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
With a track racing event tonight, at the National Sports Center Velodrome, in Blaine, MN, you will want to come out before the last race on the schedule, September 14th. Blaine is a Twin Cities Gateway community, in the north suburbs of the Twin Cities.
Get into the zone and plan your next bike outing with family and friends at one of the many HaveFunBiking Destinations. View all the fun ideas and bike destinations in the latest Minnesota Bike/Hike Guide.
Thanks for Viewing Our ‘Track Racing’ Pic of the Day!
We are now rolling into our 10th year as a bike tourism media. As we pedal forward our goal is to continue to encourage more people to bike and have fun while we highlight all the unforgettable places for you to 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 that we should post? If so, please send your picture(s) to: [email protected]. Include a brief caption (for each) of who is in the photo (if you know) and where the picture was taken. Photo(s) should be a minimum of 1,000 pixels wide or larger to be considered. If we use your photo, you will receive photo credit and acknowledgment on Facebook and Instagram.
As we continue to encourage 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 into our 8th year of producing this hand 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 apperance while you are riding and having fun. You could be in one of our next Pic’s of the Day.
Want to Test Your Skills at a Twin Cities Trout Fishing Hot Spot?
If catching Rainbow Trout is on your list, then Cenaiko Lake in the Twin Cities Gateway is a great place to check out. This small man-made lake is located in Coon Rapids, Minnesota and is the perfect place for the whole family to fish and reap the rewards. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MNDNR) stocks this lake twice a year with nine to sixteen inch trout. In the Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park system, the lake is next to the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) for those who prefer to commute there by bike.
A Twin Cities trout fishing hot spot Cenaiko Lake is a fun place to fish.
Each fall, after the summer trout season ends, the MNDNR stocks the lake with Rainbows. Then, again in the spring after ice has melted, they restock the lake again. Designated as a trout lake, you can also catch Small-Mouth Bass and Hybrid Sunfish here. However, note that fishing is only allowed during the trout season. Please see the Minnesota Fishing Regulations booklet for complete rules and guidelines.
Operated by Anoka County Parks, the Cenaiko Lake basin was formed from an old gravel pit where the deepest spot is 36 feet. A local fishing spot long before trout were introduced, shore fishing is accessible around the lake. There is a fee to enter the Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park system, if you arrive by car. For those who choose to use a bicycle or travel into the park by foot, then the fee is waived. Connecting to the MRT you will find a paved trail around the shoreline. Along the trail you will also find several picnic shelters and a playground to make this fishing destination a family event.
Summer Twin Cities Trout Fishing Opportunities
From the middle of April through the end of September, the entire shoreline around the lake is open for fishing. There is no boat access, but a fishing pier is available for use. The favorite bait for casting is wooly buggers and pheasant tail nymphs. See a Video of some young fishermen catching their limit.
Winter Twin Cities Trout Fishing Opportunities
Winter lake trout fishing season is mid-January (or when the ice is safe), through the end of March. For more information, visit dnr.state.mn.us.
For more information call Anoka County Parks at 763-757-3920.
Other Twin City Metro Trout Fishing Destinations
Looking for more places for fly fishing in the metro area when Cenaiko Lake isn’t producing? Learn more about fly fishing locations in the Twin Cities metro area below.
There are a few trout fishing lakes and a stream that are located in the south and west metro area. These places provide great access to fly fishing. You can also try fishing beach areas on lakes (where permitted) at dusk and dawn when other lakes are heavily vegetated.
Christmas Lake
Near Excelsior, Christmas Lake is just across MN Highway 7 from Lake Minnetonka. Water quality allows for “two-story” fish management. If you venture into the deeper waters here, you will find trout and the Bass-Panfish-Northern Pike fish community spread throughout the rest of the lake. Because Christmas is not a Designated Trout Lake, anglers can fish non-trout species during their legal seasons. Please remember trout fishing during closed seasons is both illegal and poor sportsmanship. The lake lacks shore fishing qualities, however, there is a small public access. Unfortunately, adjacent street parking is unavailable.
Courthouse Lake
In Chaska, the Courthouse Lake fish population has changed significantly in recent years due to flooding. After the flood in 1993, the lake was designated as a trout lake and a total lake reclamation was preformed. Then, in 1995, Rainbow Trout were introduced to the lake along with Brook and Brown Trout being stocked there in following years.
Holland Lake
In Eagan, located in within Lebanon Hills Regional Park Reserve, is Holland Lake were surplus adult Brown and Rainbow Trout are stocked. The water quality in the lake is excellent and trout stocked in recent years have been well received by anglers. There is no boat access and winter kill has been an issue. Thanks to the Dakota County Parks an aeration device is being used to bring up the oxygen level in the winter.
Eagle Creek
And in Savage, Eagle Creek is at the crossroads of busy Highways 13 and 101 in Scott County. A self-sustaining but small population of Brown Trout in the stream there requires that you obey the Special Regulation — catch-and-release only policy.
On Saturday, June 20th the skies were sunny and the raindrops promised to stay away for a fun-filled day on the 4th Annual BikeMN Train & Trail Tour. After checking in at the BikeMN (Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota) table, at the Minneapolis Parks and Rec Board headquarters, everyone pedaled to the train. At the Target Field Station train platform, over 100 bicyclists boarded the Northstar Train for the ride to Big Lake, MN. After a 45-mile train ride, they arrived in Big Lake, where tour participants rolled their bikes off the rail cars. They were ready to take off for the 42-mile journey back to Minneapolis.
Facebook Photo Gallery of the 2016 Train & Trail Tour
Enjoy the pictures we took while following the riders that were having fun riding their bikes along the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) in theHaveFunBiking Facebook Photo Gallery. The MRT is a bicycle route that has been mapped by MnDOT (Minnesota Department of Transportation). In Minnesota, the full route of the MRT meanders roughly 620-miles paralleling the river. Starting from its source at Itasca State Park to the Iowa border – then on to New Orleans. Utilizing largely low-traffic roads, the MRT route also includes relatively long segments of scenic state and regional trails.
The Tour
In Downtown, the Elk River tour riders enjoyed a catered lunch in the town square. Located next to the fountain overlooking the confluence of the Elk and the Mississippi Rivers, it was a great location to see the rivers.
At the Highway 169 Bridge, in Champlain, the MRT trail allows riders to choose two routes into Minneapolis. Crossing the Mississippi River here, riders can tour the Twin Cities Gateway through the nine wonderful towns. These communities include Anoka, Coon Rapids, and Fridley, all paralleling the river on the East-MRT.
For the Train & Trail Tour, riders stayed on the Minneapolis Northwest 301 side, or West-MRT, heading south towards Minneapolis. After crossing the I-694 Freeway Bridge, riders found the shaded trails along this stretch a comfort from the hot sun. The afternoon heat on this day made things a bit sticky. Leaving the North Mississippi Regional Park, it’s approximately three-miles to the end. For Train & Trail participants it meant it was time for ice cream.
If you were not able to join BikeMN on one of these Train & Trail Tour adventures, then don’t worry. If you would like to experience this route on your own, it’s easy to plan. First, check Metro Transit’s Northstar Rail schedule and connection to get you and your bike up to Big Lake or all the way to St Cloud. Then, studyMnDOT’s County Bike Mapsfor a desirable route that you would prefer to ride back.
HaveFunBiking – it’s a great multi-modal experience traveling by train and then biking back to your original destination.
