10 Liveliest Minnesota Towns For Active Seniors

If you are looking to stay in shape, Minnesota is basically a cheat code. The entire state is a gym with all the equipment you need for health and happiness, especially as a senior. Work your legs at William O'Brien State Park near Scandia, your arms on He Mni Can-Barn Bluff in Red Wing, your stamina at the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area around Crosby, and your mind during a walking tour of New Ulm. Since all of Minnesota is lively, these communities simply scratch the surface of exercise possibilities. But let them be your starting blocks for post-retirement recreation. Let's visit the 10 liveliest Minnesota towns for active seniors.

Scandia

Yes, Scandia has Scandinavian influence, which you can glean at the open-air Gammelgården Museum in the center of town. Following a leisurely walk through Swedish-Minnesotan history, increase your heart rate at William O'Brien State Park and Wind in the Pines Nature Park, two large preserves on the banks of the St. Croix River. Even Scandia's R&R is rustic. Unwind among gorgeous grapevines and garrulous goats at the Rustic Roots Winery and the Poplar Hill Dairy Goat Farm, respectively. For suburban entertainment, the Twin Cities are mere minutes away.

Baudette

As one of the northernmost communities in Minnesota, Baudette is a gateway to wide-open wilderness. East of town is Voyageurs National Park, south of town is the Red Lake Peatland Scientific and Natural Area, and west of town is Zippel Bay State Park on the Lake of the Woods. While hiking, camping, and boating are obvious attractions, fishing is the real draw since Baudette is considered the "Walleye Capital of the World." It has a giant walleye statue to prove it. Seniors with a passport can double their recreation options north of the border.

Red Wing

Though Red Wing is just as pretty as Baudette, is has much different scenery. This small city straddles the Mississippi River in southeastern Minnesota. Bluffs thus abound in this region, dubbed the Driftless Area for its lack of glacial drift, onto which you can drift after exploring in-town haunts like the Pottery Museum of Red Wing and the Red Wing Shoe Store. From atop the 340-foot He Mni Can-Barn Bluff, you can admire the Mississippi River on one side and Red Wing on the other. Hiking is, of course, the main mode of scaling Red Wing's bluffs, but rock climbing is offered for more adventurous seniors.

Park Rapids

Minnesota is known, appropriately, as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes." Hundreds of those lakes surround Park Rapids in the northwestern part of the state. Opportunities for boating, fishing, and swimming are therefore plentiful, as they are for hiking, camping, and wildlife watching courtesy of Paul Bunyan State Forest, Huntersville State Forest, and Itasca State Park, the last of which hosts the Mississippi River's headwaters. When you need to rest and refuel, visit nearby Dorset, which, despite having only 20ish residents, is called the "Restaurant Capital of the World." Check out its 218 Venture Bar and Eatery.

Ely

Ely is but a blip in the Superior National Forest, which preserves nearly 4 million acres of the southernmost boreal woods. But this blip has all the fixins for a fantastic forest foray. Intrepid seniors can gear up at the Piragis Northwoods Company and/or Spirit of the Wilderness before penetrating the SNP, which hosts a variety of smaller preserves like the millionish-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Seniors looking for a lower key but still heart-pumping adventure should tour the International Wolf Center and North American Bear Center on each side of town.

New Ulm

There is plenty of nature around New Ulm, but this small southern city stimulates seniors with culture and history more than scenery. As a historic German settlement and firestorm during wartime, New Ulm offers walking tours of such sites as the Rathskeller at Turner Hall, Brown County Historical Society, and Hermann Heights Monument. The last of those depicts an ancient hero who liberated Germany from the Roman Empire. After your hardcore history lesson, visit the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame and learn why New Ulm was once called the "Polka Capital of the Nation."

Crosby

Crosby was a dying mining town revived by mountain biking. Abandoned mines were converted into the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area for various kinds of activities, but it was not till mountain bike tracks were laid in 2011 that Crosby struck gold. Fittingly, locals call them "Red Gold" and they wind through Cuyuna for 70 miles as one of the best trail systems in the Midwest. Crosby is now loaded with businesses serving senior cyclists and cycling seniors. The Trailside Tavern and the Red Raven Bike Cafe are especially beloved.

Luverne

Sequestered in Minnesota's southwest corner, Luverne is an unsung recreation destination. This super-small city neighbors Blue Mounds State Park, a 1,500-acre preserve of red-tinged Sioux Quartzite cliffs and bison-grazed prairie. You can explore the park via foot, bike, snowmobile, all-terrain track chair, or guided Prairie and Bison Tour. Luverne proper is also worth a tour. Check out Take 16 Brewing, the Palace Theatre, Those Blasted Things with its thousands of rocks and gemstones, and the Rock County Historical Society with its 5,300-plus nutcrackers. Luverne has quality and quantity.

Winona

Another Driftless Area wonder, Winona rides the Mississippi River—and you can too if you patronize its Prairie Island Campground. In addition to kayaking, canoeing, and paddle boarding the Mighty Mississippi, Winona provides access to hiking and biking at surrounding preserves like Garvin Heights City Park, Winona Lake Park, and Whitewater State Park. Like Red Wing, Winona has a giant, unique bluff that you can hike or climb. Sugar Loaf is about 500 feet tall and topped with an 85-foot rock formation created during 19th-century quarrying. The views are sweet.

Grand Marais

If you thought we would spend an entire article on Minnesota recreation without mentioning Lake Superior, think again. Grand Marais is a city of about 1,300 people on Lake Superior's North Shore. Despite being undersized, it is a hub for tourists, artists, and outdoor enthusiasts, many of whom are seniors. A bite at the World's Best Donuts and a tour of Sivertson Gallery can precede a horseback ride at Gunflint Lodge or a hike up Eagle Mountain, which, at 2,301 feet, is Minnesota's highest point. But what is a trip to Lake Superior without aquatic recreation? Swimming, boating, and fishing are all offered around Grand Marais.

Minnesota is full of life, so what better place to spend the later years of one's life? You can probably extend your life by joining the open-air gym that runs from east to west and north to south. Equipment includes a rock-climbing bluff in Red Wing, a minepit-biketrack in Crosby, and a miles-long rowing machine called the Mississippi River. Turn your twilight years into twilight decades in the North Star State by visiting — or living in! — one of the 10 liveliest Minnesota towns for active seniors.