All over the news, the first thing you talk about with strangers, and some of the scowls in plowed-in driveways tie back to the record-breaking snowfall in Minnesota. Not since 1962 has the state seen more snow in February.

While that means terrible driving conditions, closed schools, and a number of other issues related to the heavy, wet snow, it makes for excellent snowshoeing conditions. With so many parks available, that means you can pretty much snowshoe wherever.

In fact, you might need them just to get there.

Local Parks Are An Outdoor-Lover’s Best Friend

Even though I wish I could, I can’t always run away to Minnesota’s North Shore or BWCA. Thankfully I have a variety of local parks at my disposal being in the Twin Cities.

Back in August, my wife Ashley and I moved into our first home in Richfield. Within a few miles, we have a number of pretty sweet parks that have trails, lakes and woodland areas that are primed for snowshoeing in the winter. Veterans Park is among the closest and often the most accessible because we end of taking our dog, Forrest, along for the journey too.

One particularly snowy weekend this month, we hopped in the car and went snowshoeing at Veterans. It was Ashley’s first time ever (ever) snowshoeing.

Veterans Park (Richfield, Minnesota)

What I love most about many of the Twin Cities’ local parks is that they’re oh so easy to get to. Many have parking lots, some are located not far from highways, which admittedly is a benefit and a drawback sometimes, and all of them showcase a piece of the natural world that brings peace to city-living folk like myself. Veterans Park is no exception.

Relative to Minneapolis’ Theodore Wirth Park, Veterans Park is smaller but it offers similar features. There are paved bike trails that weave through wooded areas and a small cluster of lakes. More appealing perhaps in the summer is a floating walkway that takes you through the park’s marshy wetland — a great place to be for a nice sunset. And, the park features a playground for kids, an outdoor shelter for picnics and the Farmer’s Market, a great deal of open grass areas, and a prominent memorial close to Portland Avenue. In the summer, this local park is bustling.

In the winter during a good snowfall, it resembles the northerly land that I often long for living in the city. When we went out snowshoeing on Legion Lake, with low visibility and trudging through a few feet of snow, I couldn’t help but feel tricked that I was somewhere else — off on an adventure far from home.

Up North or… Down the Road?

It’s easy to lose sight of all the neat places close to home. For me, I’m constantly dreaming of all the faraway places that I want to go: Norway, Poland, Ireland, Argentina, Nepal, Africa, Thailand, Canada (I know, it’s not that far)… I mean, this list could go forever. It’s easier for me to list all the places I don’t want to go. Even back home in the States, I can think of so many places that I was to go.

But in the meantime, the places that tie me over are the state and local parks that showcase some of Minnesota’s best features. They’re like a daily dose of nature’s medicine that gets me by. They help take the edge off.

These are the places I end up spending most of my time. They help get me in shape for my next trip. They give me a place to test out new gear and hike around with Forrest.

They’re the places where I experience nature most often, which is most important. Having somewhere to experience nature is vital for me and it’s especially important to people in the city, who don’t always have access to parks or natural areas.

Without local parks like Veterans, we’d be totally cut off and disconnected. That freaks me out, man.

So, this is just a big thanks for all the local parks and thanks to the people who enjoy and take care of them.

Like Minnesota’s state and local parks? Check out my Minnesota photo gallery here.