Veterans Evergreen Memorial Drive

Veterans Evergreen Memorial Drive is a 50-mile stretch of Highway 23 through Pine, Carlton, and St. Louis counties, long known locally as the scenic route to Duluth. The byway passes Banning State Park near its southern end, where the Kettle River's "Hell's Gate" rapids draw whitewater kayakers, then follows creeks and small rivers, including the Nemadji and South Fork, known for good trout fishing, through forested country toward the St. Louis River valley. The road's name and much of its evergreen canopy trace back to Geoff Steiner, a Vietnam veteran and psychotherapist who planted roughly 40,000 trees along the route as personal therapy for post-traumatic stress, in memory of soldiers who never made it home. Near the drive's end, the Veterans Memorial Overlook offers a sweeping view of the St. Louis River Valley alongside a plaque honoring World War I and World War II veterans from the three counties, first dedicated in 1947. It's as much a memorial landscape as a scenic drive.

• 50 miles on Hwy 23, scenic route to Duluth
• Banning State Park & Kettle River's Hell's Gate
• ~40,000 trees planted as PTSD therapy
• Veterans Memorial Overlook, dedicated 1947
• Nemadji & South Fork trout streams