Minnehaha Park, on the Mississippi near the airport is the site of Minnehaha Falls, which was made famous by Longfellow’s song of Hiawatha. Above the waterfall is a statue of Hiawatha and Minnehaha. Minnehaha Parkway follows Minnehaha Creek, providing miles of jogging, biking and in line skating trails that run west to Lake Harriet, one of many lakes in Minneapolis.
Wirth Park has bicycling and waling paths through wooded areas and the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden – a little Eden of local forest and prairie flora. Wirth also has a moderately challenging 18 hole public golf course, which doubles as a cross country ski area in winter.
In Minneapolis’s Apple Valley suburb, the Minnesota Zoo houses some 2000 animals in natural settings along six year round trials. There is also a monorail, the Zoo lab a seasonal children zoo, bird and animal shows and daily film and slide shows are available.
