Epic Travel → North America → The Midwest → Minnesota → Minnehaha Park

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Time Required: 1 hour to all day

Red Tape/Notes: Entry is free (although if you’re driving, you’ll likely have to pay to park) and the park is open daily from 6am – midnight. For more information on the park, including park maps, visit the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board website.

What’s Nearby?: Mill Ruins Park, St. Anthony Falls, Sculpture Garden

Founded in 1889, this is one of the oldest state parks in the US, and has interestingly never been managed by the state, but rather by Minneapolis itself. There’s a tendency to associate Minnehaha Park only with the waterfall – which is kind of understandable, since it’s highly photographed and is pretty impressive, particularly given its proximity to a sprawling metropolis. But what many people don’t realize is that the park is huge – over 165 acres – and features over 12 miles of biking trails, numerous sculptures, paved walkways that are maintained year round, a play area and wading pool that are great for kids, and the historic Minnehaha depot (known as the “Princess Depot”), which was built in 1875 as a stop on the railway line connecting Minneapolis to Chicago. You can also canoe or kayak down Minnehaha Creek, and play disc golf and volleyball. Basically you could spend an entire day here and wouldn’t run out of things to do.

Epic Travel → North America → The Midwest → Minnesota → Minnehaha Park