Getting around Woodland, Duluth, Minnesota
Part of the Woodland neighborhood guide. Back to the full guide.
Woodland has the best all-round driving position in this guide. Miller Hill retail and medical is about eight minutes, downtown about eleven, and Duluth International Airport about eleven, which beats every shoreline neighborhood because Woodland sits behind the hill rather than at the end of the twenty-mile lakeshore strip. Superior, Wisconsin is around nineteen. Woodland Avenue and Arrowhead Road are the arterials, with Rice Lake Road and Kenwood Avenue running west.
Transit is better here than the surrounding neighborhoods because the university is a major destination, and DTA service to campus is correspondingly heavier.
Cycling is excellent off-road and mixed on-road. Hartley and the Duluth Traverse start inside the neighborhood, so a ride begins in the driveway. On pavement, Woodland Avenue carries real traffic and grade, though the student population means drivers here are more used to cyclists than in most of the city.
Winter driving, honestly. Above the hill is a longer season than the shoreline. Duluth averages about 90 inches a season on the 1991 to 2020 normals (NWS Duluth, accessed 2026-08-13), and the plateau receives no lake-moderating effect, so snow arrives earlier and stays later than in Lakeside or Congdon. Woodland Avenue and Arrowhead are plow priorities; the residential streets are curving, wooded, and cleared afterward. The trade is that Hartley's trails are usually in condition when the lower neighborhoods have bare ground.
Major roads: Woodland Avenue, Arrowhead Road, Kenwood Avenue, Rice Lake Road, Snively Road.
DTA bus routes: 112 (Woodland, UMD, Mall). Routes and timetables change, so confirm with the DTA.
Biking: Hartley and the Duluth Traverse start inside the neighborhood, which is close to unbeatable for off-road access. On-road, Woodland Avenue carries traffic and grade, and the university generates a meaningful student cycling population.
The hill: Above the hill on the plateau. No lake views to speak of and no shoreline moderation, so winter arrives earlier and lingers longer than it does down on the water, and the ground under the tree cover holds snow well into spring.
Getting around next door
Directly south along the same corridor, with older and more architecturally ambitious housing.
KenwoodWest across the hill, with the nearest full grocery and a similar postwar housing mix.
Chester ParkDownhill toward the campuses, denser and closer to both colleges.
Congdon ParkDownhill toward the lake, historic architecture at a much higher price.
Duluth HeightsWest above the hill, closer to Miller Hill retail and newer construction.