Tettegouche State Park
Managed by Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
156 acres1.4 mi of trail
George's Gorge TrailSuperior Hiking Spur TrailSuperior Hiking Trail
Dogs on leash
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Silver Bay
Silver Bay has 26 miles of mapped trails, 3.4 for every square mile of land
620 acres are parks and preserves, 350 per 1,000 residents. 12% of Silver Bay’s land is conserved, about 591 acres. The biggest trail networks: Tettegouche State Park (1.4 mi).
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
12%
591 acres · of 7.6 sq mi of land
Trails
26 mi
3.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
620 ac
350 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
62%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.0 mi
2.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
1 beach · 1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Silver Bay?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Silver Bay have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Silver Bay is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Silver Bay’s overall grade.
Conserved land12% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%A−Trails3.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (26 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land350 acres of park per 1,000 residents (620 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13AParks close to home62% of residents within a half mile of a park · MN 95% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 94%
LessMore
Water is 5% of Silver Bay’s area (0 of 8 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 12%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Tettegouche State Park, with 1.4 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Mariner Mountain Park
Park
30 acres0.2 mi of trail
Silver Bay Loop Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
591 conserved acres
12% of Silver Bay’s land. Water is left out: Silver Bay has 7.6 square miles of land and 0.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Silver Bay’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State parks591 ac
State Park · 591 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tettegouche State Park State Park | State parks | 591 | Open |
Things to do
17 places to go in Silver Bay
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Silver Bay
1 beach without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Playgrounds in Silver Bay
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Silver Bay
1 boat launch without a name on the map.
Waterfalls in Silver Bay
1 waterfall without a name on the map.
Scenic views in Silver Bay
Bear Lake Overlook
DirectionsCity Overlook
DirectionsElams Knob Overlook
DirectionsNorth Shore Mining/Lake Superior Overlook
DirectionsPlus 3 scenic views without a name on the map.
Peaks in Silver Bay
Elams Knob
DirectionsMariner Mountain
DirectionsCampgrounds in Silver Bay
Bear Lake
DirectionsBlack Beach CampgroundFee · City of Silver Bay & MN DNR
DirectionsPenn Creek
DirectionsTrails & water
8 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 5.0 miUnpaved · 23.9 mi
Superior Hiking Trail6.1 mi
Silver Bay Loop Trail6.0 mi
Superior Hiking Spur Trail3.0 mi
Blue Jay Vista Trail1.6 mi
Beaver Bay Trail1.2 mi
George's Gorge Trail1.1 mi
Twin Lakes Trail0.8 mi
Old Snowmobile Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
4Baseball
3Tennis
1Football
1Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Silver Bay: May and August
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.9 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 15.1 | 15.9 | 15.6 | 14.2 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.2 | 8.5 |
| High (°F) | 21 | 25 | 36 | 47 | 59 | 69 | 75 | 74 | 65 | 52 | 37 | 26 |
| Rain (in) | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 2.0 | 1.6 |
February is the driest month (1.0 in) and July the warmest (highs of 75 °F). 4.2 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Silver Bay →
Next door
Silver Bay and its neighbors
Silver Bay has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver Bay | 12% | 3.4 | 350 | 62% | A |
| Beaver Bay Township | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Silver Bay
Where can I hike in Silver Bay?
The longest trail networks: Tettegouche State Park, 1.4 miles; Mariner Mountain Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Silver Bay is conserved land?
12% of its land, against a typical 5% for a Minnesota town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Silver Bay’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Tettegouche State Park (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Silver Bay?
2.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Silver Bay?
44,760 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Silver Bay or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 620 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Silver Bay have?
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Silver Bay neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →