Fall landscape in Minnesota

Hello, I have just moved to St. Cloud, Minnesota. since the fall is coming, I'm thinking where to take landscape pictures. Can someone give me ideas? Thanks!

A good thing to do when you're looking for locations is to 'fly' around your general target area using Google Earth, with the Panoramio photo option turned on. Clicking on the photos can give you a good idea of what sorts of views you can find and where to stand to get them.

Thanks! I found some info from Google with the key words "best scenic drive in Minnesota", too.

The drive along the North Shore, from Duluth to the border, is a real treat. Haven't seen it in Fall, but it must be glorious to see all the waterfalls amid Fall color.

sparker1 wrote in post #13138404
The drive along the North Shore, from Duluth to the border, is a real treat. Haven't seen it in Fall, but it must be glorious to see all the waterfalls amid Fall color.

Agreed, Highway 61 north of duluth is just a photo op at every turn, incredible landscapes, if you're driving it just make sure you take the "old highway 61" scenic cutoff, don't take the expressway or you're missing out.

Too bad every time I drive this I have people in the car with me who won't put up with me pulling off the road every 5 miles to set up and take some shots

sparker1 wrote in post #13138404
The drive along the North Shore, from Duluth to the border, is a real treat. Haven't seen it in Fall, but it must be glorious to see all the waterfalls amid Fall color.

elogical wrote in post #13168349
Agreed, Highway 61 north of duluth is just a photo op at every turn, incredible landscapes, if you're driving it just make sure you take the "old highway 61" scenic cutoff, don't take the expressway or you're missing out.

Thanks! I checked Google map. There is a 61 running from Duluth to the border along the lake. Alongside it, closer to the lake, there is another road. I suppose you are talking about the latter. Is that correct?

What do you think about the following route? Starting from Duluth to Tettegouche State Park. Then turn inland along highway 1, passing Ely. Then take 53 all the way south until 35. My thought was to get some forest view as well. Or would it be more scenic just to go along the lakeside all the way up northeast?

colormaniac wrote in post #13171261
Thanks! I checked Google map. There is a 61 running from Duluth to the border along the lake. Alongside it, closer to the lake, there is another road. I suppose you are talking about the latter. Is that correct?

What do you think about the following route? Starting from Duluth to Tettegouche State Park. Then turn inland along highway 1, passing Ely. Then take 53 all the way south until 35. My thought was to get some forest view as well. Or would it be more scenic just to go along the lakeside all the way up northeast?

Yep, that's what I meant, the one closer to the lake. Looks like Google calls interchangeably calls it "Old North Shore Drive" and "County Highway 61" (as opposed Minnesota Highway 61). I've made the drive a dozen times but I was just a little sketchy on the names, I'm not sure what the signs actually say but it should be easy enough to figure out with help from google maps.

I don't want to pretend to know more about the scenic areas than I actually do and mislead you or anything, but I think you might actually prefer just going further northeast along the lake and checking out more of the parks and scenery up that way. It's not necessarily "better", it's just much closer together from attraction to attraction so you get to cram a little more in.

If you try the more central forest route back then I'd definitely recommend planning out your stops a little more specifically because the parks and scenic stops are spaced out quite a bit more. If you figure out ahead of time what you want to see I think you'll still enjoy it but the whole drive in between isn't as amazing as the drive along the lake is. Flickr can be helpful here too. Even if most of the pictures aren't amazing, it can give you a general idea of what the scenery is gonna be like along the drive.

Yes, it's a pretty long drive. I think I'd better stay for longer time at certain spots rather than rushing too various locations. Thanks for your advice! I appreciate that.

By the way, it looks like that, for the inland forest scenic drive, the area between Grand Rapids and Bemidji is quite good and not too far away. Have you been there?

colormaniac wrote in post #13173479
By the way, it looks like that, for the inland forest scenic drive, the area between Grand Rapids and Bemidji is quite good and not too far away. Have you been there?

Haven't been there but that looks like a nice area too. I've been to Grand Rapids multiple times but always coming in from the other direction... and I haven't had much chance to explore around there

Thanks! Hopefully I'll get some nice pictures soon and share them on this site.

Gooseberry Falls is always fun. There is also a road I want to check out Hwy 38.

Here is a link that has inspired me to find the time to take this drive http://www.dnr.state.m​n.us/volunteer/index.h​tml

Thanks! But it's a bit too far away. I will try to see if I have time for another trip.

There's some neat stuff in the Minneapolis area, I've gone up there with a friend and just drove around until we'd see something cool.
I'm going up to the North shore Sunday, I can't wait, Duluth is the farthest North I've been.
If you get to the Southeast the drive along the Mississippi is really nice, from either side.
I don't know the Cloud area that well, but you're in the middle of the state so it shouldn't be too bad.

http://www.dnr.state.m​n.us/fall_colors/index​.html
Oh, no, according to this website, it's already 75-100% there north of Duluth. But my friends and I are planning for 8 Oct. Would it be too late?

the typical peak map says you should be fine but then again it looks like things are progressing slightly quicker than their averages so far
http://www.dnr.state.m​n.us/fall_colors/typic​al_peak.html