End of June Minnesota trip

[switchback7]

This is pretty legitimate concern. It's gonna be like last summer all over again.
I know they are doing jury selection now, any idea when the trial is supposed to actually get started?

I agree that what most people envision thinking of MN is north of Duluth. Tettegouche and Split Rock lighthouse are pretty cool if you have an entire day or two to burn and the 2 year old could handle the driving.

Red Wing is small historic river town that may interest you. I'm sure you could find a guide to fish the river out of there.

The zoos and the MOA aquarium or Seaquest are good and would be fun for the kids.

.....MN is also a mask stronghold so if you're not used to that - be prepared.

I believe the jury selection is to continue today and i read it could take up to 3 weeks? but this will be a whole summer ordeal, just like the last. I would stay out of the twin cities and make the drive north. But south east mn is also nice.

 

[Scoot]

Avoid the cities like the plague or because of it.....

Pretty much sums it up. I'll echo what the previous poster said about the state being a mess. The metro area is... a metro area. Seen one, seen pretty much them all. If you like asphalt and buildings, it's fine. SE part of the state is nice. NE is great (North Shore Drive is nice). Lots of fun things in the state, but the state is a mess politically. The aforementioned trial is going to cause some uproar this year too.

 

[RSather528]

Minnesota native for all my 30 years and currently just south of Burnsville. Went to college in Duluth but still love seeing the north shore and Lake Superior. The bluffs in SE MN are a close second but two totally different areas. Predicting the weather in June for MN is pretty tough. It’s nice and cool one year then the next deathly hot and humid.

 

[Rieckman]

I've never used a guide, but if you can find one on the Mississippi from like Pool 4 south, Lake Pepin or whereever the walleye/crappie fishing can be really good. If you're into river fishing with 3 ways or popping jigs. That's usually the direction I headed when I lived in the cities for walleyes. If I was to go elsewhere I would probably head to Bemidji area for fishing, Walleyes/Muskies, the Rainy River all the way north, or Superior for Trout/Salmon.

Not sure on your timeline of how long you'll be in the state or far you want to travel for activities. The north shore is great, but it's not 20 minutes from Burnsville either. The train museum in Duluth is neat for kids if they are into that, they have a tiny aquarium down by the lake that's aright too. Enger Tower is cheap and active. and any of the falls, on the northshore. Gooseberry I guess is the most notable, but there's plenty.

 

[BigMcLovin]

The lakes around the metro area the end of June will be crazy with recreational boaters. If you want to take a walleye fishing trip, you'll want to head north to northern MN or NW Wisconsin. I'd recommend using a guide.
I'd also recommend smallie fishing on the St Croix river. Beautiful scenery and way more fun to catch than walleye.

 

[NoWiser]

I live 10 minutes from Burnsville and have a buddy that does guiding in the south metro. He does pretty well for walleyes on Minnetonka and has a knack for finding big panfish on other lakes, which is what I’d recommend for the kiddos. PM me if you want his contact info. He’s a great guy, has a good MN accent, and you’d have fun with him.

Avoid downtown Minneapolis.

Head down to Whitewater State Park for a day of trout fishing without mosquitoes. Or, head up to the north shore.

For something a little different, the MN River near here is full of big flathead catfish and it’s not hard to find a sandbar to fish from.

No doubt you can find fun things to do for your stay. PM me if you need anything at all. Been here 37 years.

 

[Scottyboy]

(A) if your landing spot is Burnsville, get the hell out of Burnsville (used to live there, PM and we can talk)

(B) south of Burnsville will be hard pressed for walleyes, good fishing can be had.

(C) get away from Burnsville.

(D). West of the cities is generally good fishing not very “touristy” if that bothers you

(E). Once the ice melts all the city folk flock to the north, (which I’m holding my tongue on) but good fishing. Great musky, walleye, northern pike opportunity.

in all reality I would pick which species of fish you want to target, time of year and how much time you have will sway recommendations one way or the other. Meaning if you want catfish you are heading south to lake pepin, you want walleyes you are heading north..

 

[Scottyboy]

And I would recommend contacting Matt for a guide in the metro..

fishwithmatt.com | Professional Angler Matt Peters - Lake Report

Matt Peters is a world-class professional angler based out of Waconia, Minnesota. He has over 10 years of experience guiding, and 8 years experience competing on the Minnesota professional circuit.

www.fishwithmatt.com

 

[Scoot]

I would take NoWiser up on his contact offer. Perfect for young kids and he's solid in terms of a quality referral (and for the record that's pretty unbiased because I don't even know who he's referring to- but he's full of good info).

 

[drmatara]

Mississippi River boat tour will be a good start, and i would also suggest renting canoes and paddling the St. Croix River, your kids will love it. And Mall of America is a great place too if you don't have anything against crowded places.

 

[lab-roamer]

As others have stated, keep a sharp eye on the trial. Don't be surprised if the "Peaceful Protests" flow into the "White Privileged Suburbs" this time(which is were you'll be). Also, the Liberals like to build bike paths instead of roads with our tax dollars so the roads can get grid locked quick like. The North Shore has become the Covid 19 vacation spot so expect long lines, lots of people, grid locked traffic, lots of idiots, and a pissed off family if you try to day trip from the Metro. There is also a major road construction project in Duluth this year that should have traffic backed up to Hinkley. Personally I wouldn't come any further East than the Black Hills in SD.

 

[1arrowshort]

Another option would be a paddle boat tour/ride out of stillwater. Go to the st.croix boat and packet website and take a look. depending on the time of day, you can get dinner, have few drinks, sometimes there's bands playing on them too. we've done it a few times and always enjoyed it.

 

[brerud2]

It's interesting seeing everyone's comments here. I live up North so my perspective is from 4+ hours north of Burnsville.
Minnetonka is a good fishing lake and it is really busy with pleasure boats too. If you are looking for a day of fishing in a setting that doesn't include wake boats, pontoons, and cigar boats everywhere - go somewhere else. If you don't care and just want to catch fish - you don't need to go anywhere further. Mille Lacs is a historic walleye factory and seeing the launch boats is something pretty unique to that area but it isn't the typical Northwoods experience either.
I would highly recomend making the 2.5 easy drive north to Duluth for at least a day. The big ships, the train museum, Thomas the Train rides, Lake Superior, etc.... are all fun and easy things to do with the kids.
Have a great trip and stay safe!

 

[tbro16]

I live in the metro, a few miles away from the site of where Floyd was killed last summer. If I didnt watch the news I never would have known a difference. People saying avoid the area like the plague clearly dont live here themselves, you'll be more than fine in Burnsville.

My profile pic came on Mille Lacs, so I may be a bit biased, but that lake is absolutely plum full of awesome walleye + smallie fishing right now. Muskies could be a thrill there too if you found a good guide. Id much, much prefer that over any lake near the metro. If you want the true northwoods experience I'd fish on Leech but thats about twice the distance. If you want to be disappointed go ahead and stay local and fish a place like Minnetonka. Pool 4 fishing in Lake city would be neat, get to see the bluffs then, which are about as close to mountains as MN will get. Good fishing too. Charter on Superior might be cool for an out-of-towner but I've never done it myself. Duluth is a great way to spend a day with the family.

Other than that, MOA, Taylors Falls/Barn Bluff hikes, or a Twins game. Real, real tough to beat Target field on a nice summer evening. Finding a place to rent side by sides would be a great way to spend a summer day. My favorite is a little north of Hayward, Wi but that might be a bit of a hike for you guys, within about an hour or so of Duluth if you decided to make it a multiple day trip from Burnsville.

 

[mmcdonough]

Another resident in the northern third of the state here. I would recommend just taking the 3-4 hour drive up north. Plenty of big water that's not crowded. I live right off of Leech Lake so I'm admittedly biased but it's a great Walleye fishery with plenty of guides available. Mille Lacs is good too, but the restrictions are so tight on Walleye now that's it's just more fun to go further north and actually keep what you catch. They opened it up a bit during the winter but I don't expect it to much better this summer.

Some on here don't recommend the MOA but there's a really cool aquarium underneath that your kids would probably love and it's pretty much separate from the actual mall itself. I honestly don't mind the mall. It gets a bad rap but there's a lot to see, especially for kids that age. I've never had a bad time going there with my family (pre-covid of course).

Saw some other posts about Duluth. That's probably my favorite town in the state since I moved here. Beautiful area, especially on the North Shore. Within a day's drive of the metro as well. Lot's to see and do here in the summer. Hope you have a great time whatever you decide on!

 

[switchback7]

I live in the metro, a few miles away from the site of where Floyd was killed last summer. If I didnt watch the news I never would have known a difference. People saying avoid the area like the plague clearly dont live here themselves, you'll be more than fine in Burnsville.

My profile pic came on Mille Lacs, so I may be a bit biased, but that lake is absolutely plum full of awesome walleye + smallie fishing right now. Muskies could be a thrill there too if you found a good guide. Id much, much prefer that over any lake near the metro. If you want the true northwoods experience I'd fish on Leech but thats about twice the distance. If you want to be disappointed go ahead and stay local and fish a place like Minnetonka. Pool 4 fishing in Lake city would be neat, get to see the bluffs then, which are about as close to mountains as MN will get. Good fishing too. Charter on Superior might be cool for an out-of-towner but I've never done it myself. Duluth is a great way to spend a day with the family.

Other than that, MOA, Taylors Falls/Barn Bluff hikes, or a Twins game. Real, real tough to beat Target field on a nice summer evening. Finding a place to rent side by sides would be a great way to spend a summer day. My favorite is a little north of Hayward, Wi but that might be a bit of a hike for you guys, within about an hour or so of Duluth if you decided to make it a multiple day trip from Burnsville.

you must not leave your house much LOL

 

[tbro16]

Big talk coming from a guy who lives in SE MN lol. Turn off CNN brother, it'll make a world of difference for you!

If you avoided the right/wrong parts of MPLS for a few weeks you never would have known the difference. Dont freak the guy out by telling him to avoid MN for stupid reasons such as that one.

 

[switchback7]

Big talk coming from a guy who lives in SE MN lol. Turn off CNN brother, it'll make a world of difference for you!

If you avoided the right/wrong parts of MPLS for a few weeks you never would have known the difference. Dont freak the guy out by telling him to avoid MN for stupid reasons such as that one.

hahahahahah yikes. def dont live in se mn. you gotta take the blinders off, buddy.

 

[WCB]

Big talk coming from a guy who lives in SE MN lol. Turn off CNN brother, it'll make a world of difference for you!

If you avoided the right/wrong parts of MPLS for a few weeks you never would have known the difference. Dont freak the guy out by telling him to avoid MN for stupid reasons such as that one.

Nobody said avoid MN....but for people from out of town I would not recommend them hanging out down town and roaming around. I've spent plenty of time downtown when I used to do commercial flooring installation. Bet it would be a ton of fun crossing the 35 bridge to find it mobbed with idiots blocking traffic. I could see the glow of the fires up here 40minutes north of the cities when it was burning...don't tell people you could hardly tell the difference.

 

[tbro16]

hahahahahah yikes. def dont live in se mn. you gotta take the blinders off, buddy.

Thats good. I was afraid that little buck of yours came from that part of the state. Would have been a shame! Lol

Took 35E from Eagan to St Paul every day for work all summer, fall, and winter and never noticed a change from what was normal. Again, avoid certain parts of Minneapolis and there wont be any issue. Hope the OP enjoys his time here