25 July 2022
Posted 03 March 2023

We move east from Thompson’s Bay to Ashland.

At 0700 the temp was only 56°, the coldest overnight, thus far, in July. By 0938 we were packed up and on the road.

Half an hour later we had found a spot in Ashland.

1008  47,730  69° 

Kreher Park, site 15, Ashland, WI  $35

With the campsite secured, we set out to explore.

Stopping to restock our fridge we noticed an interesting mural on the side of the local Coop Grocery. Little did we know it was only the first of many!

Just outside of town, we found the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center.

The center has an information desk and displays about flora and fauna of the area.

Local artwork is also on display. Storm at Sea, a quilt by Susan Nelson and Mary Beedlow, caught our attention.

An incredible amount of detailed stitching went into all parts of the Civil War quilt pattern. According to the artists, they were inspired by Lake Superior’s Reflections.  

The top of the building opens onto an outdoor observation deck while inside, the atrium is open all the way to the ground floor.

Returning to downtown Ashland, we found this Soo Line Decapod sitting in front of the depot. 

Built in 1900, it was the world’s largest steam locomotive at that time. Decapod referred to the five large driven wheel on each side.

Beautiful wooden floors reflect light  station’s restored interior.

Outside, an industrial building offers a mural as a tribute to local railway workers.

Ashland has over twenty large murals in the downtown area.

To find out more, we boarded the Ashland Trolley for a Mural Tour. 

Local residents and landmarks are depicted larger than life.

The murals are interesting, but more than an hour in a warm trolley replica was a little too much mural gazing for us.

Arriving back at our campsite and turning on the air conditioning felt really good.

After cooling off, we walked to the nearby site of the old Ore Dock.

Only the cement base of the dock remains as a reminder of the days when trains of coal cars dumped tons of iron ore into freighters here.

A paved bike path winds along the lakefront. Here we stopped to watch kids jump into the lake from another repurposed ore dock.

From their we rode to the tunnel mural, which we liked the best of all. 

Mosaic depictions of fish and animals captured our interest.

The tunnel provides access to downtown from the lakefront trail.

Beth hung out with the tunnel bear before pedaling back to our campsite.