Chambers Grove Park
13404 Highway 23, Duluth, MN 55808
About Chambers Grove Park
Chambers Grove Park is the riverside park at the heart of Fond du Lac, Duluth's oldest and westernmost community, on the St. Louis River at 13404 Highway 23. The City of Duluth records the Ojibwe place name for it as Nagaajiwanaang.
The ground has been a gathering place for a very long time. It became a popular picnic destination in the 1870s while owned by Emily and Michael Chambers, and from the 1880s through the 1940s steam-powered excursion boats carried picnickers up the estuary from downtown Duluth to spend an afternoon here (City of Duluth, accessed 2026-08-13). Michael Chambers had bought the land in 1869 intending to quarry sandstone and ship it out on Jay Cooke's new railroad.
The June 2012 regional flood destroyed much of the park's infrastructure. The rebuild that followed drew $1 million in Minnesota DNR Parks and Trails Legacy funding, plus $100,000 from the Minnesota Lake Superior Coastal Program for a half-mile interpretive trail with signage covering the area's history, riparian habitat, and flood control and recovery.
Today it carries pavilions available for rental, a playground, picnic areas and grills, restrooms, a parking lot, a public orchard of fruit trees, and river access for fishing and birding. The city takes reservations for weddings and public events. For Fond du Lac it is the only park, the only public gathering space, and the site of nearly everything that has ever happened in the neighborhood.
Good to know: St. Louis River frontage, pavilions available for rental, playground, picnic areas and grills, BBQ grills, public restrooms, parking lot, public orchard, interpretive trail, river fishing, birding, hiking and biking.
Neighborhoods it serves
The oldest community in Duluth, 14 miles from downtown, at the bottom of the lake.
Gary-New DuluthTwo company-era river towns that people now treat as one, and the service center for the far west end.
Morgan ParkThe concrete company town US Steel built, and the neighborhood that outlived the mill.
Where these facts come from
- City of Duluth, Chambers Grove Park accessed 2026-08-13
Last reviewed 2026-08-13 by Guide editorial.