Turning 16 and wants to go to MOA...

Our daughter is turning 16 and wants to take her friends to MOA. We have never been to MN. Of course there is the mall but we are also an outdoors family who love nature, camping, and the lakes. In addition to the teen crowd we have small children as well, are there activities that will keep there interest? Will our desires and needs be met in MN? We will be traveling in October.

Turning 16 and wants to go to MOA...

You might like the Mall, the new Amusement Park in the middle, and maybe stay at the Radisson across the street that has a huge waterpark attached.

http://www.waterparkofamerica.com/

If time, head up to Duluth %26amp; the North Shore -

great state parks / waterfalls.

http://www.northshorevisitor.com/

http://www.northshoreinfo.com/

http://www.americasnorthcoast.org/

Turning 16 and wants to go to MOA...

October is the best month to visit Minnesota, IMO. Leaves turning and weather cooling.

I%26#39;m curious how long you plan to stay. Perhaps you can split your trip between Bloomington (where the mall is) and somewhere outside the metro to see a little nature. Where you go would depend on how much time you have.

I cant speak much for mall of america... I try to avoid it at all cost.

Absolutely go to the north shore if you are here in EARLY October... After the first weekend (possibly the second depending on the weather) the leaves will be gone. It will still be nice if the leaves are gone, but you will miss the show (but also miss the crowd).

Duluth is about 2 hours from the cities, spend some time there, but make sure to head up to the Tettegouche area. Drive hwy 61 from Duluth and just follow the lake... Its gorgeous. Stop at any one of the state parks along the way. If you can make it up to Grand Marais its really nice, but its about 4.5 - 5hrs from the cities. See the google map below for some of my favorite locations.

Do a little hiking on the superior hiking trail, specifically the oberg mountain loop if the colors are good. Its about a 2 mile loop, easy to moderate hiking and well worth it. Do it early and see the gorgeous sunrise and light on the orange and red foliage. Here is a picture:

comisar.net/samples/View_From_Oberg_Mountain鈥?/a>

Google Map:

http://tinyurl.com/2abp96

www.superiorhikingtrail.com

';I cant speak much for mall of america... I try to avoid it at all cost.';

Ha, Marsy. You and I think alike. I avoid the mall like the plague. (although for kids and teenagers, I can see it being a good destination. But I don%26#39;t have any of those!)

And the north shore suggestions are very good. Camped at tettegouche last September for the first time. Beautiful. Hopefully I can finally do the Oberg Loop this summer or fall.

Cheers!

mntoathens: def do oberg this fall.. I found out last year that you can avoid the crowds by camping at rustic sites in Superior Nat. Forest. All the state parks were sold out, but the nat forest sites were half empty, isolated, and some are right on lake shores with awesome fall colors. Pick up a SNF map in one of the towns and just find a site you like.

Each year I go up the last weekend in Oct or first weekend in November.

I know the leaves are all changes, and it can be cold, but the parks %26amp; trails are deserted, and it%26#39;s the beginning of low season. Hotel rates are slashed.

Oberg Loop and his twin Leveaux Trail - at the same trail head are both awesome, but Oberg is the better of the two.

Thank you all for this wealth of information!

Don%26#39;t expect much from the MOA. As you can see, locals avoid it. When it opened it had all these great little specialty stores. Now it is the same stores over and over. We shop at other malls in the area and they have the same stores for lower prices. Be aware that there is a curfew on weekends for teens.

There is a new waterpark that just opened by the MOA, I can%26#39;t remember its name, but it has waterslides that go outside of the building. Also, if you choose to go to Minneapolis you can take the light rail from the mall downtown. That saves driving and trying to find a place to park.

waterpark of america. very creative ;)

marsy00 and DowntownMinneapolis ....

Thanks for the info. It has been saved for use this fall.