TEACHING THE GEOLOGIC HERITAGE OF MINNESOTA’S NORTH SHORE AT THE NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL, GRAND MARAIS

Since 1997, the North House Folk School, located in Grand Marais, Minnesota, has been promoting lifelong learning in the traditional arts and crafts and in knowledge about our northern culture and environment, present and past. Starting with a dozen courses at its inception, North House currently offers over 350 classes per year to over 3,000 students. John Green lent his expertise on North Shore geology to North House by offering a weekend field courses between 2003 and 2010? In 2013, Jim Miller revived the course and has offered 2-3 courses per year that explore the Midcontinent Rift geology of the North Shore (What’s This Rock series) and the diverse geology at the end of the Gunflint Trail (Geology up the Trail series). Starting in 2020, three different North Shore class will be offered (2 per year rotating in May and August) that explore different segments of the shore – Grand Portage – Grand Marais, Grand Marais to Tettegouche State Park, and Tettegouche to Two Harbors. The Gunflint Trail trip is routinely run in mid-October.

As currently taught, the weekend courses start with an introductory meeting on Friday evening to discuss trip logistics and provide a geologic overview. Saturday is devoted entirely to a field trip that visits various classic geological exposures. In the evening, participants have the option to gather for informal discussions, especially at wood fired pizza party held every Saturday at the North House campus. Short field trips visits are held on Sunday morning, after which the group gathers either on a cobbled beach on Lake Superior or in a gravel pit on the Gunflint Trail to practice their newfound rock identification skills.

Each course is limited to about 15 registrants. Over the past seven years, over 250 students have participated in the courses. Participants have ranged in age from 10 to 80 and come from all over the US and Canada, though most are from Minnesota, especially the Twin Cities.