There’s no better time to go for a walk in Minnesota than fall. The air gets a little crisper and familiar parks and trails begin changing almost daily as summer green gives way to yellow, orange and red. Fortunately, you don't have to travel far from Cedars of Edina to find some beautiful places to experience it. We've put together a few of our favorite places to walk around Edina and the Twin Cities, from quiet nature preserves and wooded trails to lakeside paths and gardens.
So grab a coffee, lace up your walking shoes and enjoy one of the best seasons Minnesota has to offer!
Bredesen Park (Edina)
5901 Olinger Boulevard, Edina
If you're looking for a walk that feels surprisingly removed from the city without actually leaving Edina, Bredesen Park is hard to beat. At 206 acres, it's one of Edina's largest parks, with a mix of paved walking and biking paths and quieter nature trails winding through the woods.
The City of Edina is currently restoring 44 acres of natural areas around Nine Mile Creek, removing invasive plants and restoring native oak savanna and wetlands. Management of those restored areas is continuing through 2026.
Why we love it: The combination of woods, wetlands, and open areas provides plenty of changing scenery in a single walk, and plenty of opportunities for fall photos.
Hyland Lake Park Reserve (Bloomington)
10145 Bush Lake Road, Bloomington
If you want to disappear into the woods for a while, Hyland Lake Park Reserve is one of the best options close to Edina. The preserve has an extensive network of trails through woods, prairie and around lakes and wetlands. You can make your visit a relatively short stroll or choose a longer route and spend a good portion of the afternoon exploring.
Why we love it: Hyland has enough acreage and variety that it feels like a genuine nature walk rather than simply a path through a city park. When the leaves begin changing, some of the wooded sections are spectacular.
Westwood Hills Nature Center (St. Louis Park)
8300 W. Franklin Avenue, St. Louis Park
Westwood Hills might be one of the Twin Cities' best examples of how quickly you can go from suburban streets to feeling surrounded by nature. The 160-acre preserve includes marsh, woods and restored prairie, with trails and boardwalks winding throughout the property. Wildlife sightings can include deer, turtles, foxes, mink and owls. The trails are open daily from sunrise to sunset year-round.
Why we love it: There's a little bit of everything here. Wooded paths give you fall color overhead, while the boardwalks and wetlands open up the landscape and provide some beautiful views.
Lake Harriet and Roberts Bird Sanctuary (Minneapolis)
Lake Harriet Parkway and 4124 Roseway Road, Minneapolis
This is one of our favorite areas because you can create a different walk almost every time you visit. Start with a stroll around Lake Harriet, or concentrate your visit around the northeast side of the lake, where several beautiful Minneapolis destinations sit practically next door to one another.
Walk through the Lyndale Park Rose Garden, then cross over to the Peace Garden, with its landscaped paths, rocks and quiet places to stop. Right alongside them is the Thomas Sadler Roberts Bird Sanctuary, where the manicured gardens suddenly give way to woodland trails and bird habitat. Stop at Bread & Pickle (open seasonally) or take a detour to the quaint neighbourhood of Linden Hills and stroll the main shopping and dining area at 43rd and Upton Ave S.
Why we love it: Variety. In a relatively small area, you can go from lake views to formal gardens to a wooded nature sanctuary. It's also an excellent place to bring a camera.
Wood Lake Nature Center (Richfield)
6710 Lake Shore Drive, Richfield
Wood Lake is another place where it's easy to forget how close you are to busy city streets. This 150-acre natural area includes cattail marsh, forest and restored prairie. More than two miles of crushed-limestone walking trails wind through the preserve, along with one of Wood Lake's best features: its floating boardwalk. Depending on the route you choose, you can walk through woodland, alongside prairie or out over the marsh.
Why we love it: The boardwalk! Walking over the marsh surrounded by cattails and fall color feels distinctly Minnesotan.
Normandale Lake Park (Bloomington)
8401 Chalet Road, Bloomington
For an easy lakeside walk with plenty of open views, Normandale Lake Park is a great option nearby. The park has 4.5 miles of trails including the roughly 2-mile loop around Normandale Lake which is long enough to feel like you've gotten a good walk in, but easy to fit into a morning or afternoon.
The landscape here feels quite different from the wooded trails at nearby Hyland Lake. The path follows the shoreline through a mixture of open grassy areas and trees, with plenty of views across the water. There's also the Normandale Lake Bandshell on the north side of the lake, along with picnic areas and places to stop along the way.
Why we love it: The reflections! Once the trees around the shoreline begin changing, you get fall color both around the path and reflected across the lake. The paved loop also makes this a good choice when you want a straightforward walk rather than a hike through the woods.
Fred Richards Park (Edina)
4400 Parklawn Avenue, Edina
Fred Richards deserves a spot on this list for a slightly different reason: this is a park to watch! The former Fred Richards Golf Course is in the middle of a major transformation into a new 43-acre public park, almost twice the size of Centennial Lakes Park.
When complete, plans include walking and mountain biking trails, restored wetlands and natural areas, sport courts, open spaces, a pavilion and other amenities. Construction activity is now underway in fall 2026, including significant grading and earthwork. The City expects the full construction process to take approximately 18 months and intends to keep trails open when possible.
Why we're including it: Because this will eventually become another significant outdoor destination right here in Edina, just steps away from Cedars! Check the City of Edina's current construction updates before planning a walk here, as trail access may change while work is underway.
Centennial Lakes + Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail (Edina)
Of course, we can't make a Cedars walking guide without including our own neighborhood.
Centennial Lakes Park offers an easy paved loop of roughly 1.4 miles, with a chain of lakes, landscaping, public art and the adjoining Edina Promenade. It's perfect when you don't necessarily want a hike, you just want to get outside and walk.
For something longer, connect into the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail, a 15.3-mile regional trail running through Hopkins, Edina, Minnetonka and Richfield.
Why we love it: It's close, easy and beautiful… and watching the landscaping around Centennial Lakes transition from summer into fall is part of the fun.
2026 trail note: Sections of the Nine Mile Creek Regional Trail east of France Avenue near
Arneson Acres Park (Edina)
4711 W. 70th Street, Edina
Arneson Acres is a great choice when you're looking for a shorter stroll. The property was once a tree nursery and today includes gardens maintained by the Edina Garden Council, along with mature trees and landscaped grounds. It's also home to the historic Cahill School and Grange Hall, connecting a little piece of Edina history to the walk.
Why we love it: It's compact, pretty and easy to combine with another stop around Edina. It's also a great place to slow down and notice the smaller seasonal changes happening in the gardens.
A Few Fall Walking Tips
Minnesota fall weather has a habit of changing its mind, so layers are always a good idea. After rain, natural-surface trails can also be muddy even when paved paths nearby are completely dry.
If you're hoping to catch peak color, don't worry too much about finding the perfect weekend. Different trees change at different times, which means these walks can look completely different from one week to the next.
And bring your camera—or at least your phone. Fall never seems to last quite as long as we'd like it to.
Close to Home
Within a short drive of Cedars, you can walk through prairie, circle a lake, cross a marsh on a boardwalk, wander through a bird sanctuary or spend an afternoon beneath changing maple and oak trees… but sometimes you don't need a destination at all! Here at Cedars, we're fortunate to have 23 acres of grounds of our own, with walking paths, ponds, waterfalls and plenty of trees that put on their own show each autumn.
So, whether you're exploring one of these nearby parks or simply taking the long way around the courtyard on your way home, this is the time of year to get outside and enjoy it.
