Western Waterfront Trail
Trailhead at 75th Avenue West near Grand Avenue, Duluth, MN 55807
About Western Waterfront Trail
The Western Waterfront Trail runs along the St. Louis River estuary in far west Duluth, beginning at 75th Avenue West in the Norton Park neighborhood at the same point as the northern terminus of the Willard Munger State Trail.
Two long trails starting within a few yards of each other is what makes that intersection significant. The Munger runs 70 paved miles south through Jay Cooke State Park toward Hinckley; the Western Waterfront runs a quieter, softer-surfaced route along the water. Between them, a small and inexpensive neighborhood has trail access that most cities would advertise.
The trail's character is estuary rather than lake: calm water, wetland margins and a good deal of bird life, on ground that has been through decades of restoration since the industrial era, much of it coordinated through the St. Louis River Alliance. It is the closest thing in Duluth to a quiet riverside walk that does not involve a climb.
Good to know: St. Louis River estuary frontage, birding, walking and biking, connection to the Willard Munger State Trail.
Neighborhoods it serves
Where the Munger Trail starts, between two creeks on the river.
RiversideA shipyard village on Spirit Lake, with the Munger Trail through the middle.
IrvingFlat streets, a real playfield and a point of land on the bay.
FairmountThe zoo neighborhood, between two creeks on the Grand Avenue corridor.
SmithvilleRiver-corridor housing below, Bardon Peak above, and a radical labor college in its past.
Where these facts come from
- Wikipedia, Norton Park (Duluth), recording the Western Waterfront Trail's start at 75th Avenue West; City of Duluth parks listing accessed 2026-08-13
Last reviewed 2026-08-13 by Guide editorial.