Sugarloaf Cove is located about 4 miles southwest of Schroeder on Highway 61 along the Minnesota North Shore of Lake Superior.
Sugarloaf Cove is named after the iconic rock formation on the rock point. The point and shoreline is a 10.3 acre State Natural Area. In 1992, the Sugarloaf was found to protect the area. In 1998, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources transferred the 24 acres around the SNA to the organization. In 2005, the organization renamed itself as Sugarloaf: The Northshore Stewards Association.
Today, thanks to the hard work of Sugarloaf: The Northshore Stewards Association, Sugarloaf Cove is protected and accessible to the public. Sugarloaf Cove has a gravel parking lot, an Interpretative Center, short hiking trails, and a lovely section of shoreline, including the iconic Sugarloaf rock formation.
Regardless of how you spend your time at Sugarloaf Cove, you have plenty of opportunities to take in the rich history—learning how the landscape has changed over time and appreciating its beauty in the present.
Sugarloaf Cove’s History
Sugarloaf Cove is the only significant natural harbor between Two Harbors and Grand Marais along the Minnesota North Shore.
Like other parts of the Lake Superior watershed, Indigenous peoples lived on the Minnesota North Shore for thousands of years. By the mid-seventeenth century, French fur traders and missionaries arrived in the Lake Superior region. By that time, Anishinaabe peoples (especially the groups that became known as Ojibwe people) were the demographic majority in the region. For approximately two centuries, Anishinaabe peoples formed relationships with French, British, and (eventually) American fur traders.
By the mid-nineteenth century, settlers on both sides of the border in the northern Great Lakes became interested in resources on Anishinaabe land, leading to the negotiations of land cession treaties. In 1854, at La Pointe on Madeline Island (Wisconsin), Anishinaabe peoples and American officials negotiated a treaty that ceded the iron-rich Minnesota North shore to the United States. The treaty was negotiated in the wake of the Sandy Lake Tragedy in 1850, which was an attempt by Americans to remove Anishinaabe people west of the Lake Superior watershed, which ultimately failed but led to a devastating loss of life.
The Treaty of La Pointe in 1854 legally opened the ceded territory to white settlement. Like other areas of the Minnesota North Shore, Sugarloaf Cove was now open to mining and logging.
In 1899, John Gunderson’s Norwegian family homesteaded at Sugarloaf Cove. John’s son owned the property from 1919 to 1939. The property had several owners from 1940 to 1943 until Consolidated Papers purchased the land around Sugarloaf Cove.
From 1943 to 1971, Consolidated Papers, Inc. used Sugarloaf Cove to store pulpwood logs during the winter. During the spring and summer, tugboats rafted the logs across Lake Superior to the papermills in Ashland, Wisconsin.
Consolidated Papers, Inc. maintained at least 14 buildings at Sugarloaf Cove, including two homes, an office with living quarters for two foresters and a clerk, and support facilities for loggers and rafters. Five underground fuel tanks, four wells, and a large maintenance garage also existed.
The State of Minnesota acquired Sugarloaf Cove in 1988, and it became a Scientific Natural Area in 1992. It expanded in 1996.
Seeing History Today: Through the Woods
Today, visitors can see many aspects of the logging history along the trails and shoreline at Sugarloaf Cove. The main trail is a loop that starts at the parking lot.
Hiking the trail in a clockwise direction leads you through a Norway Pine plantation planted in the decade following the closure of Consolidated Papers in 1971.
Shortly down the trail, you see old logs off to the side. These were part of the chute that carried pulpwood from the Upper Landing to the lake: the logs formed the sides of the chute, and thick metal cables were attached to notches in the logs to keep them in place. These logs have been lying in their place since Consolidate Paper closed, and they are slowly decaying and becoming part of the soil. When the log chute was in use, the area at the Upper Landing where the trail goes would have been cleared and opened—not like the forested terrain today.
Seeing History Today: Along the Lake
After walking through an alder thicket, you come to a view of the lake and can head down a spur trail to the ancient bedrock along the lake. The bedrock is basalt, a type of rock created by lava flows when the Midcontinental Rift was pulling apart 1.1 billion years ago. Six different lava flows are visible along certain points of the shore.
From the lookout, you can see Sugarloaf Cove. You can also see rings that were used to secure log booms. Log booms are barriers that hold together rafts of logs. Booms were used to hold together rafts of logs, and the booms were anchored to the rings on the rocky shores. Sugarloaf Cove was desirable because it is the only significant natural harbor that created a protected area to store the log rafts.
Rafts could be as large as 40 acres. When the booms were filled, the raft was tugged to sawmills 62 miles across the lake in Ashland, Wisconsin. The trips usually took between 72 and 120 hours. Typically, 6-8 trips were made to Ashland each summer.
A bit further down the trail is where the log chute dropped logs from the Upper Landing into the lake. The chute was 80 feet long and about 10 feet wide. There is little evidence of the chute in the present. The rings are the main reminder of the cove’s main purpose in the mid-20th century.
Before you reach cobble beach of the cove, the trail goes by a root cellar. It is the only Consolidated Paper building to survive in the present at Sugarloaf Cove. Consolidated Paper constructed at least fourteen buildings to support its pulpwood rafting operation when it was operating. A garage, office, and warehouse were at the base of this hill, along with the root cellar. While the cellar currently stores tools, its contents were used to cook many meals in the past.
The Cove and Sugarloaf Point
After the cellar, the trail follows a cobble beach. The multicolored cobbles and pebbles are evidence of billions of years of geologic activity. The basalt and rhyolite formed by the Midcontinental Rift are mixed with older rock carried by ice sheets from the northeast and Canada, including 2.7 billion-year-old granite and gneiss.
Sugarloaf Point was originally an island gradually connected to land as wind and waves deposited rocks. The land that connects the point to the shore is known as a tombolo.
The name Sugarloaf Cove comes from the high knob of rock near the tip of the point. In the late nineteenth century, the high knob of rock at the end of the point reminded settlers of the blocks of refined sugar that were molded into the shape of a cone and called sugar loaves.
Like the rocky shore on the mainland of the cove, there are numerous rings from the logging era on Sugarloaf Point. As you stand on the point on a wavy day with waves breaking around the tip and creating a swirl of currents, you can imagine the force the rings endured.
On windy days, the massive rafts of logs would constantly heave and shift in the waves and swells, pulling on the chains that anchored the boom logs to the rings.
I’ve visited the Minnesota North Shore when waves ten to fifteen feet tall crash into the rocky shore, shooting spray up much higher. It certainly wouldn’t be safe to be out on Sugarloaf Point on a day like that! Given everything the rings have been through, its remarkable they are still here.
From the tombolo, the trail continues southwest along the shore until it reaches Sugarloaf Creek. Then, it follows the creek, heading inland toward the Visitor’s Center.
The Tip of the Iceberg
This is just the tip of the iceberg of what you can see at Sugarloaf Cove! There are unique geologic features, including pahoehoe. This ropey formation shows how magma moved as the crust cooled.
Along with the unique geology at Sugarloaf Cove, there are rare lichens and plants, like the liverwort Atlantic Pawwort and Yellow Dot Lichen which are known as Arctic disjuncts since they are usually found in Arctic environments.
The Interpretative Center also offers numerous opportunities for visitors to learn more about Sugarloaf Cove’s geologic, natural, and human history! In the summer, it is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (make sure to check the website for updated hours). It has numerous mini-exhibits, including maps and historic photos, along with mini-exhibits about Consolidated Paper, geology, and animals in the forest. It also has a lovely covered deck and an inside restroom. A naturalist can also answer questions when the Interpretative Center is open.
There is a $5 fee to access Sugarloaf Cove. Or, you can purchase a reasonably priced annual membership!
If you visit Sugarloaf Cove on your trip along the Minnesota North Shore, you won’t regret it!
Sugarloaf Cove Location
9096 MN-61, Schroeder, MN 55613
