Outside in MN

No experience required. From Minnesota Public Radio and MPR News, Outside in MN provides timely weather updates, events and how-to guides to prepare you for your next outdoor adventure. Download the app and get outside!

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Getting outside is good for us. Here's how to make it happen
We know that getting outside is good for us, particularly for kids. Research shows outdoor activity can reduce anxiety and stress and improve academic performance. But families say it's challenging to find time to spend outdoors, and kids are increasingly drawn to technology, keeping them inside.
Popular Minn. state parks working to keep the crowds in the future
Visitation to state parks in Minnesota is booming. Attendance is up more than 20 percent since 2003. But despite that popularity, there are some red flags on the horizon.
Hoping your butterfly release will boost monarch population? Not quite, study says
Despite an increase in the population this year, the number of North American monarchs making their seasonal migration has been falling dramatically over the past 20 years. And if monarchs don't migrate, they die.
See a turtle on the road? Help it live another day
June is nesting season for turtles, and females are looking for a place to lay their eggs. But roads can be a deadly hazard.
Audio postcard: The flowers of Minnesota's old-growth northern forest
The latest dispatch from wildflower experts Phyllis Root and Kelly Povo comes from the Lost 40, a plot of old-growth red and white pines in the Chippewa National Forest.
Gnats are awful this spring, but it might get better soon
This is a bad spring for humans and buffalo gnats. However, one expert sees relief from the pests in our near future.
No such thing as the Poop Fairy: Duluth tries whimsy offensive on scofflaw dog owners
Every spring, the piles of dog waste that were frozen all winter start to melt. It's a messy, potentially hazardous problem. So the parks department is reminding residents to pick up after their pets.