1 of 7
Courtesy Tettegouche State Park
A New HQ for Tettegouche in Minnesota
The new visitor center at Tettegouche State Park also serves as headquarters for several other parks and as a 24/7 roadside rest area on Minnesota's North Shore.
2 of 7
Courtesy Tettegouche State Park
A New HQ for Tettegouche in Minnesota
A great room with a fireplace features floor-to-ceiling windows and views of Lake Superior in the visitor center that opened summer of 2014 in Tettegouche State Park.
3 of 7
Courtesy Tettegouche State Park
A New HQ for Tettegouche in Minnesota
Interactive displays are some of the new features in a visitor center that opened summer of 2014 in Tettegouche State Park.
4 of 7
Paul L. Hayden / Lake Superior Magazine
A New HQ for Tettegouche in Minnesota
Landscaping remained to be completed, but inside the new center at Tettegouche State Park was state-of-the-art and ready for visitors in summer 2014.
5 of 7
Courtesy Tettegouche State Park
New HQ for Tettegouche
An outdoor amphitheater is part of the new facility that opened this summer, 2014, at Tettegouche State Park in Minnesota.
6 of 7
Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Trailside Learning
Naturalist Clinton Nienhaus sets up a trailside learning table in Tettegouche State Park. (Dogs are welcome, too, on leashes.)
7 of 7
Bob Berg / Lake Superior Magazine
Tettegouche naturalist
Naturalist Clinton Nienhaus describes the variations in bird's heads during a trailside program at Tettegouche State Park.
Tettegouche State Park’s new visitor center on Minnesota’s North Shore has everything you’d want in a place for visitors – interpretive displays, an indoor fireplace, a gift shop, an outdoor amphitheater, Wi-Fi and a fantastic view of Lake Superior.
The $7 million facility on Highway 61 near Silver Bay opened for business June 26. An official grand opening is in the works for the fall.
A combination visitor center and highway rest area, it’s a joint venture of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The 11,000-square-foot building (similar in size to the visitor center at Gooseberry Falls State Park) will be staffed 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. year-round. For travelers, the rest rooms and vending machines will be available 24 hours every day.
The shared facility replaces one that opened in 1986 as a combined DOT rest area and park visitor center (the first such combo in the state). The new center was needed, say park officials, because Tettegouche’s popularity has soared – from 28,000 visitors in 1986 to more than 332,000 in 2012 (about half the number of annual visitors at Gooseberry Falls State Park).
Visitors can stop in and check out interpretive exhibits about the historical and cultural significance of the area. Other features include:
• A great room with a fireplace and a view of Lake Superior.
• Meeting spaces and a multipurpose room for interpretive programs and community meetings. The multipurpose room is available to rent for weddings or other events.
• A gift shop, lakeside patio, picnic shelter and outdoor amphitheater for programs. There’s Wi-Fi in common areas.
• Energy-efficiency design elements, including LED lighting and a solar-panel array expected to generate about 36 percent of the energy needs.
The center meets requirements in the Americans with Disabilities Act. It also serves as a central office for three state parks (Tettegouche, Temperance River and George Crosby Manitou), two state forest recreation areas (Finland and Eckbeck) and two park waysides (Caribou River and Ray Berglund).
The construction project, whose groundbreaking was in July 2012, faced some delays attributed in part to wet spring weather in 2013 and material supply issues, according to a report in the Lake County News Chronicle.
Tettegouche ranks fifth in visitor numbers out of 75 state parks in Minnesota, and anyone who has been to the park knows it has much to offer. The park is full of rugged, mountainous terrain, six inland lakes, steep cliffs and inland bluffs and four waterfalls on the Baptism River. There are miles of hiking, skiing and snowshoe trails, and the park’s well-known scenic overlooks include Palisade Head, a 350-foot cliff of sheer rock, and Shovel Point. The Superior Hiking Trail runs through the park. If you visit this summer, look for summer naturalist Clinton Nienhaus, who is doing programming in the park. Early in the season, for instance, he was showing visitors a display of animal skulls, including those of a moose, a bear and a wolf, and telling about some of the differences. For a fun lesson, just ask at the visitor center where you can find him in the park.
Tettegouche State Park, 5702 Highway 61, Silver Bay. 218-226-6365.