Summer, in the south metro

People in Minnesota love to talk about our state's quality of life. And when we talk about quality of life, we often talk about our lakes, our parks and our trails. The idea of green and blue spaces in which to enjoy the outdoors is something almost everybody can get behind.

Maybe that's why, when the Star Tribune South Extra staff sat down to make a list of uniquely local things to do in the southern suburbs this summer, parks and trails and rivers kept coming up.

We set out to compile a summer fun guide that goes deeper than the big-name, big-bucks attractions everybody knows about; to create a list of places to see and things to do that might be new to you. Turns out that if you're willing to drive into the country or to a suburb you don't often visit, you can find plenty to fill a free afternoon or a weekend, without breaking the bank.

The final list, like a similar list we published three years ago with 17 attractions, has a little of everything: Some are places to connect with nature, some are businesses with a unique flavor, some are reminders of our area's history, and some are just ways to try something new this summer.

They come on bikes and scooters and pile out of cars and SUVs. The young kids head for the swings and jungle gym. Their parents relax in cushioned patio chairs under shady umbrellas in the summer heat. Teens hang out in flip-flops and baggie shorts (guys) or short shorts (girls). They come for small-town camaraderie, in the middle of a big suburb. Not to mention the Blue Goo, crispy fries, Snow Storms and chicken strips. It's Dairy Delite. The independent ice cream stand in downtown Lakeville is a piece of 1950s Americana. The absence of drive-up service encourages conversation among those waiting in line at the ordering window on hot weekday afternoons. They stood amid big flower pots and hanging baskets looking at the cool ice cream possibilities on the menu beneath the protruding roof. "It's affordable and in a good area so everyone can get to it," said Kayla Bayer, 15, seated at a picnic table full of recent middle school grads. Taking the table's advice, a reporter lunched on thick, crisp fries, oversized chicken strips and a small Blue Goo-vanilla cone spiraled with blue icing. The tab: $5.33. 20885 Holyoke Av., Lakeville.

JIM ADAMS

Kids can enjoy a safe splash in the water feature at Burnsville's Nicollet Commons Park in front of the Performing Arts Center. The water is never above a child's ankle level in the pools, which are fed by fountains and falls that gently drop down the hill from the park entrance at Nicollet Avenue and 126th Street. Closely supervised by their parents, children frolic in the shallow, slowly moving water. They are transfixed by the water-spouting frogs and fish. They stand gamely in front of step-like falls and hover expectantly over shooting fountains that intermittently send up spray. The park, opened in June 2004, is lush with flowers, hosta, lawn and trees. For parents, there are rocks to sit on close to the water, multiple benches and lawn space for spreading blankets. Nearby are coffee shops, restaurants, stores and public restrooms. Children must have adult supervision, and those in diapers must use swim diapers or plastic pants with tight-fitting elastic at the legs and waist. 126th Street at Nicollet Avenue, Burnsville.

Hidden Valley Park is an aptly-named oasis of lush greenery and mature trees at Glendale Road and 132nd Street in Savage. A weekend visit found only a dozen cars in the parking lot -- most owned by a small party using the covered picnic shelter. The shelter has grills and looks out on a softball field and sand-filled volleyball court. There's also a small playground with a slide tall enough to delight a young child. The Credit River runs through the 45-acre park, and trails cross the river on small wooden bridges. The bridges are perfect for "Poohsticks," a lazy summer game created by "Winnie the Pooh" author A. A. Milne: Players drop sticks off a bridge on the upstream side and see whose stick first appears downstream. 5000 132nd St., Savage.

SUSAN FEYDER

It's the perfect hobby for people who like treasure hunts but don't mind if there's no real treasure. Geocaching caught on in Minnesota in the mid-2000s, and it's established enough now that you can find dozens of hidden "caches" within a few miles of just about anywhere. Here's how it works: Somebody hides a cache -- a container of almost any size containing almost anything -- and posts the GPS coordinates online, usually at Geocaching.com. Players enter the coordinates into their handheld GPS devices and go hunting. If they find the cache, they sign a logbook and can take an item from the container if they leave one in its place. Then they put it back for the next person to find. Dakota County parks have gotten on board, offering GPS units to check out for free at Lebanon Hills in Eagan and Byllesby Dam near Randolph. At Lebanon Hills last week, a first-time geocacher found one of the five "official" caches hidden by parks officials, as well as one unofficial cache. Expect to stray off the main paths, meaning long pants and bug spray are advised. Lebanon Hills Park, Cliff Road and N. Hay Lake Road, Eagan.

DYLAN BELDEN

If you don't own a boat but have a hankering to get out on the river, head for the Inver Grove Heights pier over the Mississippi River. The pier is a restored section of the historic Rock Island Swing Bridge that once took trains and traffic across the Mississippi. It's a unique vantage point from which to view the wide reach of the channel, watch the current, track river traffic and feel the breeze in your face. The city has just paved 66th Street, the entrance road to the bridge. New signs put up this spring direct traffic from Concord Boulevard to turn on 66th Street to visit the bridge. For now, visitors may park on 66th; the city plans to eventually add a gravel parking lot beside the road. After parking, walk to the short trail that extends from the end of 66th Street to the river. The view from the end of the pier is as good as it gets without a boat. 66th Street off Concord Boulevard, Inver Grove Heights.

Stroll through Minnesota's early history at the Sibley House Historic Site in Mendota, where guides offer 75-minute tours packed with information about the fur trade, the life of Henry Sibley, the state's first governor, and the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. The four limestone buildings on the site, dating to the mid-1800s, include the Sibley House and the old headquarters of the American Fur Company. There's a gift shop and modern restrooms, so bring a picnic and make a day of it. Trails behind the site wind through the river bottoms of Fort Snelling State Park. The Sibley House Historic Site is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. through Labor Day, with themed activities and special events on some weekends. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, college students and military personnel, and $5 for kids age 6-17. 1357 Sibley Memorial Hwy., Mendota.

KATIE HUMPHREY

It's hard to not make the comparison to the movie "Field of Dreams" when you slide into the bleachers at Jack Ruhr Field in Miesville to watch the Miesville Mudhens play some real small-town baseball. Cornfields stretch as far as the eye can see, and on any given afternoon or evening you'll probably find a whole lot of the town's 135 residents cheering right alongside you. The four-time state champion Hens were 9-4 after defeating Randolph 7-0 on June 24. The team even maintains its own Hall of Fame. If hunger pangs strike during the game, there's $3 brats and beer. Or, after the game, consider a meal at Wiederholt's Supper Club, where the menu features everything from prime rib and chicken drummies to frog legs. The Mudhens have nine home games remaining, including today's 2 p.m. matchup against the Red Wing Knights. Hwy. 50 in Miesville. www.miesvillemudhens .com.

PAT PHEIFER

The Scott County Fairgrounds near Jordan are pretty deserted this time of year -- all the better for viewing its gardens designed, planted and tended by the Scott/Carver County Master Gardeners. The compact beds are packed with perennials and annuals, including flowers that attract butterflies and serve as pollinators for bees. One carefully arranged bed has a North Woods theme, with a dollhouse-sized log cabin flanked by two miniature lakes made of shiny glass. Another features a scaled-down version of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden's Spoonbridge and Cherry. You'll find nary a weed in these gardens, just a partially deflated football in a circular bed with purple petunias and marigolds saluting the Minnesota Vikings -- a possible horticultural comment on the team's record last year. 7151 W. 190th St., Jordan.

Thompson County Park might not look like much to those driving by on Butler Avenue in West St. Paul: A small lake, a picnic shelter, a playground, some horseshoe pits. But park your car and get on the trail, and you'll discover that appearances can be deceiving. The main trail wraps around the lake and into a pleasant prairie environment with abundant wildflowers, and if you follow it across Hwy. 52 into Kaposia Park in South St. Paul, you can keep going steadily downhill through a secluded ravine with a gentle stream. (You'll also come across disc-golf baskets that comprise one of the state's most challenging courses.) Pass through a tunnel and cross another bridge, and you can make it all the way to Kaposia Landing on the Mississippi River, with its spacious dog park. Technically, it's called the North Urban Regional Trail, but the name doesn't quite capture the feel. Thompson County Park, 360 Butler Av. E., West St. Paul.

DYLAN BELDEN

It isn't as long as Miami's or as famous as San Antonio's, but Northfield's Riverwalk brings forth the same feeling of being transported to another place as you stroll a few blocks along the Cannon River. There are places to sit, lie down on the grass, fish or simply watch and listen to the river. An added bonus is the Riverwalk Market Fair, held on Saturdays through October from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Along with artwork, there is fresh produce and entertainment. There are snacks to munch on, but if you need something more substantial, there are restaurants ranging from Indian food at Chapati's restaurant to burgers and pub food at Froggy Bottoms. Along Water Street, between 5th and 2nd streets, Northfield.

HERON MARQUEZ

They must have to Windex the display cases often at Ring Mountain Cafe and Creamery in Eagan. Kids, spotting the glistening rows of gelato and ice cream glowing in bright sensuous colors behind the glass, emit screams of joy, break into a sprint, then lean against the glass, pointing and looking upward at Mom or Dad with beseeching faces. It's a type of display familiar in Tuscany or Barcelona but less so here -- still less in a strip mall. This place, though, with tons of window frontage, a flagstone fireplace with soft chairs, free Wi-Fi, and sidewalk-table umbrella fabric rippling in the breeze outside, is a pleasant spot. There's a striking display of artwork, and -- a sobering touch -- a wall of portraits of military fallen, under the rubric "some gave all." Let the gelato warm a bit and start to melt; it is satiny on the tongue. 1965 Cliff Lake Road, Eagan. ringmountain.com.

Dodge Nature Center occupies 320 acres in West St. Paul, offering a quick escape into nature. Open seven days a week from sunup to sunset, its six miles of trails pass through woods, over prairie, and past lakes and wetlands. The center has a working farm, bee apiary and orchard. It regularly posts public classes and programs on its website, offering camps and classes on more than 50 topics through the year. Marie Avenue is under construction in Mendota Heights this summer and closed to traffic. Enter Dodge on Marie from the West St. Paul side. Parking regularly spills out to the side of Marie. 365 Marie Av. W., West St. Paul. www.dodgenaturecenter.org.

LAURIE BLAKE

There are two drive-in movie theaters left in the Twin Cities, and they're both within reasonable driving distance from Dakota County. The closest, the Cottage View, tends to show more family-friendly films than its counterpart, the Vali-Hi in Lake Elmo. A visit is the proverbial step backward in time. Admission for a double feature is $8 ($2 for kids). The aisles where vehicles line up still have the old speaker poles, though audio now comes through your car stereo. Kids toss Frisbees or chase dogs while the crowd waits for dusk to settle in and the big screen to light up. A few bucks can get you a frozen pizza, cooked to order and served on a grease-stained cardboard circle, from the concession stand. Enjoy it while you can, because most every season is rumored to be Cottage View's last; at the moment, a plan is afoot to turn the site into a Wal-Mart. 9338 E. Point Douglas Road, Cottage Grove. www.startribune.com/a1456.

DYLAN BELDEN

If it's action and adrenaline that you seek, find your way to one of the south metro's many paintball shops or playing fields. During open sessions on weekends at Adventure Zone Paintball on Hwy. 55 in Rosemount, players age 12 and over can rent gear and safety equipment or bring their own. Armed with hundreds -- or thousands! -- of paintballs, people divided into teams take to the woods where seven different playing fields with a variety of obstacles await. Staff are on hand to help newbies catch on. Prices vary based on how much gear you rent and how many paintballs you plan to fire. Long pants and long sleeves are recommended, as taking a shot sometimes stings. MN Pro Paintball in Lakeville, wwwmnpropaintball.com; Action Packed Paintball Games, Jordan, www.actionpackedpaintball.com; or Adventure Zone Paintball in Rosemount, www.adventurezonepaintball.com.

A glass of wine, some simple food, a stroll through vineyards. All possible on a small farm near Prior Lake that offers wine tasting, music and dinner events throughout the summer. Start off with the wine tasting, available any time that Crofut Family Winery and Vineyard is open. The tastings are done in the farm's gift shop or the wine can be enjoyed out on the pleasant patio. The Crofut family has been making wine for three generations on the 63-acre spread, but wine is only one of many things available at Crofut. There is the occasional yoga session, along with acoustic music on Saturday afternoons and the popular rib fests held the first and third Fridays of the month. The winery has a grape stomp on Sept. 8-9 with people able to watch or participate. Summer hours are Fridays 2 p.m.-8 p.m., Saturdays 11 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sundays noon-5 p.m. through Labor Day. 21646 Langford Av. S. (Hwy. 13), near the intersection of County Road 8. www.crofutwinery.com.

HERON MARQUEZ

Wildflower Levee Park is a South St. Paul secret to anyone who can't bike or walk a half mile. The half-acre green space is wedged between the Mississippi River barge traffic and a scenic levee bike trail running along the former stockyards railroad tracks. The crescent-shaped park offers several picnic tables, young shade trees, purple clover, orange wildflowers and songbirds. The only unnatural feature is a large, well-rusted iron Industrious Cooperative Ant donated in 2008 by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. "I love the trains," said Mike Furlong, a local biker who stopped to chat. "I've taken pictures of bald eagles and steamboats coming up the river." The noticeable transit mode excluded is motorized vehicles. They're relegated to parking lots within half a mile of the half-acre park on the Mississippi River Regional Trail. Just half a mile south of the levee park is the Interstate 494 Wakota Bridge. The park offers a boat ramp, fishing pier and plenty of space for cars with trailers and bike racks. Enter the trail there or at the Spiral Bridge near Hardman Avenue and Grand Avenue, South St. Paul.

JIM ADAMS

Turn a tour of rural southern Dakota County into a natural scavenger hunt with a visit to Chimney Rock. The sandstone pillar is the last of its kind in the area, carved long ago when glaciers passed through. The geological marvel is part of a Scientific and Natural Area, controlled by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and open to the public for hiking and bird watching. The rock stands among undeveloped wilderness, so don't expect groomed trails or picnic sites. But those who look for the narrow path by the telephone pole and follow it just a few steps into the woods will find a towering monument to the region's natural history. Look for Chimney Rock peeking through the trees atop the hill just south of the private farm on the west side of County Road 89. County Road 89/Joan Avenue, about a mile south of County Road 77. Park on the west shoulder.

Topography and corporate ownership conspire to keep us well away from the Minnesota River along most of its length in the metro area. But there's a trail you can take to get much closer -- and even see the spot where the Minnesota and the Mississippi meet. At times along the length of the Big Rivers Regional Trail, it's as if you were in the middle of nowhere, gliding in serene noiseless shade beneath overhanging trees. At other times you are churning along beside busy highways. All in all, the trail amounts to just a smidgen over 5 miles, from a trailhead just north of I-494 along Hwy. 13 (pause to hike across the grass to ponder the skyline of corporate Bloomington and the arrivals and departures of jetliners) to Lilydale. En route: the historic hamlet of Mendota. There are trail connections to Fort Snelling State Park and other networks of paths. There's a trail map online at www.startribune.com/a1452. Mendota Heights.

DAVID PETERSON

City slickers eager to connect with their rural past can find it at the Dakota City Heritage Village, a collection of 22 buildings on the Dakota County Fairgrounds in Farmington. Group walking tours must be scheduled in advance by calling 651-460-8050. Otherwise the village is open for special events throughout the year, including Family and Friends Fun Days on July 13 and Aug. 24. The cost for both the group tours and fun days is $5 per person for ages 3 and up. The village has costumed guides and demonstrations of blacksmithing, wood-stove cooking and other activities from rural life in the early 1900s. A museum has more than 10,000 artifacts depicting social history, with an emphasis on agriculture. There's also a gift shop, drugstore and picnic grounds. 4008 W. 220th St., Farmington. www.dakotacity.org.

SUSAN FEYDER

If you want to know how much some folks suffer to make the rest of us happy, just step out of the seemingly unbearable 95-degree heat of a July afternoon into the blast-furnace ferocity of 120 degrees. That's what it gets to inside the kitchen -- you'll never feel it as a customer -- of Mr. Pig Stuff, a magnificently unpretentious BBQ joint on the edge of downtown Shakopee. The place looks like a Dairy Queen circa 1955, with two customer-service windows and no inside seating, just picnic tables along the shaded edge of a parking lot. Mayor Brad Tabke loves it. "It's the worst name ever for a business, but it's awesome, really good BBQ. It started as a catering company and you just get it to-go. In summer you can picnic outside; in winter you sit in your car and drip sauce over your white shirt." (About the name: catered pig roasts are the specialty of the house.). 835 First Av. W., Shakopee.

Nothing says summer like the burst of flavor in bush- or tree-ripened cherries, blueberries, raspberries and peaches. Customers flock to Afton Apple, just north of Hastings, right about now to pick up 10-pound boxes of the fabulous fruits to freeze for pies or make into jams and jellies to enjoy the flavors all year long. Owners Cindy Femling and her husband bring in a semitrailer truckload of cherries -- sweet and dark, Rainier and tart cherries (which make the best pies) and blueberries from growers in Michigan in early to mid-July, and another of blueberries and peaches in early August, and they go fast. (Alas, there will be no peaches this year due to extreme weather conditions in the spring.) Call now to see if the Femlings have extra cherries. There are likely to be extras in the second shipment of blueberries, Femling said last week. Afton Apple also has pick-your-own raspberries starting in mid-August. Apple season starts around the middle of August, and pumpkins are available in the fall. 14421 S. 90th St., Hastings. 651-436-8385. www.aftonapple.com.

PAT PHEIFER

Outside the Northfield Historical Society are three black circles denoting bullets fired as the infamous James-Younger gang tried to rob the First National Bank on Sept. 7, 1876. The townspeople thwarted the robbery, killing two of Jesse James' outlaws in the process and transforming the community in a span of seven minutes. The Defeat of Jesse James Days has become the biggest community celebration in Northfield, and the First National Bank building is the Historical Society's centerpiece. In 1975 the society purchased the Scriver Building where the bank is located and restored it to how it looked in 1876. Tours are available for $4 for adults, $3 for students and seniors; children 6-12 are $2 and kids under 6 are free. The museum and gift shop are open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1 p.m.-6 p.m. on Sundays. 408 Division St., Northfield. www.northfield history.org.