Minneapolis and St. Paul

The decisive guide to day hikes in the Twin Cities’ area just got better. Updated maps, new hikes, new photos, and brand-new trailhead coordinates--provided as UTM and latitude/longitude formats--make Tom Watson’s authoritative guide to Minneapolis and St. Paul’s best hiking even more useful than before. For readers who asked for actual driving mileage and wheelchair accessibility, each hike now contains that information in the Key At-a-Glance information box. Twin Cities’ hiking is huge; get the guide that gets you there and back.

Within the seven county "metro" area that encompasses the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul lies a network of literally hundreds of miles of trails. In the state of 10,000 lakes, nearly 1,000 of them lie within these urban borders. Consequently, Minneapolis was dubbed the "City of Lakes". Once you discover all the trails throughout this same area, you may be inclined to call the Twin Cities "The Cities of Trails."

Some of these trails are broad, paved corridors through multi-use parks generously developed to provide myriad recreational opportunities for the young and old, the robust trekker and the casual stroller. Other trails are country lanes, walkways of grass winding through majestic stands of Minnesota hardwoods. Still others are a spider-web networks that remind one of well-used deer trails.

Some are isolated within a pocket of greenery surrounded by vast ribbons of freeway concrete and broad subdivisions. Others are woven within the fabric of parklands so expansive that you could literally spend weeks hiking all the networks lying within their folds.

The Trails Included

Wherever there was a network of trails, we tried to pick a trail that was representative of the area--those that showcased the park or region’s main attractions or personality. As you find certain areas more appealing, you will also find other trails that you feel are more exciting or more challenging. That’s the beauty of exploration and discovery. The trails cited in this guidebook are offered to introduce you to a particular hike and let your own wanderlust take it from there.

We deliberately chose not to include the regional corridors that are part of this vast system of trails. These are wonderful pathways--the Luce Line Trail that bisects the entire western region of the Twin Cities, the Hennepin Regional Trails, and the Scott County Regional Trail--many sections of which were reclaimed from discarded railroad right-of-ways. They are primarily bike corridors upon which you can also hike. They are great for connecting one park to another via greenbelts or low-traffic routes. We consider these the interstates and freeways of the hiking world. The trails covered in this book are more the back roads and neighborhood routes that really showcase the areas through which they pass.