The Superior National Forest covers more than three million acres across northeastern Minnesota, stretching along the Canadian border from near International Falls to Grand Portage. Congress established it in 1909, and the U.S. Forest Service now manages it as one of the most water-rich forests in the country, with roughly 2,000 lakes and hundreds of miles of streams and wetlands like the one pictured here. More than a million acres of the forest fall within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the most-visited wilderness area in the United States. The forest's mix of birch, aspen, and conifer stands produces some of the region's most reliable fall color displays each October.
Photo taken in October 2023.