Minnesota is an incredible state for year-round adventures, but there are a few spots that are even better in the wintertime. Need examples? Check out this trio of Minnesota winter day trips to places that are even cooler in colder weather. Just bring along your warmest winter travel essentials so you don’t freeze!

1. Sax-Zim Bog
Gregg Severson/Google
The Sax-Zim Bog is an area near Hibbing that is world-famous among birders and wildlife watchers.
Winter is considered the best time to visit the bog, as many arctic and boreal species migrate south from Canada and spend their winters in northern Minnesota.
RA NC/Google
Great gray owls are the bog’s most famous winter visitors. Several, in fact, make Sax-Zim Bog their year-round homes.
Other uncommon species that visit the bog in winter include the northern hawk owl, Canada jays, and snowy owls.
Trent Jonas/Google
The bog’s just not for the birds, though. Fox, moose, snowshoe hares, wolves, pine marten, and ermine are regular bog visitors.
Trent Jonas/Google
Because the area is - well , boggy - it’s actually more accessible in winter, because you can explore frozen terrain that’s normally waterlogged.
Sax-Zim Bog Welcome Center, Owl Avenue, Meadowlands, MN, USA
Chris Brobin/Google
2. Gunflint Trail
Dylan H/TripAdvisor
The Gunflint Trail winds its way from Grand Marais, through the Superior National Forest and Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, to the Canadian Border.

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Although the Gunflint is awesome any time of year, it’s a little more special in winter.
Dylan H/TripAdvisor
With miles and miles of cross-country ski trails, snowmobile trails, and thousands of acres of frozen lakes, winter is the perfect time to explore the Gunflint.
Reduced foliage and underbrush makes it easier to spot some of the North Star State’s iconic wildlife, like moose...
Minnesota DNR
...And wolves.
Gunflint Trail, Grand Marais, MN 55604, USA
Voyageurs National Park/Facebook
3. Voyageurs National Park
Senthil Murugesan/Google
Voyageurs is a national park that has the distinction of being accessible mostly by water.
This means that winter presents the perfect opportunity to get to places on foot that you couldn’t normally explore without a boat.
Jacob Foster/Google
The vast lakes in the park are ideal for snowmobiling and dogsledding.
Roshan Patel/Google
The park even maintains an ice road for auto traffic when the ice is safe for vehicle travel.
Winter is the best time of the year to see the northern lights in Minnesota - and as a certified Dark Sky Park, Voyageurs is one of the best places to see them.
Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, USA
Voyageurs National Park/Facebook

If you’re looking for even more fun this winter, check out these wintertime wintertime festivals in Minnesota.

Have you visited any of these spots in the winter? What are some other Minnesota day trips that are just better in the winter?

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