Outdoors

From camping to dining out: Here's how experts rate the risks of 14 summer activities
The weather's warming up and public spaces are starting to reopen. How do you decide what's safe to do? We have guidance to help you compare and evaluate the risks.
Girl Scout camps in Minnesota canceled for the summer
“Making the decision to cancel camp was honestly one of the hardest things I’ve done in the 26 years I’ve worked at Girl Scouts, because girls in the out-of-doors is core to what we believe in,” said Leigh Ann Davis, CEO for the Lakes and Pines council.
Residents on the North Shore say they have been seeing large crowds at popular state parks and recreation areas. That comes despite Governor Tim Walz's stay-at-home order and Cook County’s no-travel advisory, both of which are aimed at restricting unnecessary visitors.
Minnesota’s stay-at-home order encourages getting outside, but how far away?
Outdoor activities like fishing, hiking and biking are explicitly allowed under Minnesota’s stay-at-home order. But that order also limits nonessential travel. So, just how far can people travel to get outside?
Audio postcard: Searching for early spring wildflowers
This year’s first bloom report comes to us from a stretch of prairie in Cannon Falls, Minn, where wildflower hunters Kelly Povo and Phyllis Root went looking for tiny purple pasqueflowers, an early sign of spring.
A missing boy and a freezing swamp test Wisconsin tracker's instincts
The rookie Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources warden heard the radio squawk: a 13-year-old boy, missing, in a freezing swamp with snow moving in. He flipped on his lights and sirens and headed for a search that would test all his skills and abilities.