Even a Free Attraction Needs to Tell the Truth

Vacationing in Northern Minnesota, driving up Hghway 61 from Duluth, at mile 54.3, we followed a sign for a scenic overlook that had a nice description in a book of gentle hikes on the North Shore. This took us off to the west a mile or so, up a high hill overlooking the lack.

Unfortunately, this lookout was built by the Northshore Mining Company to provide views of its massive taconite transfer plant, a hideous blot on the beautiful lake view. From the parking lot, there are signs to three different views: plant, lake, and city.

When we saw “plant view,” we figured it would be some rare species growing on the side of the hill, but the sign actually refers to the taconite plant, and the lookout contains an informational display about it. “City View,” on the other side of the hill, provides a vista of the small town of Silver Bay, an uninspiring collection of suburban tract houses and a large campus with a green-colored roofs that I’m guessing is the local school complex. The “Lake View” overlook was a little bit better, with a pleasant, if not exactly breathtaking, view of Palisade Head just north—the lookout we thought we were going to is there—and Tettegouche State Park two miles beyond

I found myself extremely annoyed. I felt I’d been betgrayed by false promises, and event hough there was no charge, it wasted my time and my psychic energy—the moreso because it turned out Palisade Head, just a mile and a half up the road, wasa much nicer overlook.

This “attraction” gets my vote for Most. Useless. Scenic. Overlook.