West Saint Paul, MN Outdoor Activities

Discover your inner Davy Crockett with today's Groupon. For $5, you get admission to the 40th Annual Minnesota Sportsmen's Show any day from Wednesday, January 13, through Friday, January 15, at the Saint Paul River Centre. Gawk at great outdoorsy goods (RVs, motor homes, travel trailers, fishing boats), attend free fishing and hunting seminars, plan your next excursion, and witness a water-skiing squirrel purchasing a motor home.

Several years ago, Ken Smith and Chase Williams were typical door-to-door salesmen. In need of a gimmick to boost sales and a quicker mode of transport, the duo tried riding Segways and immediately fell in love. Eventually, they turned their love for the two-wheeled transporter into their current venture, All American Segway. Their company provides all manner of Segway engagement, including guided Segway tours that offer rolling educations in local history and wildlife. Customers can also discover the revolutionary devices on their own by renting out Segways for recreational use, private parties, or as a friend for a lonely office chair or shopping cart.

Water cascades over the precipice of a towering rock face, forming an elevated waterfall that overlooks the 18-hole circuit at Malt-Tees Mini Golf (formerly known as Adventure Gardens Mini Golf). Featured in CBS Minnesota's Best Things to Do in Richfield, the course winds through a labyrinth of colorful gardens and flowing streams, which players navigate via a system of bridges and putter pole-vaulting challenges. After rounds, appetites piqued by celebratory putter-gnawing can find relief at the concession stand, which serves up frozen desserts, drinks, and light snacks.

Roller derby combines the breakneck pace of NASCAR, the technical virtuosity of figure skating, and the hard-hitting action of badminton into a supersport smoothie. Your tickets get you in to see the Banger Sisters, Delta Delta Di, Kilmore Girls, and the Violent Femmes compete for first place, bragging rights, and bruises that most resemble Abraham Lincoln. Established in 2006, the North Star Roller Girls have steadily grown in popularity, becoming part of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association in 2008. Today, North Star’s travel team, the Supernovas, periodically compete for a coveted national rankings spot. Teams are propelled by traditional quad roller skates, mounds of spunk, and intimidating monikers such as “Ida Kildher” and “Maggie McFaceStomp” as they propel their point-scoring teammates past opponents.

In 1905, the Minnesota State Capitol building opened to the public; more than a century later, it continues to welcome more than 120,000 visitors each year to the home of the state government’s three branches. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style by acclaimed architect Cass Gilbert, the building lays claim to world’s second-largest self-supporting marble dome, a title the dome maintains by working a second job as the back-up roof of the Metrodome. Within the white Georgia marble and Saint Cloud–granite exterior of the edifice, 67 senators and 134 representatives wrangle with politics while striding through stately corridors and chambers decorated by murals, sculptures, and paintings carefully selected by Gilbert to complement the building’s elegant style. Hand-painted arabesques and local flora swirl overhead on the vaulted ceilings, and the brushstrokes of John LaFarge depict legal concepts above the bench of Minnesota’s supreme court. Visitors can drop into the rathskeller café, which evokes a German eating hall with restored murals, for a bite to eat and a toast to the health of the state’s royal family.

With only three home-turf games remaining in the season, cheer on the Twin Cities' fearsome squad of sassy ladies as they run, pass, tackle, kick, shimmy, teleport, twirl, and crank call their way across the gridiron. But don't expect any shortened fields, wussy tear-away flags, or altered rules just because the players have little use for a cup—this is straight-up football, right down to the earth-shaking QB sacks, high-flying Hail Marys, and tackles that pack their own crater. This hard-hitting action, coupled with intricate strategic plays, provides more entertainment than a shaky washing-machine race through a corn maze. Additionally, on May 8, Burnsville High School will host a BirdieBall golf tournament prior to the Vixen game (not included with the Groupon), which will feature par 3 holes, field goal drives, various prizes, and an opportunity to pair football with the most brutally unforgiving of sports.