Finally, we reached the top of the hill, sweaty and panting.
The sun had broken through the haze and the city below sloped lazily toward the blue mass of Lake Superior. From our viewpoint at Hawk Ridge, hanging above downtown Duluth, Minn., wildflowers bloomed and the image they framed seemed almost orchestrated.
"Pretty great, right?" said Jake Boyce, my guide, as he climbed off his mountain bike. "It never gets old."
In the past few years, Duluth has exploded in popularity as an outdoor destination. But the picturesque panoramas are only part of the story. It's the journeys to those spectacular views, as much as the views themselves, that are bringing record numbers of visitors to town.
With steep hillsides like the one I biked up with Boyce and sprawling Lake Superior, the port city is gaining new attention _ both locally and nationally _ as a place to hike, paddle and bike while remaining within the amenity-filled confines of a city. Awards have followed; most notably Outside magazine naming it "Best Town Ever" in 2014.
In between my entrance to Duluth and that show-stopping vista was a grueling hour-and-a-half mountain bike expedition: a will-testing climb that left me coated in dust. But after the ride, I would retreat to a plush new resort on the water's edge and sip on a cold glass of French white wine. It was a pattern I repeated all weekend _ and one that Duluth made it easy to accomplish: mountain biking, kayaking on the big lake or hiking in the woods, followed by civilized pampering.
"Duluth, forever, has been recognized for its natural beauty," said Anna Tanski, Visit Duluth's president and CEO. "It used to be a hidden gem, but like anything, once it started to catch on, it really caught on fire."
