Record Hazardous Air in Duluth Pushes Vacationers Indoors as Wildfire Smoke Blankets the North Shore

A stretch of the Minnesota North Shore that normally draws visitors for its scenery was cloaked in smoky haze on Thursday, as wildfire smoke pushed air quality in the Duluth area to a record hazardous level this week.

The visitors center in West Duluth sits on a bluff and usually offers a sweeping view of the St. Louis River estuary, Lake Superior and the Duluth lift bridge. On Thursday, the haze hid all of it. Smoke from fires burning in and around the Boundary Waters, a couple of hours to the north, has settled over the region, much of the state and large parts of the country.

The conditions left many travelers deciding whether to shift their trips toward indoor activities or call them off. At the visitors center, a state tourism guide handed out face masks of the kind widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic and warned guests about the poor air. She pointed them to indoor options that she said would be safer than hiking or being out on the water.

Brian Morrison of Detroit Lakes, who was heading to Two Harbors with his family, said they were disappointed but determined to continue. "We've had this trip booked for several months now, and it's kind of like, well, whatever the weather, we're going," he said.

Linda and Ryan Benjamin of Minneapolis, bound for Tofte, had planned to hike, swim and bike but expected to change course. Linda Benjamin said their condo at Bluefin Bay has access to an indoor pool, hot tub and sauna. If conditions are bad enough, she said, they have discussed heading back to Minneapolis. "We'll hit the bar if nothing else," she added.

Raechel Sittig-Esser's family, visiting from Iowa to celebrate a birthday, wore masks near the Great Lakes Aquarium on the way to Canal Park. They did not want to stay in their hotel all day, she said, so they went looking for indoor attractions. She said they had hoped for time on the lake walk and other North Shore activities, and were counting on the air clearing before they left. Cindy Moe of Buffalo packed board games for her family's stay in Lutsen and took her children to a Duluth playground to burn off energy. She said the family expects to be inside for most of the trip.

Moe said smoke also disrupted a North Shore outing last year. Duluth resident Cindy Rosas, walking her dog Hoshi near Bayfront Festival Park with her husband Doug, said this is the second summer of smoky air that she is aware of, after years without it. She said she expects it to continue each summer because of climate change, and not only locally. Doug Rosas said the couple is shortening walks, watching the wind direction and spending more time indoors with the air conditioning running.

Forecasts suggest the smoke should ease in the Duluth area this weekend. Fire officials, however, say the wildfire will probably burn for weeks and possibly months, meaning smoke could return in periodic bursts through the summer and into the fall.