Iona's Beach SNA
Contact Information
Iona’s Beach SNA
State Hwy 61 (Gitchi Gami State Trail)Two Harbors, MN 55616
From Gooseberry Falls State Park, 3.1 miles N on MN Hwy 61. Park in Twin Points water access on E. Hike northeast on Gitchi Gami State Trail then follow signs to site.
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Iona's Beach curves in a salmon-colored crescent for over 300 yards along Superior's North Shore. It is bound to the north by a roughly 30' high cliff of pink rhyolite and felsite bedrock—source for the stones that make up the beach—and on the south by a headland of grey basalt.
Walk the beach in any season, passing through a stand of pines into the open sky. Consider how the bright orange crustose lichen survives on the bare rock, exposed to the elements. Watch for one of the thirteen species of warblers sighted here, gleaning insects from the fringe of woodland with its alder, paper birch, balsam popular, mountain ash, currant and dogwood. As late as November, see dragonflies tracing their patterns out over the water. Find the big lake at work, steadily remaking the land.
The Gitchi Gami State Trail and the Twin Points Water Access are adjacent to site.
Rates
Free