A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 143 miles from Cloquet to Kabetogama, Minnesota.
Month: October 2025
Travel from Cloquet to Kabetogama, Minnesota
We drove our coach 143 miles, about three hours of driving, from Cloquet to Kabetogama, Minnesota.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Paladin on the dash while leaving the campground:
A gas station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright:
Saunas for sale:
Route 33 North:
UFO and aliens:
Route 53 North:
“Dirty Dreams”:
Rest area:
Towards Route 37 West:
Route 53 North:
“Welcome to Orr”:
Lake Kabetogama:
Arriving at the Pines of Kabetogama Resort:
Dusty:
A steep single-lane road up the hill:
Cloquet / Duluth KOA Journey
We stayed at Cloquet / Duluth KOA Journey in Cloquet, Minnesota. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A one-night stop on our way, so as usual we chose a KOA. Though I don’t remember requesting the 05:30 wake-up call from the train horn.
Dates:
- Check in: 2025-08-09
- Check out: 2025-08-10
- 1 night
Weather:
- Mostly sunny
- High temp 83°F, low 64°F
- Little wind, gusts to 17 MPH
Noise:
- Some road noise
- Nearby loud train horn noise
- Some neighbor noise
Site:
- #3, pull-through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only one night
- Somewhat level site; high in front; used air leveling, since only one night
- Gravel driveway about 70 feet long by 9 feet wide
- 15-50 feet to neighbor on passenger side
- 12 feet to neighbor on driver side
- Picnic table
- Fire pit
- A tall tree
- Clean site
- Elevation 1090 feet, front facing south
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
- 65 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- RoamLink: 62 Mbps down, 3 Mbps up, 103 ms ping (the RoamLink service picks the best network, so I’m not sure which one it used, other than not AT&T)
- AT&T: 12-30 Mbps down, 0.6 Mbps up, 70 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
- Starlink: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage pickup from site (which is always appreciated)
- Pool
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Fine for a short stay
This was a fairly standard KOA and was fine for one night. The trains do run at random times and use their horns at nearby crossings, so this is probably not the place to come for a relaxing vacation. All of the pull-through sites are buddy sites, which is our least favorite configuration, but fine for a very short stay. The site was long enough for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle without having to disconnect, but was pretty narrow side-to-side. Utilities worked well, and they provide garbage pickup from the site. We camped at Cloquet / Duluth KOA Journey in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site, with a nice weeping willow:
Driver-side to driver-side buddy sites, which is the best kind of buddy; nobody living next to us. And still pretty good spacing:
Other sites; a nice patio shelter on this site:
Yurt and cabin:
A reasonable place for a one-night stop. The train horn and buddy sites could be annoying for a longer stop.
Video: Hancock, Michigan to Cloquet, Minnesota motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 235 miles from Hancock, Michigan to Cloquet, Minnesota.
Travel from Hancock, Michigan to Cloquet, Minnesota
We drove our coach 235 miles, about five hours of driving, from Hancock, Michigan to Cloquet, Minnesota.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:
An interactive map, with potential stops pinned:
Our coach leaving our site:
A campsite with tents, a boat, and a portable sauna; must be Finnish:
Drawbridge:
Roadworks:
45 South:
Enter Central Time Zone:
Ski Capital of the Midwest:
Rest area:
Wisconsin Welcomes You:
Highway:
Bad River:
Industry:
An interesting building in Ashland, Wisconsin:
Faceplanted Paladin:
Bridge over Saint Louis River:
Minnesota Welcomes You:
Train overpass:
Fuel stop:
Guided to our site:
Finnish American Heritage Center
We visited the Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock, Michigan. Jenn has Finnish ancestry, so it was particularly interesting for her.
The adjoining North Wind Books store:
Suomi Home Bakery & Restaurant
Keweenaw Peninsula of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
We took a scenic drive around the upper Keweenaw Peninsula of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Here’s an interactive map of our route, heading counter/anti-clockwise (Jenn recently pointed out that I always write “anti-clockwise”, but “counter-clockwise” is the typical American form; my Kiwi roots showing again):
Lake Linden:
The beginning of US 41:
Copper Harbor:
Copper Harbor Overlook, with a view of Lake Superior:
Esrey Park overlook:
Eagle Harbor lighthouse:
Jacob’s Falls:
Keweenaw snow thermometer:
Quincy Mine Hoist:
Isle Royale National Park
We visited Isle Royale National Park in Michigan, journeying there and back on a small floatplane; much faster than a boat.
An interactive map of the Rock Harbor area is Isle Royale:
Float plane:
Isle Royale:
Lunch at the cafe:
Seating and harbor:
We did a hike on Stoll Trail:
A post-hike snack:
Loons:
Back to the float plane for the return journey:
Hancock City Park
We stayed at Hancock City Park in Hancock, Michigan. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A nice waterfront(ish) site in a city park in the UP.
Dates:
- Check in: 2025-08-02
- Check out: 2025-08-09
- 7 nights
Weather:
- Mostly sunny, some rain
- High temps 75-84°F, lows 59-69°F
- A little wind, gusts to 20 MPH
Noise:
- No road noise
- No train horn noise
- Some neighbor noise
Site:
- #55, back-in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
- Somewhat level site; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
- Gravel driveway about 70 feet long by 16 feet wide
- 50 feet to neighbor on passenger side
- But path to beach on passenger side
- No neighbor on driver side
- Trees between sites
- Picnic table
- Fire pit
- Tall trees
- Mostly clean site
- Elevation 610 feet, front facing NW
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- No water or sewer
- Potable water and dump station by entrance
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 125-245 Mbps down, 20-35 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
- RoamLink: 70 Mbps down, 7-9 Mbps up, 135 ms ping (the RoamLink service picks the best network, so I’m not sure which one it used, other than not AT&T)
- AT&T: 8-10 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 200-350 ms ping (I have AT&T on my iPhone)
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpsters
- Waterfront
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Great basecamp for UP adventures
We stayed here for a week to explore Isle Royale NP and the UP and would happily stay here again; there’s just so much to do in the area. Our site was a back-in with a view over Portage Lake, and it was nice to watch the boats going out. This site had 50A electric, but no other utilities. Potable water and a dump station were conveniently near the exit. The site was spacious, which was nice, even if it did invite people to take a shortcut through it from the walking path. We camped at Hancock City Park in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Been a while since we used the griddle… and haven’t used it since:
No water or sewer at our site, so I filled the water bladder at the dump station:
Pumping water from the bladder into the coach:
And pumping the black and gray tanks into the tote in the truck:
Dumping from the tote:
There was a path to the beach next to our site:
The beach:
We dipped our toes in Lake Superior:
Ranger III going by; the boat to Isle Royale (but we took a float plane instead, much faster):
A sailboat:
We tried Culver’s for the first time; perhaps overly friendly staff, but tasty food:
We would have preferred site 48; nicely tucked away, with no neighbors, and water view on the passenger side:
Site 53 would also be good; obviously set up as a front-in site (despite being mostly occupied by trailers awkwardly fronting in most of the time):
Other sites:
Tent site:
Check in office:
Playground:
Boat parking area:
Boat launch:
We’d be happy to stay here again (preferably in site 48 or 53, but site 55 was next best).