If a Duluth trip is on your calendar this summer, you may be wondering about current air conditions. We’ve put together a list of resources and indoor options to help you plan ahead during this time.
We want to send love to communities further north, where wildfires continue in the Boundary Waters region. We’re thinking of our neighbors and the crews working on the ground to keep us all safe. Learn more about these communities and businesses, and how you can support the area, by visiting their websites below:
Visit Cook County | Lovin’ Lake County | Ely, MN| Discover the Range
Air quality shifts with the wind, sometimes within the same day, so the smartest way to plan a Duluth trip right now is to have a flexible one. Check real-time conditions at AirNow.gov the morning of, take a look at our live webcams to see the harbor for yourself, and browse our visitor guide to plan ahead.
Attractions
Some of the best attractions in Duluth are fully indoors, and they’re worth the trip in any season. Start with these five.
Glensheen Mansion
A 39-room historic estate on the shore of Lake Superior, and one of the most fascinating historic homes in Minnesota. The craftsmanship alone is worth the visit, and the lake views from inside are spectacular. Tours run daily, and the grounds are lovely when you’re ready to step back outside. Schedule a tour here.
Great Lakes Aquarium
More than 200 species live here, from Lake Superior sturgeon and trout to piranhas, seahorses, and a pair of river otters named Agate and Ore. The hands-on experiences set it apart, including the largest sturgeon touchpool in North America and a moon jelly touch pool open daily. It sits right on the waterfront, so you’re steps away from the newly renovated Waterfront Plaza outside of the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC). Buy your tickets today!
Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center
Right beside the Aerial Lift Bridge in Canal Park, this free museum is where ship watchers get first row seats indoors. Track the day’s arrivals, learn the stories behind the giant lakers and salties, and watch ships glide through the cana.. Pair it with our ship watching guide to catch the next arrival.
The Depot
A historic train station turned cultural hub, home to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and full-size locomotives you can walk right up to and explore inside. Train lovers of any age will lose track of time here, pun fully intended. Learn more about The Depot here!
Duluth Children’s Museum
Traveling with kids? Put this one at the top of the list. Interactive, energetic, and built for the kind of day when everyone needs to burn energy indoors. For more ideas with kids in tow, our family-friendly weekend itinerary maps out a full trip.
Shopping
Two historic buildings, two very different afternoons. Fitger’s is a former brewery turned into shops, restaurants, and yes, still a brewhouse, so you can browse, eat, and sample a local pint without ever putting your coat back on. Down in Canal Park, the DeWitt-Seitz Marketplace is a historic warehouse filled with local makers, gifts, coffee, and treats. And when you want a full retail day, Miller Hill Mall gathers national stores and local favorites under one roof up over the hill. Any of the three is an easy place to lose an afternoon.
Arts & Culture
The Duluth Playhouse, one of the oldest theater companies in the country, has Legally Blonde The Musical on stage at the historic NorShor Theatre through July 26. Beyond the stage, the Duluth Art Institute spotlights contemporary regional and Indigenous artists, and the Tweed Museum of Art on the UMD campus holds a collection spanning centuries of Indigenous, American, and European work. And for live music, stages across the city host touring acts and hometown bands in any given week.
Food & Beverage
Duluth’s craft scene doesn’t need good weather. Cozy taprooms, warm coffee shops, and some of the best restaurants on the lake are open and pouring all over town. Canal Park and Downtown Duluth alone can carry a full day, with waterfront dining at local faces like Vitta Pizza and Pickwick Restaurant & Pub, cocktail rooms, and coffee stops all within a few walkable blocks of the Lift Bridge and the DECC. Over in the Lincoln Park Craft District, makers, small-batch food and drink like OMC Smokehouse, and one-of-a-kind shops pack in just as tight. Pick a neighborhood and wander.
Skies Clear?
Duluth has more than 9,168 acres of parks and 178 miles of wooded trails inside the city limits, and our outdoor adventure page covers all of it, from hiking and paddling to charters and climbing. Mountain bikers can head straight to the mountain biking trail guide to plan a ride on the Duluth Traverse and learn more about lift-served options at Spirit Mountain. And for everything else these months do well, the summer in Duluth page is the place to start. Don’t forget to check out the latest calendar of events to keep up to date with events like free Movies in the Park!
Before You Go
Wildfires continue in the Boundary Waters region north of us, and our hearts are with those communities and the crews working to contain them. Duluth itself isn’t near the fires. What we get some days is smoke, and conditions change rapidly.
So check AirNow.gov for real-time air quality, follow the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for alerts, and build a trip that flexes with the forecast. Plenty of what’s happening this week is indoors too, so keep an eye on the events calendar either way.
Whatever the day brings, now you’ve got the information you need to make you plans to visit!
