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Other stories in "Fall"

• This weekend
  See elves, artists and Irish dancers.
• Next weekend
  Elves, artists and Irish dancers are hard at work during holidays.
• Remember the wrecks
  On Lake Superior, gales of November bring haunting memories.
• Welcome, Southwest
  Finally, low-cost air fares to Chicago have returned.
• All quiet up north
  Like the leaves, room rates have dropped.
• Big birds
  Eagles are flocking to a stretch of river best known for tundra swans.
• Join the fun
  With an outdoors club, make friends, see new places and save money.
• Homes for the holidays
  On tours, see where the rich and famous celebrated Christmas.
• Culture in the bluffs
  Follow musicians to four unusual venues near the Mississippi.
• Ghouls ahoy
  On Great Lakes, two haunted ships are spoiling for a fright.
• Bash on a bike trail
  Kick up your wheels at small-town fall festivals.
• Scenery in the studios
  On autumn art tours, treasure hunters strike gold (and orange and red).
• Closing the deal
  Believe it or not, it's time to reserve hot dates for 2009.
• Ely's blue over hues
  Act now to keep town's future bright.
• Eyes on the skies
  On bluffs and ridges, it's time to watch the hawk migration.
• On the ropes in Lanesboro
  Try walking a high wire on Halloween.
• In Iowa, a singular inn reopens
  Through December, snag a $99 room at the Hotel Pattee.
• Hunters on the North Shore
  A special deer season this weekend may put guns close to hikers.
• Geocaching for beginners
  Try a fall treasure hunt.
• Hot tip/A different North Shore
  Didn't reserve for fall-color season? Thunder Bay has rooms.
• On the road/A fall drive along the St. Croix
  A stretch of river valley is packed with attractions.
• 10 great trails to ride in fall
  Here's where to get your fill of flora, fauna and fall colors.
• Go on a trail-clearing trip
  If you enjoy a hike, help make it possible for others.
• In river towns, favorites debut anew
  On the Red Cedar and in Red Wing, three inns and restaurants finally reopen.
• Home of horsepower
  In Wisconsin, see where race cars, snowmobiles, outboards and motorcycles were born.
• Go swan watching
  

Price check/A northwoods weekend

Two Minnesota B&Bs offer a Boundary Waters adventure — is it a deal?

It's a great idea for a fall adventure: Spend two nights at the Blue Heron B&B in Ely, then drive along remote forest roads on the edge of the Boundary Waters to the Gunflint Trail, where you'll spend two nights at the Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B.

I've stayed at both B&Bs and can vouch for them both (see Hosts with the most). The package price of $650 per couple? It's fair, although travelers on a budget can do it for much less.

The package includes the inns' most expensive rooms, a $600 value, plus a picnic lunch, a map and the use of mountain bikes and canoes at Poplar Creek and canoes at Blue Heron (pictured), where their use always is included.

But you could also book the least expensive rooms for $478 ($458 weekdays after Oct. 15), then buy a deli lunch and use a U.S. Forest Service Superior National Forest map to find your way along gravel roads: "You do need that map,'' says Barbara Young of Poplar Creek.

"The maples have started to turn,'' Young says. "You're going through the canopies of maples the whole way, which you don't get driving along the North Shore.''

Last updated on October 16, 2008