Ground Rounds, Minneapolis

We were joining my family for a week's vacation at a lake house in northern Minnesota.  I could not pass up the opportunity to bike around Minneapolis before joining up with the family.

For a city that has a short warm season and a population of almost  400,000, Minneapolis has a wonderful recreational biking area.  It is called the Grand Rounds Science Byway and is one of the country's longest continuous systems of public urban parkways.  The Grand Rounds has a 50 mile walking and biking path near lakes, creeks, woodlands, lagoons,  riverbanks, wetlands and other greenways. The Grand Rounds basically goes around the entire city. 

My daughter and I biked a portion of the Grand Rounds that started in the Chain of Lakes area of town.  We rented bikes a few blocks away from Lake Harriett and biked around three lakes - Harriet, Calhoun and Lake of the Isles. 

In these lake areas the Grand Rounds has two paths - one for walking and one for biking - separated by a small greenbelt.  The biking path was a one-way, paved path around each lake.  We truly enjoyed the leisure biking environment. 

 

It did take us a while to understand the signage.  We missed one turn and had to back track on the car street due to the one-way bike path. It was no big deal - the drivers were very understanding.   After that detour we figured out the frequent directional signs and did not take another wrong turn. 

I wished we had another day in Minneapolis to bike more of the Grand Rounds.  There are several other sections, like the Downtown Riverfront and the Mississippi River, that look wonderful to bike.  I will have to return to Minneapolis for another go around on the Grand Rounds!!