Mountain Biking, Hiking & Outdoor Recreation (Duluth, Eagan: house, safe area, school districts)

[Lostinspace78]

Helllo,

I’m thinking of moving my family to the area from Dallas. We moved to Dallas from Colorado and we love the outdoors and i really enjoy mountain biking and Dallas really doesn’t support those activities. Can anyone give me some feedback on how accessible mountain biking and hiking are from the metro areas? I’d really love to be able to bike to a trailhead from home or have a short drive to take my little boys out to nature.

Also, what housing areas would you recommend that would be most conducive to outdoor activities but still close to the metro areas? Our budget would be max 900k but I like to keep our housing budget as small as possible while still having the option for good public schooling and a safe area.

Sorry for being so vague, but I’m just starting the preliminary research on the area.

Thanks!

[Glenfield]

There are plenty of opportunities for biking in the area, though it’s more road and trail biking in the metro area. This link might be helpful. https://www.morcmtb.org/forums/trailconditions.php

Northwestern Wisconsin is easily accessible from the Twin Cities. When we used to mountain bike, these were our favorite trails. In the winter, you can Nordic ski the same trails. https://www.cambatrails.org/

On the housing, 900k is a big budget for this area. A lot of people start with where they will work, what amenities and surroundings they’re looking for, and any specific needs for schools. You’re not going to have a problem finding anything, but it’s probably better to narrow it down a bit to get some really useful suggestions.

Good luck on your research.

[wamer27]

Check out North Oaks, nice community almost all of it is within dense forest and large lots. It’s in a great school system (Mounds View) It’s also to the north of either downtown, thus quicker to get up north past Duluth to north shore/northeast where all the best hiking and biking are.

[Citykid3785]

The Twin Cities is great for this kind of thing. The metro is just as outdoorsy as Denver, but you sub the mountains for lakes. But a very outdoorsy populace. Obviously its very flat, so the trails lack some of the elevation change you may be used to.

Check out:

Elm Creek
Lebanon Hills
Murphy - hanrehan
Theodore Wirth

In general, most of the suburbs have very good schools. I have a personal bias towards the area near Lebanon Hills, but really you can't go wrong being near any of the above.

[WoodburyWoody]

900k will go a loooooooong way here for a SFH. Seriously.

What I always bring up with people looking to move here is to be aware that public School Districts/boundaries are not tied to city/town boundaries. This is different than anywhere I have lived outside of Minnesota, where typically you live in XXX city and there is the XXX school district that serves that city.

Here, you may live in XXX city but it all depends on where in XXX that you live - students living in XXX may be enrolled in up to three or more different districts (Eagan, for example, was in the 191, 196 and 197 SDs when we lived there). In Woodbury now, we have students living within the city limits who attend three different SDs (833, 622 and 634). That elementary school five blocks from the house you are looking at my not be in the same SD as the house.

Worth knowing if a targeted public SD is high on your list.

[WoodburyWoody]

Originally Posted by wamer27

Check out North Oaks, nice community almost all of it is within dense forest and large lots. It’s in a great school system (Mounds View) It’s also to the north of either downtown, thus quicker to get up north past Duluth to north shore/northeast where all the best hiking and biking are.

If getting up to Duluth for the day or weekend is high on your list (I love the North Shore, Duluth on up to Canada), wamer27 offers good advice to consider being on the north end of the metro. Getting across the Twin Cities, especially during rush hour, can add easily add an hour to a drive (in any direction, to be honest). And it won't get any better in the coming decades as the metro is expected to continue to grow.

However, that does not take into account work commute. If a job is in Eagan, you don't want to be driving down there from North Oaks or St. Louis Park or Woodbury daily.