Minnesota vacation ???
 

My family is trying to think of a nice cool weather place to vacation this summer (we live in the South) and we thought Minnesota might be a nice place with their lakes and all. We thought maybe a couple days in or near the Twin Cities and a few days out of town (canoeing, short hiking, ???). What could we do there with kids (girls 10 and 6)? We went to San Francisco and Yosemite 2 years ago and it was great. Looking for something comparible.

kduncan65-A vacation to Minnesota during the summer is a great idea! We lived in St Paul for 2 years and really spent a lot of time enjoying the state! I would fly into Minneapolis and spend maybe one day in the cities and drive up to Duluth and all the way up the coast of Lake Superior into Canada(just to say you were there)! There are so many quaint little towns and state parks with incredible waterfalls on the way! That has always been one of our favorite trips!

What are summer temps/humidity like where you're from? Minneapolis has an average high of ~80 in summer but can get much hotter than that, and humidity can be pretty nasty at times. If you're coming from somewhere that is consistently hotter and humid, it would probably seem OK.

There are tons of things to do with kids in the Cities and outside. I would suggest coming 2 weeks before Labor Day and spending the first half of the week on the North Shore of Lake Superior (Duluth to Grand Portage), then coming back to the Cities for the 2nd half of the week. That time of year would give you the best combination of fewer bugs up north and slightly cooler temps and humidity. That particular week is also good because you could catch the beginning of the State Fair in St. Paul - runs for about 10 days and ends on Labor Day.

Duluth is about 2.5 hours north of Minneapolis, then you can plan on anywhere from another 1 to 2.5 hours of driving along the North Shore, depending on far you want to go. There are 8 state parks between Duluth and Grand Portage with a lot of hiking available. None have canoeing as far as I know. You could make a side trip over to Ely and visit the International Wolf Center and the North American Bear Center. There's lots of canoeing around Ely, probably the easiest way to do it is to go to Bear Head Lake State Park and rent a canoe for the day.

If you're not interested in the State Fair, then maybe come earlier in August. There is a large Rendezvous/PowWow at Grand Portage National Monument - I believe the 2nd weekend of August.

An alternate to the North Shore idea is to go to Itasca State Park. There are some relatively modern lodging options in and around the park. They also have plenty of hiking trails and offer bike and canoe rentals.

Parks that are closer to the Cities with canoeing are Wild River and St. Croix. Both of them offer the chance to paddle downriver so it would be relatively easy going.

The link below is to a map with links to all the state parks - you can get a sense of where they are in relation to Minneapolis. For reference, Fort Snelling is in the metro area just a few miles south of Minneapolis. The North Shore parks begin with Gooseberry Falls and continue up to Grand Portage.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/map.html

None of these parks are on a par with Yosemite of course, so you'll have to manage your expectations a bit.

Not sure what you enjoy as far as things to do in the city. There are a couple of zoos, a really good science museum, Valleyfair (amusement park), a few water parks in the metro, etc.

WhereAreWe-You just reminded me of wonderful memories of the State Fair!! I miss fried cheese curds!!!!

We spent a very enjoyable three nights in Grand Marais (the North Shore) in July of '07. It's a great place for a family vacation. Wonderful state parks for outdoor activities, great restaurants and nice shops in town.

We also enjoyed a night in Red Wing (along the Mississippi) on our way home.

I did a very long trip report that you can skim through if you're interested. I'll find it and post the link.

Here it is:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35043589

I also would recommend time in Mpls. and then head up to Duluth and tour Duluth and then on up the North Shore to Grand Marais. It is a very nice little town and you can stay there (many motels and some condos to rent) and then do day trips to Canada and up the Gunflint Trail from there. There are tons of places to to hike. Temperatures on the North Shore tend to be cooler than Mpls. in the summer. CAPH's recommendations are very good.

Think about using all of your time and renting a houseboat on Rainy Lake (Voyagers(sp) National Park), near International Falls, MN.

It's incredible the luxury of the houseboat with the lake views, swimming for the kids, hot tubs for the adults, Rainy Lake is amazing.

Duluth and Twin Cities are also great.

We spent four days in the Twin Cities in the summer of '07 and had a great time. We had boys 10 and 11. If you are interested in our activities we're the first item if you google 4 days in Minneapolis. P.S. The weather was a little cooler the days we were there, but normally its not much different and we're 600 miles to the south.

Thanks everyone for all of the great info. This gives me plenty to begin researching. Like I mentioned earlier, we live in the South where July-August temps are constantly in the mid-upper 90's, so a few days in the 80's will be a welcomed relief!

Thanks again.

kduncan65-When we took our camping trip up the coast of Lake Superior around Labor Day, we were in sweatshirts! So you might get cooler temps! The two years we lived in St Paul we never ran our AC! We moved up from Alabama and found the summer temps were perfect!

It sure won't be Africa hot on the North Shore. We went over Labor Day weekend one year and needed winter coats!