The charming old town of Grand Marais, with its many unique Minnesota characteristics, makes a great base for exploring the North Shore of Lake Superior, the Gunflint Trail, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
Saint Paul’s Science Museum of Minnesota is one of the premier attractions for children in Minnesota. So many levers to pull, wheels to turn, and buttons to push.
You can take a two-mile walk from Minnehaha Falls to the Mississippi River and hardly know you’re in a city.
The Carleton College Arboretum provides miles of great hiking, as well as a chance to explore typical Minnesota woods and prairie ecosystems.
A walk around the Oberg Mountain Trail near Tofte will give you great views of the North Shore fall colors below.
The Grand Portage National Monument is an entertaining and informative journey back into the history of the earliest trading economy of Minnesota. Costume clad docents will lead your through the reconstructed trading outpost and enlighten you on the earliest encounters between the Ojibwe, the French Canadian Voyageurs, and the English North West Trading Company.
The oldest, and most iconic, Minnesota State Park is Itasca State Park–the headwaters of the Mississippi River. You can’t say you’ve been there if you haven’t walked across the river.
The Oliver Kelley historical farm makes a great half day outing, especially for small children. You can also take optional hikes along the Mississippi River and into the adjacent prairie.