Welcome. We're your premier source for fun places to explore by bicycle or on foot. Offering guides, maps and articles on road and trail riding for the novice to seasoned cyclist - helping you find your #NextBikeAdventure
This Bike Pic Friday, fond memories of what a snow covering the trail should look like, so adjust your gear and have fun.
So adjust to the warmer temps and get into the zone when continuing your time outdoors and your #NextBikeAdventure. View all the great ideas and bike destinations in the latest Iowa or Minnesota Bike/Hike Guide. Then plan your next outing with family and friends, and check out more stories at Let’s Do MN.
Thanks for viewing today’s ice cream smiles Sunday bike pic
Now rolling through our 20th year as a bike tourism media, enjoy! As we pedal forward, we aim to encourage more people to bike and have fun while highlighting all the unforgettable places you can ride. As we continue to showcase more places to have fun, we hope the photos we shoot are worth a grin. Enjoy the information and stories we have posted as you scroll through.
Do you have a fun bicycle-related photo of yourself or someone you may know we should post? If so, please send your picture(s) to [email protected]. Please Include a brief caption for the image, who shot it, and where. Photo(s) sent to us should be a minimum of 1,000 pixels wide to be considered. You will receive photo credit and acknowledgment on Facebook and Instagram if we use your photo.
As we continue encouraging more people to bike, please view our Destination section at HaveFunBiking.com for your #NextBikeAdventure. Also, check out the MN Bike Guide, now mobile-friendly in our 15th year of producing this handy information booklet full of maps.
Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com on your cell phone and find your next adventure at your fingertips! Please share our pics with your friends, and don’t forget to smile. With one of our cameras ready to document your next cameo appearance while you are riding and having fun, we may be around the corner. You could be in one of our next Pic of the Day.
This Bike Pic Wheelie Wednesday, take a chance! If life were a mountain bike trail and a Wheelie helped smooth out your day-to-day ride or aided you in dropping into your sweet spot, why not review the following tips to make your week the adrenaline high?
So adjust to the above-normal temps and get into the zone when continuing your time outdoors and your #NextBikeAdventure. View all the great ideas and bike destinations in the latest Iowa or Minnesota Bike/Hike Guide. Then plan your next outing with family and friends, and check out more stories at Let’s Do MN.
Thanks for viewing today’s ice cream smiles Sunday bike pic
Now rolling through our 20th year as a bike tourism media, enjoy! As we pedal forward, we aim to encourage more people to bike and have fun while highlighting all the unforgettable places you can ride. As we continue to showcase more places to have fun, we hope the photos we shoot are worth a grin. Enjoy the information and stories we have posted as you scroll through.
Do you have a fun bicycle-related photo of yourself or someone you may know we should post? If so, please send your picture(s) to [email protected]. Please Include a brief caption for the image, who shot it, and where. Photo(s) sent to us should be a minimum of 1,000 pixels wide to be considered. You will receive photo credit and acknowledgment on Facebook and Instagram if we use your photo.
As we continue encouraging more people to bike, please view our Destination section at HaveFunBiking.com for your #NextBikeAdventure. Also, check out the MN Bike Guide, now mobile-friendly in our 15th year of producing this handy information booklet full of maps.
Bookmark HaveFunBiking.com on your cell phone and find your next adventure at your fingertips! Please share our pics with your friends, and don’t forget to smile. With one of our cameras ready to document your next cameo appearance while you are riding and having fun, we may be around the corner. You could be in one of our next Pic of the Day.
In this bike pic, ice cream smiles were prevalent as this biker chick displayed while enjoying a cool treat at a rest stop in Anoka.
Get into the zone when continuing your time outdoors and your #NextBikeAdventure. View all the great ideas and bike destinations in the latest Iowa or Minnesota Bike/Hike Guide. Then plan your next outing with family and friends in one of Minnesota’s HaveFunBiking destinations. And now, check out more stories at Let’s Do MN.
Thanks for viewing our latest bike pic
Now rolling through our 18th year as a bike tourism media, enjoy! As we pedal forward, we aim to encourage more people to bike and have fun while highlighting all the unforgettable places you can ride. As we continue to showcase more places to have fun, we hope the photos we shoot are worth a grin. Enjoy the information and stories we have posted as you scroll through.
Do you have a fun bicycle-related photo of yourself or someone you may know we should post? If so, please send your picture(s) to [email protected]. Please Include a brief caption to the image, who shot it, and where. Photo(s) should be a minimum of 1,000 pixels wide or larger to be considered. You will receive photo credit and acknowledgment on Facebook and Instagram if we use your photo.
As we continue encouraging more people to bike, please view our Destination section at HaveFunBiking.com for your #NextBikeAdventure. Also, check out the MN Bike Guide, now mobile-friendly, as we enter our 13th year of producing this handy information booklet full of maps.
Remember, bookmark HaveFunBiking.com on your cell phone and find your next adventure at your fingertips! Please share our pics with your friends, and don’t forget to smile. We may be around the corner with one of our cameras ready to document your next cameo appearance while you are riding and having fun. You could be in one of our next Pic of the Day.
Have a great day with a safe and memorable year ahead!
A favorite place for bicyclists to visit, getting around on the Ham Lake 10-mile bike loop makes it easy to connect and discover the area. For summer fun and winter fat biking, Ham Lake is one of the nine communities of the Twin Cities Gateway you should consider exploring. With easy trail connections, it’s a comfortable place to ride. It’s almost like there is a bike-friendly road or trail wherever you go. Along with the 10-mile bike loop, with so many options you will find several days of attractions and parks ready to discover.
Riding through the neighborhood makes it easy to connect to the trail.
The Ham Lake 10-mile bike loop
For this 10-mile bike loop, the route travels counter-clockwise and begins in the parking lot of the AmericInn on the west side of Highway 65. Riding a short distance from the hotel on the Service Road the route quickly jogs through a neighborhood, up to Bunker Lake Boulevard. The first two miles are on the paved shoulder, so for safety, drive your bike like you would a car. Then, once you see the ball field it is easy to merge onto the bike trail that parallels the boulevard. At Prairie Road, the trail crosses for an adventure in the county park.
Riding the Ham Lake bike loop.
Explore the miles of trails in Bunker Hills Park
Now in Bunker Hills Regional Park, you will find a series of trails and parkways that crisscross at several locations. The natural setting of the park offers visitors several distinctive flora covings as you ride the trail loops here. At one point you are pedaling through native prairie grassland with patches Bur Oak. Next, you are pedaling through stands of pines that will lead you to shoreline views near Bunker Lake.
The natural setting here offers visitors several distinctive flora covings in the park.
For the 10-mile Ham Lake Loop, we will follow the trail close to County Parkway C, past a series of parking lots, a playground, restroom, and the Veteran’s Memorial site. Soon our selected trail route passes Bunker Beach Water Park and then follows County Parkway A to the south gate. Here at the trail T, our selected route takes a left and heads east.
Leaving the park it may be time for ice cream?
Leaving Bunker Hills Regional Park the trail comes out at the local high school. Here the route continues in an easterly direction on Bengal Drive, out of the school parking lot. At Jefferson Street, the route jogs to the right. Here watch for the trail on your left. In a short distance, the neighborhood trail here comes out on 127th Ave and zig-zag down to Buchanan Street. If you have a sweet tooth or looking for a cool treat, stop at Big Dipper Creamery, with 52 flavors. If bike service is need on your ride Pioneer Cycle is across Highway 65, north of Main Street.
It’s always fun when riding in the Twin Cities Gateway to stop for ice cream.
Now heading north, the 10-mile bike loop takes you back up the Service Road along Highway 65 back to the AmericInn. Back at the hotel parking lot checkout the nearby eating establishments and plan another bike adventure in the Twin Cities Gateway Area.
For a turn-by-turn, Q-sheet of Ham Lake click here
For winter fun check out the Ham Lake Snow Bowl
If you’re around in February, with your fat bike, consider the annual Ham Lake Snow Bowl. The event includes a fat bike race, scavenger hunt, ice fishing, local crafts and food, and more.
If Halloween is one of your favorite times of the year, get ready for the premier and unveiling of the new Forever Halloween Postage Stamp! This Forever Halloween event, in Anoka, MN, kicks off a fun season of pumpkins and trick or treaters in the Halloween Capital of the World. Then, this is followed by several weeks of ghosts and goblin fun. All of this is the lead up to the great hallowed event on October 31st. With hotel accommodations easily available around the nine Twin Cities Gateway communities, it’s a quick drive by car or bike ride to all the 2016 Spooktakular Events.
This year’s events begin September 29th with the unveiling of the new official ‘Forever Halloween’ postage stamp. Then, the fun really heats up on the weekend of October 14th because of the Pumpkin Bowl, the famous Orange Tie Ball, and a medallion hunt. The following week take a tour of the decorated spooky homes, participate in the Annual Gray Ghost 5K, and enjoy the Grand Day Parade celebrating all things Halloween. Located in the northern Twin Cities Metro community of Anoka, it’s the 96th year the town has hosted this event.
Through the years Anoka’s Halloween celebration prides itself in offering world class fun. Afterwards, in the last weekend in October, participation in the night parade and Grand Day parade has grown to include floats and marching bands from all over the Midwest. In addition, the original concept of having costumed local student’s parade down Main Street, hasn’t changed a bit.
Forever Halloween Unveiling to Kick Off the Spooky Season
Here is the new Forever Halloween stamp that kicks off the Anoka, MN – Halloween Capitol of the World celebrations.
Join the fun as the Unites States Postal Service proudly unveils the first day issue of the first official 2016 Forever Halloween stamp. This takes place in the city of Anoka. The event, on September 29th, will take place at River Plaza (the Old City Hall) on 1st Ave N. The event starts at 10:30 a.m. for a Plaza Gathering. Then, at 11 a.m. the Ceremony and Stamp Unveiling will take place. Afterwards, since you’re in the area anyway for the event, you might want to pick up some Halloween themed post cards. The fun post cards available feature the upcoming events that you can mail to your friends. Also, don’t forget the new stamps!
Ramp Up Halloween with the Pumpkin Bowl and Orange Tie Ball
Are you ready for some Halloween themed football? Friday evening, October 14th, the Anoka High School football team plays their rival Chanplin, located on the other side of the Mississippi River Trail. Then, on Saturday, tour the decorated homes around Anoka before the annual Orange Tie Ball begins! The fun evening will include dinner, dance, raffles & silent auctions, and more. All proceeds go to the Anoka area students scholarship fund. If you have any questions, contact: [email protected].
The Grand Finale of Anoka’s 2016 Forever Halloween
Then, with a wine tasting event and more decorated homes to see, all of it leads to the grand finale. The grand finale of Anoka’s 2016 Forever Halloween season begins the last Friday in October with a Big Parade of Little People. This parade showcases the local school children dressed in their best costumes. Join the fun by watching the parade that started this event ninety-six years ago.
The finale of the Halloween Capitol of the World is the Grand Day Parade – the largest in the state.
Then, on Saturday, enter the Halloween Gray Ghost 5K Run & 1 Mile Walk. See the flyer for more details. Later in the afternoon, celebrate the Halloween Capital of the World’s™ parade – the largest in the state. During the parade, the T-6 Thunder will showcase a special flyover as the parade begins. Sponsored by Federal Premium, all this and more happens on Main Street and Fifth Avenue, in Anoka, MN at 1 p.m. And there is still more to see and do throughout October if you have the 2016 Anoka, MN Halloween Capital of the World button .
Getting to the 2016 Forever Halloween by Bicycle is Easy and Safe
No matter where you are staying in the Twin Cities Greenway, it’s easy and safe to get to the Downtown Anoka events by bike. From Blaine, Coon Rapids, Fridley, Ham Lake, Lino Lakes, Moundsview, New Brighton, and Shoreview, you will find bike friendly routes to easily get there. See all nine Minnesota community maps showing you the trails and bike friendly roads there for a ghoulish time or for exploring anytime throughout the year.
Along with a new fat tire race, the 12th Annual Ham Lake Snowbowl takes place February 10th offering fun things to see and do for the whole family. Ham Lake is located in the Twin Cities Gateway Area on the north side of Minneapolis and St Paul and looks forward to your visit.
They are teaming up with the racing crew at the the National Sports Center Velodrome, in Blaine, to create a this fat bike race as part of the Ham Lake SnowBowl festivities.
The Ham Lake Snow Bowl and Fat Tire Race promises a lot of fun for the whole family
The course will wind through Ham Lake Park, on trails, through scenic woods areas and on the open lake area (If frozen of course). There will be elevation changes and some obstacles easily negotiable by all racers.
Categories
– Juniors to 29 Age Class, Men and Women
– 30 to 39 Age Class, Men and Women
– 40-49 Age Class, Men and Women
– 50+ Age Class, Men and Women
– All classes will ride together but will be scored separately.
Medals will be awarded to the Top 3 in each age and gender class.
The Ham Lake Snow Bowl is Family Fun Time
Ham Lake’s premier winter event is fun for the whole family, there is something for everyone. Along with the Fat Tire Race—brand new in 2018 and in partnership with Pioneer Cycle, you will find:
-Ice Fishing Contest on Ham Lake—sponsored by the Three Rivers District Order of the Arrow.
-Snow Sculpture Contest—featuring sculptors from all over the country, and even the world! Vote for your favorite.
-Broomball Tournament—bringing local teams together as well as those from surrounding states.
-Guess the Snow Sculpture Break-Through Date & Time and win cash!
-Follow clues to find the Snowbowl Medallion and win cash!
-Dog pull…Business Expo…Craft Extravaganza…Sledding Hill…Silent Auction…Pull Tabs…Food and more!
Bring your fat bike, or rent one and come to the Annual Ham Lake Snow Bowl
Ham Lake is one of my favorite places to stay when visiting and biking in the Twin Cities Gateway Area. Getting around from here it is easy on my bike for summer fun and winter fat biking. It’s almost like there is a bike-friendly road wherever you go with wide paved shoulders That makes it easy to connect to the Gateway’s vast network of trails. It’s a great place to stay when you want to get out of the confines of your hotel room and explore. Only a few miles from all the other area attraction in the Twin Cities Gateway, Ham Lake offer several opportunities to check out when not exploring the trails and roads here.
Willow Tree Winery
Not only do Minnesotan’s brew their beer, but they also make their own wine. Here in Ham Lake, you can get a taste of the local wine at a small winery in the spacious farmland of Ham Lake. At Willow Tree Winery you’re free to roam almost anywhere you choose. You can walk among the small vineyard that you’ll be able to see from the road, and if the vines look a little bare that’s because all of the bottling is done in the early fall. There plenty of places to sit down and relax while you sip from the local creations. You can also step inside the small tasting room that has wine bottles stacked and lining the walls, a couple of tables, TVs, and a small counter where the owner usually sits. It’s not a bad place to enjoy before you start riding again.
A few minutes away from Ham Lake is the Blue Ribbon Pines Disc Golf Course.
T-Box Bar & Grill
At some point, you’ll need fuel and T-Box Bar & Grill has plenty to satisfy your appetite. It’ got everything from wings and salmon to pizza and spaghetti. They even have a great wine and beer section to choose from as well as scotch, whiskey, and bourbon.
Ham Lake Snow Bowl
If you’re around in February, make sure to come by for the annual Ham Lake Snow Bowl on February 10th. It includes a scavenger hunt, ice fishing, local crafts and food, a sliding hill, and more.
Bring your fat bike, or rent one and come to the Annual Ham Lake Snow Bowl
So come and discover the amenities in Ham Lake for your #nextbikeadventure in the Twin Cities Gateway.
