I'm planning a road trip to the NE Minnesota in June. There will be about 16 bikes on this trip. Has anyone checked out Palisade Head, which is just north of Silver Bay and along Hwy 61. Is the road blacktop all the way to the top? Is the parking lot blacktop? Is it worth the stop? Looks like a neat place to stop, but there isn't a whole lot on the internet about this place. Thanks.

 

Umm curious where this is

 

You would go north on Hwy 61 from Duluth. It's about 15 minutes north of Split Rock Lighthouse or just north of Silver Bay. One website says follow the gravel road. When I checked Google Earth, it looks like it's a blacktop drive.

 

I think it's blacktop. You might want to take hwy 1 over to Ely. Really nice ride.

 

i have been up there a few times in a car, don't remember if i have taken the bike up there or not. from what i remember, the road is "paved" but far from a nice blacktop road. it is fairly steep and not for the faint of heart. going back down would be worse than going up. it is a really neat place to see, alot of rock climbers hang out there.

+1 on hwy #1 toward ely!

 

Wife and I rode there in 02, pretty cool sight, as far as the road being steep and not for the faint of heart, I sure don't recall that, just a nice ride on a bike.

 

If you are going to NE MN you have to ride MN #1 from the lake to Ely. The North Shore is way cool. Duluth / Superior is a great town for food & drink.
I have not ridden the road to the top of Palisade Head. I wold not be afraid of it if is was gravel. The gravel won't be deep and soft because the bedrock will be right below the surface. NE MN is rock & bog. Very thin soils.
I also highly recommend MN #38 from Grand Rapids north to Bigfork. Also try to take in the Lost 40. It is a block of old growth White & Red pine that had not been logged. Some gravel getting there but the pines are so majestic.
Feel free to PM me & I'll help you out with other thoughts if at all possible.

 

Anchor bar and grill in Superior for food. Damned cheap and you just can't beat the environment. Lots of history there. Great place to get a burger.

 

The road is tar to the top, but is virtually single lane. It has a 27 degree grade. Compare that to Pike's Peak, which is a 22 degree grade. It is the steepest road I have ever driven on, but it was worth it. My biggest fear was meeting a car coming down while we were going up. You'll be about 300 feet above Lake Superior, and it's straight down. You will step over huge cracks in the granite to get to the edge to look down.

Here's some pictures:

 

And one more, as well as a link. The road is not marked very well, we stopped at a restaurant to get directions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palisade_Head


Tringle, do a web search, and an image search for Lake Superior Palisades and you will find all kinds of information and great pictures.

If you have 16 riders in your group, I would suggest sending one rider up first, to stop any vehicle traffic coming down, then have the rest of your group come up together. As I mentioned earlier, my biggest fear was meeting a car while I was going up that steep grade, as the tar road is quite narrow. There are spots in the road that "split," with both a down grade and up grade so vehicles can get past each other.