Osaugie Trail (Route Description)
The Osaugie Trail travels 5 miles along Superior’s picturesque waterfront. The path provides many striking views that entice cyclists to stop and enjoy the scenery. Additionally, trail-goers learn more about Superior’s historic, cultural, and economic background. Historic markers, museums, and other fascinating attractions are scattered along the route.
The Osaugie Trail begins in Harborview Park, which has a playground and amazing view of Superior Bay. Next to the park is the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center, a museum honoring the decorated American fighter pilot who shot down 40 Japanese aircraft in World War II. Bong grew up in the nearby village of Poplar, where he was buried. The museum displays military relics and pays tribute to all veterans. Their collection includes a restored Lockheed P-38 Lightning, the type of plane Bong frequently flew.
The parking lot for the museum and park serves as a trailhead. To access the trailhead by car, turn onto Marina Drive from US. Highways 2 and 53. Marina Drive intersects the U.S. highways twice over 0.4 mile. Either route leads to the parking lot next to the Veterans Historical Center. The building is a good visual when looking for where to park.
Before starting on the Osaugie Trail, history enthusiasts may want to visit a historical marker on the far east side of the parking lot. The marker tells the story of Superior’s shipbuilding role for World War II. Between 1942-1945, shipbuilders in Superior produced 81 vessels that were used in the war effort.
The Osaugie Trail begins on the west side of the parking lot at a turquoise-colored, metal sign bearing the trail’s name. These signs are located throughout the trail. The path passes a playground and descends a ridge that runs along the entire waterfront. It also crosses Faxon Creek. Closer to Superior Bay, the trail offers a stunning view of the water and Minnesota Point, a long sand bar paralleling the mainland nearly a mile away.
Also visible is the beginning of Barker Island. This man-made island was created in the late 1800s with dredgings from shipping canals in the Duluth-Superior harbor. The island was named for Captain Charles S. Barker, who oversaw the dredging operations. Today the island is home to a public swimming beach, marina, inn and restaurant, and residences.
On the island’s far east side, and visible from Osaugie Trail, are several attractions. In addition to a festival park and mini-golf course, there is the Lake Superior Estuarium. This small, free museum has a variety of intriguing exhibits about Lake Superior’s coast and estuaries. Another museum there features the SS Meteor, a unique “whale-back” ship that operated in the Great Lakes from 1896-1969. Visitors may tour the vessel, and a trailside historical marker conveys the history of these exceptional freighters.
Less than a half mile from its start, the Osaugie Trail turns right (southwest) and briefly travels next to Marina Drive. Trail-goers wanting to visit Barker’s Island should follow the road the other way. The trail then turns back to the left (southeast) and crosses Marina Drive. It runs nearly a mile alongside U.S. Highways 2 and 53 to the Rotary Pavilion while offering views of the Barker Island Marina.
Across the highway at the Barker Island entrance road sits Fairlawn Mansion. This Queen Anne-style Victorian mansion was built in 1891, and features elegant antiques, decor, and lush gardens. The 4-story, 42-room house was the residence for Superior lumber baron and mayor Martin Pattison and his family. Today, visitors may tour the mansion and grounds.
Back on the Osaugie Trail, the Rotary Pavilion is a pleasant area that works well as a trailhead. It has a picnic pavilion, garbage/recycling bins, and historical markers. One marker describes the construction of a protective stockade during the Dakota Uprising of 1862. Another marker tells of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ role in creating the Superior-Duluth harbor. Access by car to the parking lot at the Rotary Pavilion is from U.S. Highways 2 and 53, across from 18th Avenue.
The Osaugie Trail continues travelling southeast, undulating along the ridge. At 21st Avenue, it turns left (northeast). Trail-goers looking for coffee or fast food may turn right and proceed to the U.S. highway, where a sidewalk heading east leads to McDonalds and Caribou Coffee 175 yards away. Back on the path, the Osaugie Trail descends the hill after turning left. It then crosses 21st Avenue, and passes over railroad tracks. Next, the trail turns right to resume its southeasterly direction, and passes by several piers jutting out into Superior Bay.
The pier furthest west is the Montreal Pier that houses UW-Superior and the Lake Superior Research Institute’s Ballast Water Testing Facility. The Toledo and Quebec Piers come next. Both piers have large grain elevators, the latter on the Quebec Pier belonging to the Hansen-Mueller Company. The last pier is Ogdensburg Pier, which appears not to be in active use.
The Osaugie Trail next crosses Newton Creek and climbs halfway up the ridge. From the higher elevation, a lagoon and Hog Island are visible to the left. From Newton Creek, it’s a half mile to another trailhead – Loon’s Foot Public Water Access. This spot has restrooms, parking lot, boat launch, and garbage cans. To access the parking lot by car, turn northeast on 30th Ave from U.S. Highways 2 and 53.
From Loon’s Foot Landing, the massive remains of Northern Pacific Ore Dock Number 1 jut out into the water. Construction began in 1912, and for decades the dock was used to load taconite pellets from railroad cars onto Great Lakes ships. The 2,000 foot dock was abandoned by 1970. Over time the dock was stripped of many of its parts, leaving behind a colassal iron and concrete frame.
The Osaugie Trail continues on the southeast side of the parking lot at Loon’s Foot Landing. The trail’s surface here is newer asphalt, with dotted center lines. It’s a short distance to the bridge over the Nemadji River. This bridge was built in 1904 by the American Bridge Company of New York for the Northern Pacific Railway. The Nemadji River’s name is Ojibwe for “left-hand river,” describing its location east or left of the Saint Louis River.
Looking northeast from the bridge and from the trail for a half mile west, it’s possible to see BNSF Railway’s 3,000-foot long Ore Dock Number 1. There are actually four docks protruding into the Allouez Bay Channel. Beginning in 1892, the Great Northern Railway oversaw construction of these docks. Burlington Northern Railway took over the docks in 1970. On November 9, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald loaded her final cargo here from Dock Number 1. Today, only BNSF’s fourth dock is operational.
A half mile southwest from Nemadji River, the Osaugie Trail heads under BNSF’s covered railway trestle that transported taconite pellets to ships. A short distance away, the trail crosses 39th Avenue. After this intersection, the path’s pavement changes. The south side of the trail continues to be paved with asphalt, while the northern lane switches to crushed stone. The surface continues this way for 1.7 miles to the trail’s end.
The Osaugie Trail travels a half mile from 39th Avenue to the bridge over Buff Creek. Looking northeast past the mouth of the creek are the waters of Allouez Bay. Wisconsin Point is seen off in the distance, a mile away. The Point is a forest-covered sandbar, a strip of land forming the shoreline of Lake Superior. It spans more than 200 acres. A lighthouse at its western end marks entry to the Superior port.
The Fond du Lac Band of the Ojibwe nation lived on Wisconsin Point for centuries. Joseph Osaugie, for whom the trail is named, was chief there in the mid-19th century. In 1852, he visited Washington D.C.to challenge an executive order which intended to remove his people from the area. The trip resulted in an 1854 treaty establishing reservations in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota for the Ojibwe nation.
But Osaugie’s descendants on Wisconsin Point were removed from their home in 1915, when bigger ore docks were built. Tribal members fought in court to preserve their land, but were unsuccessful. At least seven generations of tribal members had been laid to rest on Wisconsin Point, including Osaugie. In 1918-1919, the native burial ground on Wisconsin Point was moved to a mass grave at St. Francis Cemetery in Superior.
For years, the Fond du Lac Band of the Ojibwe worked to bring lands on Wisconsin Point back under tribal ownership. Some recent efforts focused on returning the tribe’s burial ground. Petitioning paid off in 2021, when the Superior City Council approved the transfer of the Wisconsin Point burial grounds back to the tribe.
Map of trailheads and addresses along this section of the trail.
On the trail, it’s slightly over one mile from Bluff Creek to the trail’s end at Moccasin Mike Road. The path crosses 50th Avenue and Bear Creek along the way. After Moccasin Mike Road, the path continues as the Tri-County Corridor Trail. Before that intersection, a spur trail leads off to the right (southwest) to the parking lot for Bear Creek Park.
Bear Creek Park serves as trailhead. The city park has restrooms, self-service bicycle repair station, bike rack, playground, covered picnic shelter, ball diamond, and garbage/recycling bins. To access the park by car, turn northeast from U.S. Highways 2 and 53 onto Moccasin Mike Road. After 300 feet, turn left (northwest) onto Itasca Street and drive to the park.
Trail last ridden and documented in June, 2024.