Seeing as the holidays are over and smack-dab in the heart of another long, cold Minnesota winter, I've been looking for ways to actually enjoy this time of year. And here's one we tried for the first time a year ago.

CSJ/TSM-Rochester
CSJ/TSM-Rochester
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It's snowshoeing. And my wife and I are anxious to get out and strap on the snow shoes we bought late in the winter last year. If I recall correctly, we only got out snowshoeing once last year.

One of the things that's cool about it is, outside of the snow shoes themselves, you don’t need much else to try it– unlike skiing or snowmobiling, where you typically need a lot more gear. In fact, you can just strap on the shoes and head out in the snow. (Although our snow here in southeast Minnesota is pretty icy, thanks to that freezing rain earlier this week, so it isn't necessarily the best for snowshoeing right now.)

And even if you don't own a pair of snowshoes, there are several great places you can start one’s snow shoeing adventure right here in the Med City. Gamehaven Sports and Recreation Park, Quarry Hill Nature Center and Oxbow Park all offering snow shoe rentals, so you can try it out before you buy your own shoes. And both the Minnesota DNR and Midwest Weekends have a rundown of some other cool places to snow shoe, as well.

And, as a co-worker told me after we bought our shoes last year, snowshoeing is as easy as heading over to Soldier’s Field Park and making some tracks-- just one way to actually enjoy a Minnesota winter!

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