In Duluth, you can take a vintage train up the St. Louis River, then paddle back

A jacket that says “Barnes Duluth Ship Bldg. Co.” hangs on the wall of Spirit Lake Marina, an eclectic nautical shop on the west side of Duluth.

“This was an old World War I shipyard and was used through World War II,” said owner Charlie Stauduhar. “You just can’t imagine the scope and the number of people needed to build them,” he added, pointing to a 1919 panoramic shot with hundreds of shipbuilders. They represented one of the many industries lining the St. Louis River as it flowed into Duluth’s harbor and Lake Superior.

My husband, Bob, and I came to see the river in its newest role as the St. Louis River Estuary National Water Trail, which was designated in 2020. Local, state and national agencies and nonprofits worked to clean up the river and the land along it and to add recreational areas and trails.

Also restored: tracks for the volunteer-run Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad train, which got back onto its rails late last summer.

The yellow 1946 locomotive chugged around the corner and stopped at the marina to welcome us aboard as Choo Choo Paddle participants — riders who wanted to catch some of the narrated train tour, then kayak back to the marina.

As the train’s two 1912-era passenger cars and an open-air safari car hugged the shore of Spirit Lake (a widening of the St. Louis), the narrator pointed out Spirit Island, which played a role in the origin story of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe.

The train ambled past Munger Landing, a newly restored boat launch and fishing pier, and the former U.S. Steel Superfund Site by Morgan Park where new trails and native plantings traverse the 92-acre greenspace. Switching to the safari car, we sat in the full sun as the train followed a narrow causeway across Mud Lake and past Radio Tower Bay, where 115,000 cubic yards of lumberyard waste has been cleared out.

The train traveled at about 10 mph, the speed it used to go between St. Paul and Duluth near the turn of the 20th century, until it reached Boy Scout Landing, where a tandem kayak was waiting.

We had eyeballed the St. Louis the previous day to assure ourselves it wasn’t angrily churning after excessive summer rain. It wasn’t. We hoped we could almost float toward Lake Superior, maybe glimpse a sturgeon or a river otter. We couldn’t.

As we headed into the water and paddled beneath the double-decker Oliver Bridge (trains on the top deck) that connects Minnesota and Wisconsin, our tandem kayak seemed to have its own agenda.

People say, “She’s the boss,” when it comes to paddling on Lake Superior, and it turned out on this day, with unanticipated 15 mph winds, that the St. Louis had a few opinions, too. Currents, too, can vary in the country’s largest freshwater estuary, where river and lake waters combine.

We made it through two-thirds of the 4-mile stretch before needing to pull ashore, soaked from paddling into waves and a bit humbled. Next time we’ll know: Watch the wind. We also learned we could rent a kayak outside of train tours, try one of the water trail’s 11 other suggested paddling routes, rent a fishing boat or pontoon — or stick to land on a bike.

Interpretive signs are in the works on the riverfront trails, with stories of Ojibwe migration and culture, trading and treaties; the rise of railroads and lumberyards, shipbuilders and steelworkers; as well as the restoration of land and water, fish and wildlife, and beds of wild rice.

With more than a dozen islands along the river, countless inlets and Superior Municipal Forest on the Wisconsin side, “You can lose sight of all civilization,” Stauduhar said before our paddle, and he was right. That’s also what always draws us back. More than 9,100 acres of parkland always makes it possible to find scenery and solitude in Duluth.

On Sunday, we were ready to escape the city’s Canal Park crowds but not ready to face the southbound interstate. So we impulsively took a turn at Spirit Mountain onto a section of Skyline Drive we had never driven. It passed over Stewart Creek bridge with stonework looking like dragon’s teeth, turned into gravel and wound through Magney-Snively Natural Area, threaded with more places to hike and bike.

We pulled over at the Bardon Peak overlook for one last gaze at the St. Louis River Valley, knowing we’ll be back.

Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad, which was on a three-year hiatus until last summer, takes visitors along 5.2 miles of Duluth’s first railroad corridor Saturdays and Sundays from late June through mid-October. Veterans ride free on Sundays (duluthrivertrain.com). Choo Choo Paddle train-and-kayak tours can be arranged through Spirit Lake Marina (spiritlakemarinarv.com)

The St. Louis River Alliance and University of Minnesota-Duluth Recreational Sports Outdoor Program host guided St. Louis River paddles, including an event for beginners on July 24 and a Dwight’s Point paddle and lunch on Aug. 4. The alliance also offers birding hikes, volunteer events to improve piping plover nesting areas and other nature activities (stlouisriver.org).

Vista Fleet offers several tours daily that head onto Lake Superior, but also back into the Duluth harbor, into the mouth of the river estuary, and past Interstate Island State Wildlife Management Area, which teems with terns and gulls (vistafleet.com).

After heavy rain and trail closures in June, Spirit Mountain Adventure Park hummed with eager mountain bikers who could ride up the ski resort’s chairlift and grab one of 24 downhill trails, from easy routes to expert-only. The trails overlook the river valley, as does the Timber Twister, a self-controlled coaster that zips through the woods (spiritmt.com).

The RiverWest Duluth development, along the 70-mile Willard Munger State Trail, includes a new Ski Hut Adventure Center with bike and ski rentals (skihut.com), a Burnett Dairy Cheese Store expected to open in August, and new vacation townhomes with two to four bedrooms (riverwestduluth.com).

Trophy Cafe serves up big savory breakfasts, plus sandwiches and burgers for lunch in downtown Gary (trophycafe.com). There are dozens of places to eat in Duluth’s Lincoln Park Craft District, too.

Campers can find 73 sites atop Spirit Mountain with Lake Superior Hiking Trail access and St. Louis River overlooks nearby.

Indian Point Campground’s 76 sites sit along the riverfront near Lake Superior Zoo, the Munger Trail, Kingsbury Creek hiking trails and the Marten Trail (duluthindianpointcrampground). A block away, the Willard Munger Inn offers 23 motel rooms. Zoo passes and free use of bikes are included for guests (mungerinn.com).

Lisa Meyers McClintick, St. Cloud-based freelancer and author of “Day Trips From the Twin Cities,” has written for the Star Tribune since 2001. Instagram: @minnelisa.