Andrew Slade and Sally Rauschenfels, partners in publishing and in real life, created There and Back Books in 2007 with the publication of Skiing the North Shore, started writing a modest blog via Blogger the same year, and developed this Best North Shore site in 2014, bringing all of their old content into the new site. One of their first dates, in 1990, was a 10-day canoe trip through the Quetico canoe country, where they livened up long, hot lake crossings by dreaming up books they could write and publish together. It took the next 17 years (and 16 years of marriage) to do so, but they’re still exploring and publishing what they discover together. Though they’ve lived in Montana, Germany and Ely, Minnesota, they keep coming back to the North Shore and haven’t lived anywhere except Duluth, Minnesota for a very long time now.

Best North Shore focuses on providing information about Minnesota’s spectacular north shore region.

You can contact us at 218-727-3383 or via email at sally@thereandbackbooks.com

You can like our Facebook page at facebook.com/bestnorthshore

Buy our guidebooks

Retail Customers. Our books are available for purchase on this site (see Guidebooks links below in the page footer) and from most booksellers and outdoor shops along the North Shore and the Twin Cities, including:

• Midwest Mountaineering in Minneapolis
• Bookstore at Fitger’s, Duluth Pack Store, and Whole Foods Coop in Duluth
• Northwest Outlet in Superior, Wisconsin
• Holiday Stores along the North Shore
• Superior Hiking Trail Association office in Two Harbors
• Lake Superior Trading Post in Grand Marais
• All North Shore Minnesota State Parks including Jay Cooke, Gooseberry Falls, Tettegouche, and Cascade River
• All major booksellers

Wholesale Customers. We’d like to be included in your store! Our books sells well regionally and we’ve reprinted the three titles multiple times in just a few years…and have sold approximately 15,000 copies so far. Please contact the publisher (that’s us) for information on selling our books:

There and Back Books
218-727-3383
sally@thereandbackbooks.com