Tettegouche State Park Visitor Center

Wilderness Gateway

When Miller Dunwiddie became part of the team for a new Tettegouche State Park Visitor Center, the first thing we understood was that this building belongs to all Minnesotans. For the hundreds of thousands of people who visit this North Shore park every year, the visitor center is a distinctive part of their experiences and memories. We wanted to give the public a beautiful, highly accessible, and responsibly designed building they would be proud to own.

The center is a gateway to wilderness adventures. With Lake Superior and the park’s forested hills as a backdrop, our design team selected materials and geometries that complement the site’s natural assets. A new lakeside patio, and picnic shelter provide outdoors event spaces. An inviting great room with a stone fireplace brings that bracing beauty inside, where visitors can also find interpretive displays and visitor services. Our state agency partners agreed that it was vital to build a durable and sustainable center that would serve the public for generations, so we prioritized energy-efficient features and systems. The new building offers functionality far beyond its predecessor, yet is integrated within the site. The landscape remains the star attraction here.