Palisade Head is a place where the sky meets water and the water meets the land. It is not the most popular place along Lake Superior and there are no T-shirts or postcards to be found. Located just north of Island View Resort Palisade Head is approximately 3 miles past Silver Bay where you’ll find the “Palisade Head” sign (just past and down the hill from the Palisade Baptist Church) and take a right into a small parking lot. Go through the gate and follow the steep, narrow, winding road to the parking lot at the top of the cliff.
Palisade Head is undeveloped; there are no improvements except for an access road, antenna tower, short-term parking, and a few low rock walls near the edge of the cliffs. On clear days there are views of the Sawtooth Mountains to the northeast, Split Rock Lighthouse to the southwest, the Bayfield Peninsula and Apostle Islands of Wisconsin across the lake to the south, and the ship traffic on Lake Superior.
The Ely Minnesota Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) is home to the largest wilderness east of the Rockies, with over a million acres to explore. Ely, Minnesota has the largest number of Boundary Waters entry points and the most diverse number of wilderness canoe routes. Each visit to this area is a wilderness adventure. You encounter a never ending variety of clear water lakes and enjoy nature as it happens – watch the eagles sore, listen to the call of the loon and enjoy the sunset in the Ely, Minnesota wilderness.
