Last updated: October 29, 2023
Thing to Do
Hike Mount Rose
NPS Photo / GM Spoto
Hike to the top of Mount Rose for a spectacular view of Grand Portage Bay and beyond – on a clear day, Isle Royale is visible! From a protective stone wall, get a bird's eye view of the depot or look west to the gap in the land where the voyageurs transported goods along Gichi Onigaming, the Grand Portage Trail. Learn about the ancient geology that created the rugged beauty of the North Shore landscape.
The Mount Rose hike is available year-round – see which animals left their tracks in the snow! In spring, watch the snow recede and the leaves unfurl while many wildflowers emerge. In early summer, bring your binoculars or listen for returning birds. The surrounding forest in fall is loaded with fiery color.
Details
Duration
30-90 Minutes
Activity
Front-Country Hiking
Age(s)
No minimum age. Suggestion is for people who can walk a half mile uphill to the summit, ascending and descending multiple staircases.
Pets Allowed
Yes with Restrictions
Pets are allowed on a leash 6 feet or less.
Activity Fee
No
Entrance fees may apply, see Fees & Passes information.
Location
Mount Rose Summit
Reservations
No
Season
Year Round
In winter the trail can be icy with areas of deep snow. Snowshoes are difficult to use on the stairways so be prepared with sturdy footwear and clothing appropriate to breaking a trail.
Time of Day
Day
Accessibility Information
The Mount Rose Trail is steep and rocky in places with multiple staircases. The trail is less than three feet in width throughout.
NPS photo / GM Spoto
Quick Facts
Amenities
3 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Scenic View/Photo Spot, Trailhead
Mount Rose Trail and Loop
Fires are prohibited on the Mount Rose Trail
Two ways to access the trail:
Mount Rose Loop Trail
- Dirt path between flights of wooden stairs accessed from the Heritage Center parking lot, near the picnic area
- Gradual, steady climb up the gentle spine of Mount Rose, a little less than a mile round trip
Mount Rose Trail
- Asphalt trail with stone steps and guardrails in steepest sections, ~1.5 miles round trip from the trail head across from the Depot.
- The trail switchbacks its way up south wall of Mount Rose.
- Rock walls protect hikers from cliffs and provide impressive views of the historic depot and Grand Portage Bay
Trail Information
- The Mount Rose Loop Trail begins in the picnic area at the west end of the Heritage Center parking lot. The older Mount Rose Trial begins across from the historic depot’s stockade and main gate on Mile Creek Road
- A series of wooden steps climb the side of an ancient rock wall then a dirt path gently rises along the spine of Mount Rose until it connects with the older paved Mount Rose Trail near the overlook, the highest point of Mount Rose (906 ft., 276 m)
- Hikers can descend Mount Rose Trail on a series of sandstone steps and paved trail eventually coming out of the forest near the main gate of the historic depot
- The Mount Rose Trail meets the Grand Portage corridor near the gatehouse and north gate, offering an alternative route to enter the historic depot through the gatehouse on the Grand Portage corridor as the voyageurs did
- Hikers can also see the historic depot first and hike the Mount Rose Trail on the way back to the parking lot
- Wayside exhibits along the trail inform visitors about natural and historical features in Grand Portage
Stops Along the Mount Rose Trail
Showing results 1-10 of 11
- Grand Portage National Monument
Mount Rose Landing
- Locations: Grand Portage National Monument
This Mount Rose Trail landing is along the uphill hike from the parking lot to the summit of Mount Rose and offers a spectacular view of Grand Portage Bay.
- Grand Portage National Monument
Mount Rose Trail Depot Overlook
- Locations: Grand Portage National Monument
This Mount Rose overlook is at a low rock wall along the trail. From this viewpoint you can see the historic depot and beyond to the dock in Grand Portage Bay.
- Grand Portage National Monument
Mount Rose A Story in Rock
- Locations: Grand Portage National Monument
The weathered outcrop above you is made of sedimentary rock, known as the Rove Formation, formed by layers of sands and clay deposited on an ancient sea floor nearly two billion years ago. There are at least two sedimentary rock types visible in the stratigraphy, or layering, you see before you: a dark sandstone known to geologists as graywacke; a fine-grained siltstone known as shale. Rivers carried these sediments to the sea, where they were deposited on the
- Grand Portage National Monument
Mount Rose Summit
- Locations: Grand Portage National Monument
The Mount Rose Summit offers a view to the east overlooking the historic depot and Grand Portage Bay. To the west, a gap in the landscape indicates where the Grand Portage Trail passes through the landscape.
- Grand Portage National Monument
Mount Rose Trailhead (parking lot)
- Locations: Grand Portage National Monument
The Mount Rose Trailhead is the beginning of a half-mile, uphill hike to the summit of Mount Rose. From there is a spectacular view of Grand Portage Bay and distant Isle Royale to the east, and the gap in the land where the Grand Portage trail passes to the west. This is also the best aerial view of the Historic Depot.
- Grand Portage National Monument
Mount Rose Trail Interpretive Overlook
- Locations: Grand Portage National Monument
Wayside with fur trade era quotations and an aerial view of the historic depot and Grand Portage Bay. A low stone wall keeps visitors back from the edge.
- Grand Portage National Monument
Mount Rose Trail Junction
- Locations: Grand Portage National Monument
This bench marks the turnoff trail to the Heritage Center parking lot.
- Grand Portage National Monument
Mount Rose Trail Bench
- Locations: Grand Portage National Monument
This bench, about halfway up the hill from the Depot trailhead, is a perfect spot to catch your breath in sun dappled shade with a view of Lake Superior through the trees.
- Grand Portage National Monument
Mount Rose Geologic Ridges
- Locations: Grand Portage National Monument
Hard Rock Ridges You are standing on a ridge of hard, igneous rock with a 10-foot (3-m) crust of "baked" rock on top. How was this formed? Roughly 1.1 billion years ago, hot volcanic magma pushed up into cracks and faults in the existing rock bed, know as the Rove Formation, made of silt and a coarse rock called graywacke. The heat radiating from the magma baked the nearby rocks.
- Grand Portage National Monument
Mount Rose - Once an Island!
- Locations: Grand Portage National Monument
About 12,000 years ago, melting glaciers formed temporary lakes. The biggest, Glacial Lake Duluth, submerged most of the Grand Portage. Its shoreline was 738 feet (225 m) above today’s Lake Superior. The shoreline of Glacial Lake Beaver Bay was where you are standing, 243 feet (74 m) above Lake Superior.