Minneapolis Minnesota Lake Home and Cabin Living

Minneapolis Lakes

There is an area in Minnesota where you can go to access an abundance of quality lakes for swimming, fishing, and boating. Biking and walking trails abound in the area. Lodging is readily available there, along with all the modern conveniences desired by even the least outdoorsy person. Things to do, both outdoors and in, are plentiful.

The place of which we speak, is of course, the Twin Cities Metropolitan area. If you live within the limits of either Minneapolis or St. Paul, there are easily one hundred lakes within an hour’s drive; most of them are within twenty minutes. The same is generally true for the surrounding suburbs. While the classic lakeshore dream is of the cabin on the lake in the woods up north, it is worth spending a few moments recognizing the incredible value in lakes and shore land that Twin Cities dwellers have right at their doorsteps.

Much of the shoreline of the suburban lakes is taken up by private homeowners who own their own slice of the lakeshore dream. The majority of those same lakes also offer access to everyone else through at least one park containing some public shoreline. In fact, it is a rare body of water in the Twin Cities metro that fails to offer a public swimming beach, a boat ramp and a playground. Completely private and exclusive lakes are out there, but you have to look hard to find them. And in spite of the houses, most of the area lakes also include stretches of protected wetlands and small-forested patches that offer some views that are devoid of civilization.

The big lakes typically get the most attention: Minnetonka, White Bear and to a lesser extent, Forest Lake and Prior Lake. The fishing is good, the boat ramps and beaches are plentiful, and these larger lakes also offer commercial enterprises on the water: boat rental shops, restaurants and so on. Even so, there is a veritable plethora of lesser known waters in the Metro, lakes in the sixty to one hundred and fifty acre range where the water is just as clear, the beaches exactly as sandy and, if possible, the fishing is slightly better. Snail Lake in Shoreview, Long Lake in New Brighton, Bush Lake in Bloomington and Fish Lake in Maple Grove are just four out of dozens of possibilities.

Within the city limits of both Minneapolis and St. Paul, the situation is slightly different. There are of course, no wild stretches along the perimeters of the city lakes. However, the entire shoreline of many key lakes in both cities is owned by the public, and has, in several notable cases, been developed into one of the most remarkable urban park networks in the country.

St. Paul has Como Lake, which is, of course, the crowning glory of Como Park. In addition, Phalen is completely surrounded by public land, and is graced with walking trails, a boat ramp, a beach and a golf course. Not only that, but it is possible in normal summertime conditions to navigate by canoe from Phalen up to Kelller and from there through little Spoon Lake into Gervais and then Kohlman. It makes a pleasant half-day paddle, particularly the stretch between Phalen and Keller, in which a tree-shadowed creek winds it way alongside a paved walking/bike path.

The jewels of the urban lakes, however, are in Minneapolis. More than one hundred years ago, the city leaders of Minneapolis heeded some good advice from Fredrick Olmstead (the planner behind Central Park in New York), and bought up the land surrounding several key bodies of water within the city limits. These included Cedar Lake, Lake of the Isles, Calhoun, Harriet and Nokomis. Over the next several decades, the Minneapolis park system was developed with attention to the lakes and green spaces around them. In 1996, one writer called the system  “the best-located, best-financed, best-designed, best maintained public open space in America.” There is certainly some evidence to support such claims. Within the system are 53 miles of interconnected parkways, bike trails, walking trails, green spaces and lakes.

It is possible to take a canoe from lake Calhoun, through Lake of the Isles, on into Cedar Lake and finally finish up at Brownie Lake. The skyline view accompanying the quiet paddle is something unique in the state. Skyscrapers or not, fish thrive in these lakes, as the many shoreline fishermen know. Those fishing from boats may be under-represented in these waters, particularly in Lake of the Isles and Cedar Lake, which have canoe put-ins, but no boat ramps. Both Calhoun and Harriet boast beaches, and offer plenty of room for boats to roam. All of the lakes mentioned here offer walking paths and bike paths that encircle the entire lake.

Each lake in the Minneapolis chain has its own unique character. Harriet is a family and group sort of place, with its band shell, summer concerts and playground. Calhoun is also fast paced, with an almost festival-like atmosphere on warm summer days. Lake of the Isles and Cedar Lake offer quieter, more tranquil experiences.

Maybe now is a time when you are thinking more about staying at home than you are about taking an up-north vacation. If so, maybe you might enjoy a taste of the city life, on the lake.