Tofte Travel Guide

The Temperance River has carved out a gorge through soft lava rock as it descends from the ancient Sawtooth Mountains to the shores of Lake Superior. The park offers one of the greatest hikes along the North Shore. The sheer rock walls, gorges, canyons and numerous waterfalls make for interesting views rounding each bend heading upstream.

On this day the early morning temperatures were 15 below zero fahrenheit so we did not hike up to see the most dramatic of the gorges. But I have done so in the summer and the sights are the equal as some of the spectacular waterfalls that can be found in mountain parks such as Jasper.

The Bluefin Restaurant bills itself as a romantic gourmet getaway. It does have stunning views of Lake Superior through its picture windows. At night it is cozy by candlelight. But I'm afraid the food does not live up to the atmosphere.

The offerings are basically lake fish, steaks, pork chop or chicken. The descriptions on the menu sound better than the actual presentation as they throw about terms like wildrice stuffing, gooseberry jelly etc. But I've found the actual entrees to be more on the bland side.

This is not to say that the food isn't adequate, but it certainly cannot compare to a top dining room in a large city.

Oh, and don't bother with the Breakers Bar and Grill for anything other than a drink. The burger I had there was the worst I have had in many, many years. Dry and as flavorless as sawdust.

Favorite thing: Dogs don't mind the cold as long as they have the opportunity to vacation with their people. One of the reasons we chose to take a northern Minnesota getaway was the opportunity to take our two eleven year old dogs with us. Usually, Sparky and Pepper pine away at the kennel while Becky and I enjoy our travels. This time, we thought, why not plan a vacation around the dogs. Several of the rooms at the Bluefin Bay resort allow dogs, so we packed up the dogs along with parkas, mittens and sweaters.