It’s Snowshoe Fun to Exercise Outdoors in Minnesota in January

There’s no place like Minnesota for Winter Fun!

courtesy of Three Rivers Parks

Exercising in Minnesota in the winter is extra great since we carry around twice as much weight with all of our snow gear.  What with boots, snow pants, scarves, mittens, hats, coat, three layers of sweaters, two pairs of socks, etc., walking into the backyard drops 2 pounds.

With that said, there are many activities that require more movement than that and are lots of fun.

One of those activities is snowshoeing.  I never really understood snowshoeing when I was a kid.  I thought you wore the snowshoes and could walk atop powdery drifts.  That’s not so much it.  What it is is more trudging along trails through the woods and your foot may not break through the snow.    There is a good possibility that you will break through and get your leg stuck in the drift, snowshoe and all.  And then you need to pull your snowshoe out except that it broke free from your foot so now you have to dig it out.

So you wanna go?  It is a lot of fun and you do get some great exercise out of it!  And it would be a fun experience to have as a family.

Here are some places to go snowshoeing (and rent snowshoes if you need them).

1. Three Rivers Parks
2. City of Minneapolis
3. Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
4. REI — Bloomington
5. Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge