The Mt Maud Fire Tower is located near Grand Portage, MN and provides great views of the surrounding forest and Lake Superior.
Roundtrip: 250 m
Difficulty: Moderate
Location: Grand Portage, MN
As you can tell I have been fascinated by fire towers lately. This one is easy to get to and the views are great –whether or not you climb the tower. Be extra careful if you do decide to climb the tower as several of the platform boards are missing up past the halfway mark.
From the Pigeon River border crossing head west on Hwy 61S for 11.5 km. Turn Right onto County Road 17/Mineral Center Rd and follow it for 6.5 km. Continue going straight onto County Road 89 where Mineral Center Road makes a turn to the left. Follow County Road 89 for 2.8km and turn right onto Mt Maude Trail and follow it staying left for 1.3 km and parking in the turn-around area. The trail up to the tower starts in the turn-around area. The trail is short but quite steep.
If you have the fire tower bug you can visit these nearby fire towers, Mt Sophie Fire Tower, Hovland Tower. If you know of any other fire tower locations, even if the fire tower is no longer there, please let me know in the comments below. I would love to visit them too.
Climbed today. The road to get to the turnaround is getting a little overgrown, but my hatchback made it with no problems. Was very surprised that this tower was wide open- no fence, gate, or sign to steer you away. Take your time coming back down from the tower. The part of the trail with the metal cable to hold onto is quite steep.
Note, while I was up there, a pickup truck was at the communications tower that?s probably 100 feet away. Seems there is a route to drive most of the way to it, though suspect there?s probably a gate that would prevent you from getting there. The guy driving the truck saw me there but seemingly didn?t care. Made no attempt to get my attention and just continued on his business.
I am so grateful for your write-up about this great tower. I hiked here in August 2016 and the tower has seen recent repair — you could tell there were new boards in place by their color. I thought it was particularly cool how we could see Mt. Sophie from this area. You do not need to climb the tower to get great views. I never would have known about this spot without this blog. Thanks!
That’s great! Mount Sophie https://superiorhiking.com/mt-sophie-fire-tower/ is not too far away!
Did this short hike/climb May 18th, 2011. Followed your directions with no problem.