North Shore Hwy 61

The Outdoor Classroom program developed by Harbor Friends will kick into high gear this summer.

First, each Saturday in June, Harbor Friends will have a book release party at its Harbor Center headquarters tucked behind Eight Broadway with refreshments and, hopefully, lots of live music.The books include a youth workbook with a variety of outdoor activities and challenges for youth as well as a family coloring book, said Molly Hoffman, chairman of Harbor Friends’ board.

Harbor Friends also will launch a series of tours of the harbor and its environs this summer. Plans are to offer two to three tours a week covering a variety of topics and areas. Tours include Artist’s Point and Light House Point, a natural history tour on the Lake Loop Trail, a tour to the top of the Overlook Trail with special emphasis on its geology, flora and fauna, a tour of the west side of the harbor with emphasis on its history and flora growing on the rocks there as well as a tour focusing on Annishnaabe history and how people lived in Grand Marais over the centuries. The project, which has been under development for months, will also include trained guides to lead the tours, Hoffman said.

“By the end of the summer, we hope to have all five tours available,” she said. “But we also think of this year as a demonstration project.”

Harbor Friends is in the process of training tour guides and has developed a series of informational workbooks for them to use. The organization is also building a mobile kiosk which will be full of information about the harbor and placed at the start of each tour to be used as a resource for the guides as well as the public.

The Outdoor Classroom project has also developed field guides which are available for free at Harbor Center. The Outdoor Classroom was funded in part by Coastal Zone Management Act, by NOAA’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management in conjunction with Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program.

For more information, call 387-1639 or visit www.harborfriends.org or e-mail harborfriends@boreal.org

While he doesn’t claim to have a crystal ball, Tim Campbell, northeast manager of Explore Minnesota Tourism, says he is hearing mixed anecdotal reports from tourism operators in the Arrowhead region, but many are upbeat about the coming summer season.

“I’m not hearing a lot of gloom and doom,” he says. “But given the current economy, some folks are saying flat (growth) is the new up, at least for now.”

Northeastern Minnesota tourism is well-positioned to survive tough economic times, because it offers a variety of things to do and is close to its major market—the Twin Cities. It is expected that people will take shorter, closer-to-home vacations this year, likely with little advance planning. While people may try to do more for less, this doesn’t mean they are unwilling to spend money.

“People are looking for value, but it’s not just about price point,” Campbell says. “People are willing to pay for what they want. It’s about what you get for the money.”

But for some travelers, saving money is important, too. For instance, camping has become more popular. Bookings in state park campground have increased this year.

Nevertheless, Minnesota studies show interest in outdoor activities has declined. For reasons ranging from family demographics to competing interests, kids are less likely to spend time outdoors. Locally, the Becoming a Boundary Waters Family program sponsored by Gunflint Trail outfitters is in its second year. Minnesota State Parks are emphasizing geocaching (finding specific locations using a GPS device) as an attempt to engage children in the outdoors.

The shift away from outdoor recreation may affect traditional tourism patterns. In northern Minnesota, many vacationers return to the same places year after year, passing on the tradition to a younger generation of their family. If that tradition is broken due to changing interests or family priorities, tourism operators lose steady bookings they once relied upon. Youth-oriented outdoor programs such as those described above will hopefully either continue or re-establish vacation traditions.

This summer, Explore Minnesota Tourism has a multi-media campaign to promote vacationing in Minnesota. In addition to a series of fun television ads tagged Nothing Beats A Real Minnesota Vacation to be aired in Midwestern markets, there are planned podcasts to promote the state’s Scenic Byways, including the North Shore Drive and Gunflint Trail. The podcasts include waterfalls of the North Shore as well as dining along the North Shore and Gunflint Trail.