Some new names – or at least names that haven’t made the list for awhile – made it this year to our Top 10 Lake Superior Destinations.

Each year, we do an unscientific tallying of Lake Superior Travel Guide Field Reports and of our new members to the Lake Superior Circle Tour Club to see what these readers are naming as their favorite places on the Lake Superior Circle Tour or of their most recent trip to the Big Lake.

The tally from this past year again puts Minnesota’s Lake  Superior North Shore in the No.1 spot. A surprise this year was a strong showing by Grand Marais, Minnesota, standing out from the general picks of Minnesota’s North Shore (a perennial winner of the top spot in the rankings).

The choices are made by people traveling around the lake in a variety of ways, sometimes by car or by motorcycle or recreational vehicle. All travelers bring unique perspectives to their trips.

“The most beautiful falls I’ve ever seen,” one reader said about Pigeon Falls in Grand Portage State Park, Minnesota. “The best thing about North Shore parks are they are handicapped accessible. My niece, who has cerebral palsy and is wheelchair bound had the time of her life.”

Travel Guide readers also contribute by adding Reader Field Reports, which are sprinkled through each section of the Guide. Please help choose the top 10 favorite places for next year - as well as earn yourself a chance at winning a $500 getaway package for our next trip on the best of the Great Lakes. Click to go to voting page.

The new Lake Superior’s Best has been published in the 2008 Lake Superior Travel Guide.  The Best are the top 10 locations in Lake Superior, as determined by the readers of the Travel Guide and Lake Superior Magazine. This nationally recognized list is gleaned from the ballots to the guide’s annual Reader Field Report program.

The 2008 lists are revealed in a 148-page sourcebook for travel around Lake Superior. Lake Superior Travel Guide is published annually and is the most complete guide to the Lake Superior Circle Tour, including all of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The guide includes a free, pull-out map of the tour and provides listings of services, travel hints and historical tidbits. It is available on newsstands throughout the Midwest or from the publisher by calling toll-free 888-BIG LAKE (888-244-5253) or Online at www.lakesuperior.com. The cost is $8.95 plus shipping and taxes where applicable. The publisher’s office is 310 East Superior Street, Duluth, Minnesota 55802.

Lake Superior Travel Guide is a supplement to Lake Superior Magazine, and given as a bonus with a paid subscription to the full-color consumer publication printed six times a year.

A complete list of the 2008 Top 10 Destinations follows with a comparison to the 2007 list:

  1 Minnesota’s North Shore

  2 Keweenaw Peninsula/Western Upper Peninsula, Michigan

  3 Duluth, Minnesota-Superior, Wisconsin

  4 Grand Marais, Minnesota

  5 Apostle Islands Country/Wisconsin’s Lake Superior shore

  6 Ontario’s North Shore

  7 Thunder Bay/Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Ontario

  8 Marquette/Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan

  9 Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan/Eastern Upper Peninsula, Michigan

10 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/Algoma Country, Ontario

Honorable mention: Isle Royale National Park

  1 Minnesota’s Lake Superior North Shore

  2 Duluth, Minnesta-Superior, Wisconsin

  3 Apostle Islands Country/Bayfield, Ashland & Washburn, Wisconsin

  4 Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan

  5 Ontario Provincial Parks

  6 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore/Munising, Michigan

  7 Whitefish Point, Michigan

  8 Thunder Bay, Ontario

  9 Split Rock Lighthouse, Minnesota, tied with
     Marquette Country, Michigan, tied with
     Nipigon-Marathon, Ontario, tied with
     Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan & Ontario

10 Two Harbors, Minnesota, tied with
     Grand Portage National Monument, Minnesota, tied with
     Isle Royale National Park, Michigan