Trailer ramp · Lake Superior · Minnesota

McQuade Safe Harbor

A public trailer ramp on Lake Superior in St. Louis County, Minnesota, with 4 ramps and 54 trailer spaces. Managed by DNR Division of Parks and Trails.

Directions All Superior launches

The launch

What the agency lists

Launch type: Trailer ramp — trailer launch (concrete slab)
Water: Lake Superior
Ramps: 4
Docks: 2
Trailer parking: 54 spaces
Car-only parking: 23 spaces
Toilets: 2
Fee: Not published in the source — ask the manager
Managed by: DNR Division of Parks and Trails
Location: St. Louis County, Minnesota
Coordinates: 46.8806° N, 91.9213° W

Directions: 8.3 miles South of Knife River on N Shore Dr

Dredging project to begin August 27 through September 30. Boaters will have one boat ramp and dock open during the project. Use caution when traveling in McQuade Safe Harbor, the parking lot, and in the channel during this project.

Before you launch

Lake Superior is big water

Pick the launch for the harbor you can get back into, not for the fish. Long stretches of Superior shore have no shelter, the water stays cold enough all season to make a capsize a survival problem, and fog and wind come up fast. File a float plan and watch the nearshore forecast for the whole day, not the morning.

Water temperature. The open lake sits in the high 30s to mid 40s most of the year. Cold-water immersion takes usable strength from your hands and arms in minutes — long before hypothermia is the issue.
Distance from help. On the north shore of the Keweenaw or east of Grand Marais you can be 30-plus miles from a Coast Guard station and out of cell coverage. A handheld VHF is not optional gear on this lake.
Sea state that builds faster than the forecast. A northeast blow across 200 miles of open water stacks steep, short-period waves in under two hours. The run home is always into it.

Read how to read a Great Lakes marine forecast and trailering and launching on big water. Pack the big-water safety kit.

From this launch

What to fish on Lake Superior

Brown Trout · April through early June, with a fall window in October and November near river mouths

Brown Trout Fishing on Lake Superior

Brown trout are a niche fish on Lake Superior, concentrated in the few places warm enough to suit them: Chequamegon Bay, the Duluth and Superior harbor entries, and the water off a handful of tributaries. Where they do exist they are catchable from shore and from a small boat in shallow water.

Chinook Salmon · Late June through August, with the best shot in July off the Minnesota North Shore

Chinook Salmon Fishing on Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the least productive chinook water on the chain and a king here is a bonus fish, not a plan. The Minnesota North Shore and the Apostle Islands produce them most reliably, usually as a by-catch of a coho and lake trout program run in the top 60 feet.

Coho Salmon · May through July, with a second shot at maturing fish near the river mouths in September

Lake Superior Coho Salmon Fishing: North Shore & Spring Trolling

Lake Superior grows fewer and smaller coho than Lake Michigan, but almost all of them are wild fish and they are catchable in the top 20 feet of water within sight of the North Shore highway. Spring and early summer off Duluth, Knife River and the Apostles is the most consistent coho water on the lake.

Lake Trout · May and June shallow, July through September deep, plus a strong fall shoal bite in October

Lake Trout Fishing on Lake Superior

Lake Superior holds the last great wild lake trout population in the world and you can catch them here without a hatchery truck in the story anywhere. Fish the reefs and shoals — Stannard Rock, the Apostles, the Keweenaw — and you can take fish shallow in spring and 100 to 200 feet down in August.

Lake Whitefish · January through March on the ice; late October and November on the shallow spawning reefs

Lake Whitefish Fishing on Lake Superior

Lake whitefish are the best winter fish on Lake Superior and the reason Keweenaw Bay fills with shanties in February. They school over deep flats in 40 to 90 feet, they will chase a jigging spoon, and they are the finest eating fish in fresh water.

Muskellunge · September and October, with October the peak; an early-season window in late spring

Lake Superior Muskie: The St. Louis River Estuary at Duluth-Superior

Lake Superior has one muskie fishery, the St. Louis River estuary between Duluth and Superior, and it's a good one. Anglers who target muskie there catch them at better rates than recent creel surveys found on Leech Lake or Mille Lacs. Away from the estuary, plan nothing.

Northern Pike Smallmouth Bass Steelhead Walleye Yellow Perch

Superior by season

SpringShallow water is the only warm water there is SummerThe thermocline sets up and the lake gets vertical FallLake trout come up on the reefs to spawn WinterIce where the bays let it form, and nowhere else

Next ramp over

Nearest Superior launches

French River1.9 mi · hand / carry-in launch · MN
Brighton Beach4.7 mi · hand / carry-in launch · MN
Knife River Marina and Harbor7.9 mi · trailer ramp · 2 ramps · MN
Knife River Beach8.0 mi · hand / carry-in launch · 1 ramp · MN
Barkers Island Marina13 mi · trailer ramp · WI
Loons Foot Landing14 mi · trailer ramp · WI

Straight-line distance, not a boating route.

For the crew ashore

Beaches nearby

McQuade Road Safe Harbor Beach0.0 mi
North Shore Drive Wayside Rest / Cant Road Beach1.7 mi
French River Beach1.9 mi

On shore nearby

Worth the stop

North Shore Scenic Drive — Highway 6115 mi · drive
Gooseberry Falls State Park28 mi · park

Source

Launch facts are from the Minnesota DNR, Public Water Access Sites, retrieved 2026-10-05. Ramps close for repairs, fees change and water levels move; confirm with DNR Division of Parks and Trails before you tow. Fishing rules are set by theMinnesota DNR.

Chart shoreline generalized from Natural Earth (public domain). Not for navigation. Something wrong or missing? Write to contact@greatamericanlakes.com.

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