Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Saquon Barkley Plaque
Kirkkasik Bedesten inside
Kirkkasik Bedesten
Someshwar Temple
Someshwar Temple
Grilled cheese and tomato soup are soulmates.
The Palisades Restaurant
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
A skeleton on display contemplating its own mortality.
Kid Mai Death Awareness Cafe
This classic London pub has a surprising history behind it.
John Snow
The beef, Guinness, and oyster pie sports a rich, flaky crust.
The Guinea
Welcome to one of the only floating pubs in the world.
Tamesis Dock
This may be the oldest pie in the world.
St Helens 'Oldest Pie' at The Turks Head
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Decoy’s wines reflect the terroir of California.
How a Wooden Duck Migrated From the California Wetlands to a Wine Label
11 days ago
There’s more to the French capital than the Eiffel Tower.
Dear Atlas: What Are Some Non-Touristy Things to Do in Paris?
14 days ago
The plants around Liz Dauncey in this photo are not poisonous, but many common garden and houseplants are.
Are Some of Your Favorite Houseplants Poisonous? AO Wants to Know.
21 days ago
“There may be a collective sense of a dark loneliness,” Dahl says, referring to Norway’s natural landscape.
In Norway, Easter Means Tucking Into Crime Stories
21 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
All the United States Minnesota

The Atlas Obscura Guide To Minnesota

190 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Minnesota

Updated March 18, 2025

Email

Cities

Top Cities
Minneapolis
Electro-Metabograph
Saint Paul
Entrance to the tunnel.
Duluth
A 1927 Greyhound bus on display at the museum.
Hibbing
(Flickr/Trip Deezil)
Alexandria
Devil’s Kettle.
Grand Marais
All Cities
  1. Alexandria
  2. Baudette
  3. Bemidji
  4. Duluth
  5. Fergus Falls
  6. Grand Marais
  7. Hibbing
  8. Minneapolis
  9. Saint Paul
  10. St. Cloud
  11. St. Joseph
  12. St. Louis Park
  13. Two Harbors
  14. Winona
Attractions
Food & Drink
Map
Leaderboards
Stories
Lists

Unusual Attractions in Minnesota

The anechoic chamber

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Orfield Labs Quiet Chamber

This lab's maddening silence is good for business but bad for sanity.
Niagara Cave

Harmony, Minnesota

Niagara Cave

This large midwestern cavern features impressive rock formations and an underground waterfall.
Electro-Metabograph

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Museum of Quackery and Medical Frauds

A museum within a museum, devoted to history's most questionable medical devices.
Devil’s Kettle.

Grand Marais, Minnesota

Devil's Kettle

Half of a waterfall goes into the river while the other half seems to disappear.
The Frank Lloyd Wright gas station today

Cloquet, Minnesota

Frank Lloyd Wright Gas Station

The famed architect designed this Minnesota gas station of the future with a lookout tower.
The entrance to the caves in St. Paul.

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Wabasha Street Caves

These curious caverns have been home to mushrooms, gangsters, and disco.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

City Salvage

An architecturally-focused antique shop.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum

20,000 pieces in a Frank Gehry-designed building.
See All 190 Things To Do in Minnesota

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Minnesota

Spam Museum - new location is 101 3rd Ave NE and is due to open April 22, 2016 in Austin, MN

Austin, Minnesota

Spam Museum

Ever wanted to can Spam?
Rib options

Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Herbivorous Butcher

A butcher shop in Minneapolis has all the meats and cheeses you’d expect from any of its kind—except that all the products are vegan.
Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store

Jordan, Minnesota

Minnesota's Largest Candy Store

This bright yellow building is packed with sweet treats from all around the world, from chocolate-covered crickets to whoopie pies.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Gatherings Cafe

An eatery within the Minneapolis American Indian Center writes colonial ingredients out of the story of Native American cuisine.
See all 12 Places to Eat in Minnesota
In partnership with KAYAK

Plan Your Trip

In partnership with GetYourGuide

Unforgettable Experiences Nearby

Atlas Obscura Itineraries

18 Mini Golf Courses You Should Go Out of Your Way to Play

Adventures filled with oversized characters, obstacles, and castles await—all you need to join is a putter and a ball. Yes, we're talking about miniature golf, the Lilliputian game with a big imagination. Since 2012, we—Tom Loftus and Robin Schwartzman—have been documenting the world of mini golf on our website A Couple of Putts. After putting our way through more than 300 courses, we’ve stumbled into becoming experts who design, build, and consult on all things miniature golf. With our keen eye for elements that make courses distinctive and magical destinations, we’ve created this world tour to showcase some of our personal favorites, as well as a few courses on our “must play” list. In keeping with the theme, here are 18 unique courses that span the globe. This wild assortment of putting places offer unique ways to interact with the past and present. Putt when ready!

View Itinerary
The courses may be miniature, but the spectacle is gigantic.

Explore Minnesota

190
Architecture 21
Museums 21
Architectural Oddities 16
Art 14
Water 14
Statues 13
Roadside Attractions 12
Monuments 10
Music 10
Sculptures 10
Parks 9
Collections 9
Unique Restaurants & Bars 2
Places To Stay 2

Minnesota Leaderboard

Places Added

  1. lizzieboyle
    18
  2. Dr Alan P Newman
    12
  3. Emily Sue
    5
  4. littlebrumble
    5
  5. typosinkeye
    5
Join the Ranks!
Add an unusual place to Minnesota.

Places Edited

  1. Collector of Experiences
    52
  2. Dr Alan P Newman
    28
  3. michaelnhartman
    19
  4. lizzieboyle
    15
  5. lorie shaull
    12

Places Visited

  1. collinqburke
    125
  2. joewicklund
    124
  3. wajone
    106
  4. okbyajc
    90
  5. swooleve
    84

Recent Minnesota Activity

  • malloryS

    wants to go to The Times They Are A-Changin'

    1 day ago
  • tacoabouttown

    wants to go to Spam Museum

    about 21 hours ago
  • tacoabouttown

    wants to go to World’s Largest Prairie Chicken

    about 21 hours ago
  • tacoabouttown

    wants to go to Otto the Otter

    about 21 hours ago
  • cleeve

    has been to Owamni

    about 20 hours ago

Stories About Minnesota

A fish sits on the edge of a hole cut through the ice of Bass Lake in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest.

Ice Fishing in the Time of Climate Change

Wide swings in winter temperature delay ice formation on Midwest lakes, turning a beloved pastime into a dangerous game.
by Kristoffer Tigue
January 27, 2025
Em Loerzel and her Anishinaabe community in western Wisconsin are bringing Mino and his fellow Ojibwe ponies back to their ancestral land.

The Return of the Ojibwe Pony, the Midwest's Native Horse

A rare breed once on the brink of extinction is making a comeback on their ancestral lands.
by Roxanne Hoorn
July 25, 2024

Podcast: Owamni

Visit a restaurant dedicated to decolonizing food and honoring Indigenous meal traditions, with its award-winning chef Sean Sherman.
by The Podcast Team
February 14, 2024
Captain Heather Friedli puts the final touches on Team Kwe’s sculpture, “Wenabozho and Dadibaajimad Journey on the River of Souls.”

This Team of Indigenous Women Sculpts Stories in Snow

Team Kwe honors their Anishinaabe roots in the art and sport of snow sculpting.
by Roxanne Hoorn
February 1, 2024

Podcast: Seeking the (Minnesota-Shaped) Forest Through the Trees - Part 2

The man behind the mysterious project finally shares why.
by The Podcast Team
February 1, 2024

Podcast: Seeking the (Minnesota-Shaped) Forest Through the Trees - Part 1

If a tree falls in Google Maps, does it make a sound?
by The Podcast Team
January 31, 2024
A nearly gutted department store escalator in Owings Mills Mall in Owings Mills, Maryland.

The Life and Death of the American Mall

The indoor suburban shopping center is a special kind of abandoned place.
by Matthew Christopher
January 10, 2024
Making Swedish egg coffee is both a beloved tradition and a fascinating chemical process.

The Midwest's Scandinavian Secret to Eggcellent Coffee

Immigrants from Northern Europe used eggs to make a smooth, tasty brew.
by Kathy Adams
November 7, 2023

Lists Featuring Minnesota

Madaba Mosaic Map
The gallery of maps, showing the ceiling
Great Polish Map of Scotland

13 Marvelous Maps That Go Way Beyond Paper

Charting the world's most intriguing out-of-the-box cartography.

13

Including Madaba Mosaic Map, Gallery of Maps - Galleria delle Carte Geografiche, and Mapparium Globe

Blue Sky Mausoleum.
Darwin Martin House Complex.
Skylights on the exterior porch made of red cypress.
A restored Wright house on the Burnham Block.

A 12-Stop Road Trip of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Most Surprising Designs

A UFO-inspired church, a futurist gas station, and more deep cuts.

12

Including Blue Sky Mausoleum, The Darwin D. Martin House, and Kentuck Knob

Original letter of Abraham, the son of Maimonides found in the Cairo genizah.
A sculpture of the Tower of Babel, by Alan Baughman, from the Introductory Room of the Museum of the Alphabet
Boontling word of the week in the tap room of the Anderson Valley Brewing Company.

A Linguistics Lover's Tour of the World

12 places to marvel at the history of human language.

12

Including The Cairo Genizah , The Museum of the Alphabet , and Boontling Language of Boonville

Become an Atlas Obscura Member

Join our community of curious explorers.

Learn More

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.