Walk in These Shoes: 7 Walkable Adventures in Greater Grand Forks

It turns out, when you’re a kid, you can’t drive a car. But even without four wheels, there are a lot of two-legged adventures for the whole family to do in the Grand Forks region. Here are some of our favorite walking trails in Grand Forks:

We love to walk downtown Grand Forks in the summertime. There are so many great shops and restaurants to buy treats or trinkets. We sometimes take the Cities Area Transit bus that drives down our street and get off the bus at a downtown stop. Some favorite spots are The Urban Stampede, Tea & Crepe, Rhombus Guys Pizza, Widman’s Chocolate Shop, and on the other side of the river we love to visit Blue Moose, Little Bangkok, and Mike’s Pizza. If you find yourself on the East Grand Forks side, be sure to check out the big fountain that is sometimes dyed blue! There is also a fun movie theatre, River Cinema, and they even have cotton candy!

The Grand Forks Greenway has several access points in downtown Grand Forks, but the 23-mile path will take you through the whole city. You can walk down by the river where there are signs with information about Grand Forks history. There’s a bike trail and lots of great climbing trees. You can even walk down to a big fishing dock and fish on the Red River. In the summertime, you can rent kayaks from Boathouse on the Red. The trails are paved so they are wheelchair accessible, bike friendly, and stroller or wagon friendly. We like to pull our little brother in his red wagon! Mairi’s favorite thing about the downtown Grand Forks walking trails near the river is that you can always find good shade to read a book or have a picnic. Jonas’s favorite thing is climbing the trees.

Just off of the paved trails by Kannowski Park, if you look carefully you can find a secret path to a less taken trail closer to the river. You have to be brave because this trail isn’t paved and has kind of a steep hill to go down, but once you adventure down the path, you will find several connecting dirt paths and a beautiful view of the Red River. If you’re quiet and careful, you may spot some wild animals such as deer, rabbits, muskrats, and more! We like going to this special place because it feels like a wildlife refuge in the middle of town. There’s lots of room for pretending in the wooded, tree-filled area here.

Turtle River State Park is about half an hour away from Grand Forks with many walking trails of varying difficulty to hike. When our little brother is with us, we like to hike the Woodchuck Trail because it’s pretty easy to navigate. There are harder trails that we like to do when it’s just us big kids.  Riverview Trail winds really high and you can get a great view of the Turtle River, so it’s our favorite. Park Rangers also do fun things on the weekends like scavenger hunts! We like to keep a map in the car of the trails and then highlight each trail as we complete them, so we know we have explored the whole park! You can also go camping at Turtle River or rent shelters to have parties.

Rydell Wildlife Refuge is about an hour-and-fifteen-minute drive from Grand Forks. There are lots of paths you can take, each about a mile-or-two long. There are little shelters and benches along the trails, so you can stop and rest, have a snack, or just take a minute to enjoy the view. Mairi’s favorite part about the refuge is all the animals you have a chance to see, including birds singing everywhere. Jonas’ favorite part is walking and enjoying the experience. He also likes taking breaks because they are nice to relax and recharge, while also having a wonderful view. Our favorite time of year to go to Rydell’s is in the fall, because the trees are beautiful with different colors everywhere.

We love University Park because there are so many places to walk and play. There are also picnic tables that look like checkerboards on the top, so you could have a picnic, or play checkers or chess. University Park has hands-down the best flower gardens in the Grand Forks  park district. There are some walking trails, and a lot of good climbing trees. There is a place under the bridge that is full of rocks. There is also a playground and splash pad – so bring your swimsuit along! A beautiful stone bridge makes it really fun to pretend you are the grumpy old troll who lives under a bridge. We love to walk the paths and check out all the beautiful flowers. University Park is also special to us because it’s where our parents got married!

Sertoma Park has a beautiful Japanese Garden along the coulee where you can walk and explore. Near the coulee there is a tree with a little fairy door and we always like to check it for trinkets or painted rocks. You’d be surprised how many we have found! The coulee has a lot of wildlife including tadpoles, minnows, geese, and ducks. One year there was a rooster loose at Sertoma Park and our whole community came together to help find him and take him to a farm where he belonged. We spent a good two hours trying to catch the rooster. There are two walking bridges and a little maze of trails to walk and explore. By the coulee, there is a secret path where you can hop over to a special little island that has a beautiful Japanese sculpture. Don’t throw the rocks and be careful not to fall into the mud!