Posts Tagged ‘best bike trails in Minneapolis’

My Top 7 Twin Cities Trails to See the Fall Colors

Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

The following is a guest post from Maren Misner, a Midtown-based wanderer who divides her time between community development, photography, and getting beautifully lost, on foot and on bike, on the Twin Cities’ endless trails.

I love this time of year. I dream of this season when the extreme heat breaks my air conditioner and when the extreme cold kills my heat. This small window where nature calms herself and wraps you in colorful happiness is more than enough to stir belief that heaven is on earth, and it’s right here in Minnesota.

More specifically, it’s on the trails.

My favorite trails to observe the leaves flaunting themselves with rightful authority:

Cedar Lake Parkway: This trail seems to be designed for sensory overload; the colors are at peak, but they also retain the perfect autumn scent and the exact texture required for maximum leaf crunching/stomping/jumping joy.

Theodore Wirth Parkway: an extension of Cedar Lake Parkway’s sensory overload. With a mandatory detour to Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden – bring your lock, no bikes allowed. At some point on this detour you will forget where you are, how you got there, and how you get back to the city; then you’ll realize you haven’t left the city, the city is just that great.

Cedar Lake Trail into Downtown: the minimalist colors here are striking against the rolling fields leading up to the brick walls of the warehouse district.

West River Parkway: Beautiful, especially just west of Mill Ruins Park. The colors double their effect with the reflection from the river. An added bonus is getting to see tour groups on Segways; always a smile.

Midtown Greenway: Go in the early morning if possible. Morning on the Greenway can be one of the friendliest places in the city. And the most beautiful.

Summit Avenue: Amazing. Bring a picnic, wear flip flops and traipse carefree through the leaves, then collapse into a pile of happiness lined with a hallway of trees raining yellow and red.

Gateway Trail: Share the fall colors with a community of bikers, runners, and horseback riders. The Gateway Trail appears to house every species of tree in Minnesota, and therefore every color, creating the perfect escape right here at home.

Whether on a bike, training for your next marathon, strolling hand in hand in bliss, or making angels in the leaves, the Twin Cities trails have partnered with Mother Nature to offer the perfect backdrop of dripping color for a few heavenly weeks this fall. You don’t want to miss this show.

What about you? What are your favorite on-street and off-street trails around the city to see the fall colors?

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