travel beyond the obvious
Travel guides, information, photographs, and stories about the American state of Minnesota, with ideas for an urban vacation in Minneapolis, a wilderness escape in one of many state parks https://explorationvacation.net/exploring-usa/minnesota/exploring-minnesota-state-parks/ a jaunt along the North Shore https://explorationvacation.net/exploring-usa/minnesota/exploring-minnesota-lake-superiors-north-shore/ and more throughout the state.
A hike along the Laurentian Divide in northern Minnesota offers beautiful forest scenery and uncrowded trails. It’s lovely in any season, but fall brings a burst of brilliant color before winter arrives.
True to its name, Linnaeus Arboretum at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, features a large collection of trees and shrubs. But there are also flower gardens, pools and ponds, wetlands, and a restored Read More …
A fun day trip for all ages, Minneopa State Park near Mankato, Minnesota, features its namesake double waterfall, a herd of buffalo (American bison), camping, and more.
The Saint John’s Bible brings the ancient art of handwritten and illuminated manuscripts into the 21st century, as both a religious text and work of art. See it at Saint John’s University in Minnesota, at Read More …
Minnesota’s Rice Lake State Park is small in size, but during spring and fall it offers great bird watching and plenty of colorful spring flowers or fall leaves.
Every February, the Hudson Hot Air Affair brings a variety of balloons and hardy ballooning enthusiasts to Hudson, Wisconsin, for a weekend hot air balloon festival. While the weather isn’t always suitable for actually taking Read More …
Lovely Green Heron Bed and Breakfast on Lake Pokegama offers all the advantages of having your own place on a northern lake, but without the work. And both breakfast and happy hour are included! In Read More …
Probably the largest locomotive ever built, a Union Pacific Big Boy steam engine is a sight to behold. And this year, for the first time in almost six decades, you can see one in action Read More …
At the edge of the prairie where Minnesota and North Dakota meet, Moorhead’s Hopperstad stave church (a replica of the medieval Hopperstad stavkirke in Vik, Norway,) transports visitors to era of the Vikings when Christianity Read More …
Buffalo River State Park offers hiking trails through native prairie and a hardwood forest along the Buffalo River, camping, and a man-made swimming hole. The park is located just east of Moorhead at the western Read More …