Population (2010) 382,578 Introduction Minneapolis has a spirit that sets it apart from most other American cities. It’s a place with a lively downtown, a diverse arts scene, great food, nice people, and a surprising range of outdoor activities for a big city, including the best public riverfront along
Population (2010) 12,773 Introduction Sauk Rapids is located along what was once known as “Third Rapids”, because, well, they were the third set of rapids upriver from St. Anthony Falls. Those rapids are now obscured by a dam, and those two small towns have in recent years developed into
Population (2010) 8,343 Introduction Little Falls is a picturesque small city along the boundary where the forest and the prairie meet. Go west twenty miles west and you’ll be in farm country, but if you go twenty miles north, you’ll be in the pine forest. The folks are friendly and
Population (2010) 13,590 Introduction Brainerd is at the center of a vast resort area that spreads out around the city. I confess I have mixed feelings about Brainerd, and not just because this was the place where I dropped my smartphone into the toilet. While the city has an interesting
Population (2010) 10,869 Introduction Grand Rapids is at the hub of a fascinating area: on the southwestern edge of the Mesabi Iron Range, in the middle of the pine forests and the northern Minnesota resort scene, and along the Mississippi River where it finally begins to turn south. Grand
Population (2010) N/A Introduction Lake Itasca may be the source of the Mississippi, but the true Headwaters of the Mississippi River is the dense web of lakes and streams in northern Minnesota: Leech Lake, Mille Lacs, Swan River, Big Sandy Lake, Crow Wing River, plus hundreds of other bodies of
