Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway
Laurentian Divide - Birch Lake, MN

Waters from this point flow north to Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean or south and east to Lake Superior and the St. Lawrence Seaway. The east side of the Gunflint Trail is soft sedimentary rock, called gray-wacke and hardened lava. Volcanic eruptions forced through the gray-wacke, creating great humps and tilting toward Lake Superior. Glaciers carved out the rocks 12,000 to 25,000 years ago, creating lake bottoms and majestic palisade.