Minneapolis Ranked #1 Parks and Staycation City - 30 ways to enjoy it

The Minneapolis Park System was again ranked #1 in America in 2017… Minneapolis was also ranked the fittest city in the USA and the most bike friendly city… and Minnesota was ranked the least stressful state in the country. These all help explain why Minneapolis was also ranked the best city in the US for a 2017 Staycation.

Minneapolis offers a wide range of activities… from parks, gardens and museums to sporting, recreational and cultural events. Here are just a few suggestions to take advantage of your ‘Summer in the City’… both in Minneapolis and nearby.

1. Check out the renewed Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
2. Take in a free River Rats water ski show
3. Try some rounds of disc golf at Theodore Wirth Park and other area disc golf courses
4. Go mini golfing at Big Stone Mini Golf and Sculpture Garden   or at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Richfield
5. Take kids or grandkids or nieces/nephews to a new park such as Quaking Bog, Tamarack Nature Center, Caponi Art Park
6. Come 30 minutes early to a weekend movie at The Heights theater and be entertained by a live concert on their Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ
7. Take a hike on a walkers-only trail like Winchell Trail, Pike Island, 9-mile Creek…
8. Ride one or more of the many local and regional bike trails, check out Midtown Greenway, Grand Rounds to name a couple
9. Try a ‘Nice Ride’ bike if you haven’t already
10. Make it an adventure to ride the LRT if it’s something you don’t normally do
11. Visit at least one new museum… how about Mill City Museum, Museum of Russian Art, The Bakken, and many, many more!
12. Go to the top of the Foshay Tower
13. Visit the exquisite Lakewood Chapel, the most perfect example of Byzantine mosaic art in the US (in Europe tourists would be lining up to see this!)
14. Lick some homemade ice cream at one of our many fabulous local shops… Pumphouse, Izzy’s, Sebastian Joe’s, La Crema, Milkjam, Grand Ole Creamery
15. Go to an outdoor concert or movie night at one of the many city parks throughout the metro
16. Go to an outdoor music festival
17. Go to one or more of the many ballgames in town
18. Participate in  Aquatennial events
19. Tour the new US Bank Stadium, Target Field, Guthrie Theater…
20. Discover a new restaurant, new cuisine or brewery
21. Go on a quest to snap photos of as many pieces of public art as you can (they are everywhere, if you just look!)
22. Walk the zigzag Peace Garden Bridge in Lyndale Park
23. Spin while you eat on the ferris wheel and play some mini golf at Betty Danger’s
24. Visit at least one Three Rivers Park
25. Take in an art fair
26. Explore a new neighborhood on foot
27. Visit the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
28. Take a paddlewheel riverboat ride… Jonathan Padelford or St. Croix Boat & Packet Co
29. Visit Historic Fort Snelling
30. Visit the Wabasha Street Caves