Ely

8 photos · 2021–2022

8 photographs tagged Ely, 2021–2022.

Sunset over Garden Lake in Ely, Minnesota, with forested shoreline and mountains in distance. — Garden Lake sits just outside Ely, Minnesota, within the Superior National Forest near the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The lake is a popular put-in point for canoeists heading into the BWCAW's interior chain of lakes.

US Customs and Border Protection sign near Moose Lake, Minnesota — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection sign near Moose Lake and Ely in Northern Minnesota.

State Theater neon sign on Highway 1 in Ely, Minnesota, with parked vehicles and storefronts. — The State Theater anchors Sheridan Street in downtown Ely, a small city on Minnesota's Iron Range that serves as a gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Ely's downtown developed around the mining and outfitting trades that supported the surrounding iron mines and, later, canoe-country tourism. Sheridan Street, part of State Highway 1, remains the town's main commercial corridor, lined with small businesses like Kerntz Appliance that have served the community for decades.

Leaves in the Superior National Forest, Northern Minnesota — A rock with roots around it with fallen leaves near Ely, Minnesota.

Tree with exposed root system spreads across forest floor in woods near Ely, Minnesota. — Ely sits at the edge of the Superior National Forest and serves as a gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, more than a million acres of lakes, rivers, and forest along the Minnesota-Ontario border. The thin, rocky soil common to this part of the state often forces paper birch trees to send roots wide across the surface rather than deep underground, leaving root systems like this one exposed as surrounding earth erodes away over time.

Moss-covered tree roots and rocks amid autumn leaves on a forest floor near Ely, Minnesota. — Ely sits at the edge of the Superior National Forest, a landscape shaped by thin glacial soils and granite bedrock close to the surface. Trees here often grow shallow, wide-spreading root systems rather than deep taproots, since roots can't penetrate far into the rocky ground. That shallow growth leaves roots exposed along many forest trails, especially where erosion or foot traffic has worn away the topsoil. The region's mixed hardwood and conifer forest sheds heavily each October, blanketing the ground in fallen leaves and needles.

Kawishiwi Falls cascades over rocky outcrops surrounded by autumn forest in Superior National Forest, Minnesota. — Kawishiwi Falls sits along the Kawishiwi River near Ely, Minnesota, within the Superior National Forest. The river is part of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness watershed, feeding eventually into Birch Lake and the broader Rainy Lake drainage system. The falls drop over a series of rock ledges typical of the exposed Canadian Shield bedrock that underlies much of the Ely area. Ely itself grew as a mining and logging town before becoming a gateway community for wilderness canoeing and outdoor recreation in the Superior National Forest.

Ely State Theater on E Sheridan St. in Ely, Minnesota, with a marquee and downtown storefronts. — Ely State Theater at 238 E Sheridan St. in Ely, Minnesota, is a historic downtown movie theater. The theater’s marquee anchors one side of Sheridan Street in the city’s commercial district.

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