving ahead costs $8 online or $10 by phone, with no fee for same-day reservations. For how the booking system works, see the state park reservations guide.

Tettegouche also rents cabins at Tettegouche Camp, where the DNR lists a year-round modern restroom with showers for cabin guests. The 1.7-mile trail from Lax Lake Road to the camp "is packed for both hiking and skiing in winter." Our Tettegouche camping guide covers the campground in detail.

Gooseberry River waterfall frozen into a wall of ice and snow in winter at Gooseberry Falls State Park — Photo: Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Groomed ski trails and the ski pass

Park	Groomed classic	Groomed skate	Notes from the DNR
Gooseberry Falls	12 miles	2.5 miles in the DNR trail list; the park's seasonal update says one loop of about 1 mile	"Most trails range from easy to moderate"
Split Rock Lighthouse	8.2 miles of groomed multi-use trail (style not listed)	Not listed	Fat bikers, hikers, skiers and snowshoers share the groomed trails, all intermediate, starting at the Trail Center
Tettegouche	15.5 miles	4-mile loop	"Groomed ski trails are moderate to difficult"
Cascade River	17 miles	Not listed	Includes one beginner loop. The more difficult trails connect to trails outside the park
Judge C.R. Magney	None	None	Trails "are not groomed or shoveled in the winter" but are open for hiking, snowshoeing and skiing

Skiers 16 and older need a Great Minnesota Ski Pass on groomed trails in state parks. The DNR lists it at $10 for one day, $25 for one season (July 1 to June 30) and $70 for three seasons. Those prices include a $1 agent fee, and online purchases add 2.75 percent. You can buy one online or at park ranger stations when they are open. The DNR allows a photo of both sides of a signed pass on your phone instead of the paper copy.

Snowshoeing, winter hiking and fat biking

The DNR rules say snowshoeing "is allowed anywhere in state parks except on groomed trails or where posted." Park by park:

Gooseberry Falls: the half-mile trail to the Upper Falls "is maintained for hikers." The DNR rates the Gitchi Gummi Trail intermediate and Fifth Falls Trail advanced for snowshoers. Gooseberry is not open for fat biking in winter.
Split Rock Lighthouse: snowshoe rentals at the ranger station, and the 8.2 miles of groomed trail are open to fat bikes.
Tettegouche: snowshoe rentals at the ranger station. The DNR says you can drive to the top of Palisade Head, with a "short hike in winter." The Cascade Trail is closed beyond its first half mile because of 2024 landslides.
Grand Portage: snowshoers can use any trail, and the park rents snowshoes. The DNR calls the High Falls Trail "wide, relatively flat, easy" and says the Middle Falls Trail "should only be attempted by advanced snowshoers."
Temperance River and Judge C.R. Magney: snowshoe anywhere, but nothing is groomed for skiing. At Temperance River, stay off the 7 miles of groomed snowmobile trail.

For the waterfalls these trails lead to, see North Shore waterfalls in order.

Driving Highway 61 in winter

MnDOT runs the state's 511 traveler information system at 511mn.org, with a free phone app. In a December 2025 winter storm release, MnDOT asked motorists "to always check 511 before traveling to ensure that their route is not closed or under a travel advisory," and to make sure they have "a full tank of gas and winter survival kit." The same release says 511 shows winter road conditions "from plow, weather and traffic cameras."

Services are spread out on the upper shore, and Crosby-Manitou has no cell service at all. Grand Portage's DNR page adds that phones there may pick up an Ontario signal and jump ahead one hour to Eastern time.

Current alerts (November 2026)

As of November 11, 2026, the DNR alert boxes list special deer hunts running November 7 to 22, 2026 at three parks. At Gooseberry Falls, trails north of Highway 61 are closed, along with the Superior Hiking Trail. The falls area, the Gitchi Gummi Trail and the lakeside trails stay open. At Split Rock Lighthouse and Tettegouche, everything inland of Highway 61 is closed to visitors without a hunt permit. Split Rock's Shipwreck Creek campers are the exception. At Tettegouche the closure includes the Baptism River Campground and Tettegouche Camp, so those campsites are closed to campers until the hunt ends. Lakeside areas, including Shovel Point, Palisade Head and the Split Rock Trail Center, stay open. The DNR asks visitors to wear blaze orange or blaze pink.

Check each park's alert box on its DNR page before you go. The DNR records do not give grooming start dates, so call the park.

Before you go

Buy a vehicle permit ahead of time. Several offices keep short winter hours.
Skiers 16 and older: carry a signed ski pass, or a photo of one.
Reserve winter campsites before arriving, and ask which sites are plowed.
Bring your own water if you are camping. Most campground water is off until May.
Check 511mn.org and pack a winter survival kit and a full tank.
Call the park for current trail grooming. Phone numbers: Gooseberry Falls 218-595-7100, Split Rock Lighthouse 218-595-7625, Tettegouche 218-353-8800, Cascade River 218-387-6000, Grand Portage 218-877-8630.