Minnesota’s Twin Cities is loaded with outdoor recreation options waiting for you to explore and enjoy.

Who is Twin Cities Outdoors for?

TCO is for you if you…

• Know you need to occasionally unplug from the busyness and live a more relaxed, simplified life that includes a lot of healthy outdoor activity.
• Want outdoor activities that keep your family together, that are local and that are easy on the budget.

What is Twin Cities Outdoors about?

If you’re like most of us, you’ve been around your own area. Your neighborhood, your city, a few places in your county. But you know there’s a lot more nature out there to explore.

And there is!

The Twin Cities is chock-full of:

• State, regional, county and city parks
• Nature reserves and natural areas
• Lakes—hundreds of them
• Rivers and creeks—Minnesota’s three biggies plus many tributaries

Almost all of these are open to some kind of human-powered, nature-based outdoor recreation. There’s hiking, running, biking, in-line skating, paddling, camping, cross country skiing, snowshoeing.

We’re here to direct you to a park or trail, a river or lake near you. Whether it’s after school or work, or for a few hours on the weekend—you can get out and get moving!

Maybe you’ve hit all the spots on your side of town and want to know where to go across the city, or to a neighboring county. Here are some ideas for you as you branch out to other parts of the Cities.

How to use Twin Cities Outdoors

Start here for an overview of how Twin Cities Outdoors content is organized.

You’ll be able to find what you’re looking for quickly and easily.

Are you an outdoor lover visiting the Twin Cities?

You’re in for a treat! No matter what season you come, you’ll find a trail, or park, or body of water—even if you never leave the Minneapolis/St. Paul city limits.

Click here to read the Blog.

We talk about specific parks, trails, paddling spots and more.

To stay informed about your favorite spots—and especially to discover new ones…

Sign up for our twice-monthly newsletter

We’re checking out trails, parks, campgrounds, lakes and rivers in all seven Twin Cities metro counties. We’ll send you our latest blog posts, plus let you know about upcoming outdoor recreation events in the area, review some great gear, maybe even include a recipe or two.

We want to hear from you!

As we build this Resource Center, we want to hear about your favorite outdoor recreation spot in the Twin Cities. Tell us where it is and why you love it. If you have a few nice photos, that’s even better.

Send an email: sharon@twincitiesoutdoors.com.