Fond du Lac State Forest
Carlton and St. Louis counties, MN
About Fond du Lac State Forest
The Fond du Lac State Forest covers a large area west and southwest of Cloquet, a working landscape of managed timber, wetland, lakes, and forest roads rather than a developed recreation park.
Use here is dispersed and seasonal. In fall it carries hunting. In winter it carries snowmobile traffic on the groomed trail network and quiet skiing on the forest roads. In summer it is fishing access, berry picking, and long gravel rides for anyone who does not mind seeing nobody for an hour.
For Cloquet and Carlton County households it is the big backyard: not scenic in the way the North Shore parks are, but genuinely large, genuinely quiet, and open to activities that developed parks do not permit.
Good to know: forest roads, hunting, snowmobile trails, dispersed camping, lakes and stream access, wildlife viewing.
Neighborhoods it serves
The mill town that burned down in 1918 and rebuilt itself, twenty minutes from Duluth.
EskoThe school district people move for, on an old farm settlement 20 minutes from Duluth.
CarltonThe county seat at the gates of Jay Cooke, where the Munger Trail meets the gorge.
Where these facts come from
- Minnesota DNR, state forests accessed 2026-08-13
Last reviewed 2026-08-13 by Guide editorial.