Photo: Laura Westlund
The leaves are golden, the air is starting to get brisk (sweater weather!) and the apples are crisp. With several excellent options nearby for an invigorating autumn walk, there’s no excuse not to take a hike.
Even short walks around Edina can be in beautiful surroundings. The path around Lake Cornelia in Rosland Park is one mile and offers a nature trail as well as the loop around the lake; watch for turtles and herons! Todd Park has a lovely trail through the woods with views of Minnehaha Creek—which can also be enjoyed in Arden Park, Utley Park and Browndale Park.
Bredesen Park has an interior nature trail along with the paved walk around the woods, and you might share the paths with fox, deer and many other inhabitants of the park. Bredesen connects with the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail, which meanders through Edina, winding south and east from Hopkins until reaching the Minnesota River. This trail can be accessed from several neighborhood parks (including Heights Park and Fred Richards Park) and follows the creek through quiet and dense vegetation that is never far from the busy city but feels worlds away.
If you prefer art as your scenery instead of nature, Centennial Lakes and the Edina Promenade between France and York Avenues provide sculptures and installations (as well as mini-golf) to entertain you as you stroll.
And your Edina walks aren’t over when the temperatures fall, even if you don’t like the cold; in November, a dome encloses the track and soccer fields at Braemar Field, and winter walks are on!
Contributed by Laura Westlund, a tour guide at the Weisman Art Museum and an art hound for Minnesota Public Radio.
