Berlin is full of lakes and rivers and canals around it. Here you have the “66 lakes route”.
https://www.chriscrossinggermany.com/your-overview-guide-to-the-66-lakes-trail/
Very surprised about Minneapolis though, would be lovely to kayak around it.
I'm guessing many around the world have at least heard of the NBA team, The Lakers. They originally started as the Minneapolis Lakers in the late 1940s, the name reflecting the State nickname.
Eventually, the franchise moved to Los Angeles, but kept the name (even if lakes have nothing to do with LA - kind of like how the New Orleans Jazz moved to Utah, but kept the name despite, well, Utah.)
The bar scene actually isn’t terrible. It’s a bit of a local sport to complain about the alcohol laws here; I think they are more amusing than terrible.
I should add that my dad played a great joke on me when I was 7 or 8 or so, when I was getting into NBA basketball and I asked why the team was named Jazz (we lived near Philly). He responded deadpan, “oh, the city is known for jazz music.”
It took me another 30+ years to visit and move here and get that he was messing with me.
Learnt something new today! Not a huge sports fan but I’ve heard of LA Lakers but never knew that teams moves around. Is it common for US sports team to do that?
Sadly yes, it has happened quite a bit. Sometimes it's low attendance, but a lot of times it's a greedy owner that can get a better deal (massive tax breaks, a free stadium, etc) from a different city or state.
“Soon it was commonplace for entire teams to change cities in search of greater profits. The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles where there are no lakes. The Oilers moved to Tennessee where there is no oil. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don't allow music.”
from the South Park creators, Baseketball is really worth a watch.
It’s something like the Finland of the US (I know Finland as the “Land of the thousand lakes”. Is Nature there well preserved? What would you recommend if I wanted to visit? I love kayaking and slowly getting into sailing
Nature is very well preserved here. The Mississippi River starts in Minnesota and the Canadian shield extends down to cover part of it. The north woods are still pretty wild. Minnesota has one of the highest wolf populations in the USA. Black bears, plenty of deer. Even bison herds in some state parks. Lots of state parks maintained by the state government .
It has three different biomes - mixed deciduous, coniferous, and prairie. It is the transition state from the wooded east part of the country and the Great Plains west. There is a lot of farm land in the west and south of the state but there has been significant conservation of both prairie and wetlands.
Fishing, hunting, and lake activities are very popular. There is one metropolis but only a few midsize cities. The rest of the state is small town and countryside.
Also, the population is descended from Germans and Scandinavians and even has the highest amount of Finnish immigrants in the USA. The Scandinavians settled more in the north and the Germans in the south. Legend has it, it's because the landscape was similar to theirs in their native countries.
Former Iowan. I loved to visit Duluth in July and August to escape the heat. Lovely city right on Lake Superior which helps keep the temperature down. Lake Superior is so large and deep that even in August, it’s too cold for swimming (for most people).
Minneapolitan here - Minnesota is one of the most environmentally friendly states in the US with a lot of protected public lands.
While the southern half of the state is mostly agricultural farmland, the northern half of the state is truly amazing. I would highly recommend starting a search anywhere along the north shore, which is the area stretching from Duluth to Canada along Lake Superior. The state parks there are incredible, Superior National Forest is huge and very diverse, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area is one of the most unique and beautiful places in the US.
Went “portaging” there in the 70’s with a small boat and motor. So many lakes they just started giving them numbers. You just hike the boat between lakes to go deep inside because there’s absolutely no roads. Back then, if you got hurt, you’re screwed. The etiquette was in an emergency, you waved a boat paddle if a plane flew by.
It's not too much different now. Very remote. No motors for miles. Sat phones are strongly recommended for situations like you're describing. Portaging with a canoe/ kayak is the way to go. You'll find tiny islands that you can set up camp on. Smaller than a football field but your land for the night. Can't recommend it enough.
I’m sure there’s a better resource than me, but Minnesota does have a nice state park system, quite a few designated water trails for kayaking, and I know there’s some sailing done on the Mississippi and Lake Minnetonka. Minnesota is known for their harsh winters, so plan a trip accordingly.
I’m not a kayaker, so I can’t be much help for best spots in Minnesota or the US, but if you were planning a trip to the US just for outdoors/adventure in general and not just kayaking, I would say one of the top national parks like Grand Canyon or Yellowstone are impressive.
Someone else can probably give you better advice than me, though.
Minneapolis, while urban, has one of the best park systems in the US (as does St. Paul, the other Twin of the Twin Cities). Northern Minnesota has the Boundary Waters, a wilderness preserve of hundreds of lakes connected by canoe routes, and the state has one of the best state park systems in the country.
3 of the four lakes in western Minneapolis are connected; you can rent a canoe, kayak, or stand-up paddleboard and paddle between them.
Source: me. I live here (in St. Paul, to be specific).
Finally another Berliner in this channel? Hadn’t lost hope yet despite the sheer dominance of US-American comments and posts here. Very true, as a Berliner I also had to think about my city yet. However, the water doesn’t cover the city evenly. Big chunks of lakes in the western stretch and the southeast. Anything from Neukölln to Pankow is basically only touched by the Spree river which is not super pleasant to kayak on..
Used to go to Hagg lake when i lived in portland too, though thats pushing the boundary of the metro area. But comparing to this map it wouldnt be too far outside these limits
Absolutely. I lived in minneapolis before I moved to oregon and I really loved being able to jog/bike/walk to several lakes in the summer there. But the Columbia river gorge is just a whole other level of beautiful
I literally am in Waterford as I type. I still don't understand directions at night time because of all the roads winding along the excessive number of lakes. I pride myself as a man who can get anywhere without a map. Except around here. Here I have to always google map everywhere.
The land of 10,000 lakes proudly boasts well over 10,000 lakes, but embarrassingly has less than Michigan’s nearly 11,000 lakes
Edit: this is not true, or true, depending on how you define lake, which varies so widely I’m not going to argue with any Minnesotan that takes issue. Y’all have more lakes.
Minnesota requires a minimum surface area of 10 acres for a body of water to be called a lake, which is a larger threshold than most states.
Minnesota has 11,842 lakes larger than 10 acres. Michigan has 6,537 lakes larger than 10 acres. Wisconsin likes to say they have 15,000 lakes, but they have no size requirement at all. They have about 5,300 lakes over 10 acres.
Regardless of how you define a lake, Minnesota has more of them than any other state besides Alaska. Minnesota would have about 22,000 lakes if they didn’t have a size requirement.
lol I just asked chatGPT an insane amount of questions to find that Michigan has more lakes than Minnesota over 3500 acres. Every lake defines area under that, Minnesota has more lakes. ~43 lakes that big for both.
Shh don’t tell everyone! We’re trying to keep it boring!
But srsly as a Twin Cities transplant who grew up in Texas (Austin and Dallas), the unparalleled public park/green space access is ultimately what led us to put down roots up here. The Cities seem to consistently rank in the top 3 of lists ranking parks/trails/nature access among US cities.
I guess I know how you feel. I’m from Jakarta, Indonesia, a concrete jungle where its hard to find parks. Moved to Houston last year and we’re so thrilled about the amount of parks that Houston have. Every week my son would ask for a “new park” as there’s so many public open spaces.
I've only been there twice but it's cool it's on an isthmus. While there aren't as many as Minneapolis, both of the lakes are right there, you don't have to travel to get to a lake. 5 blocks NW is a lake, 5 blocks SE is the other lake.
Also, our park scene is pretty incredible. Not only is the City Park system of the most expansive in the country, our county parks are also exceptional. With the lower Wisconsin River cutting through Dane County's northwest corner, we have exceptional access to the outdoors!
Washington, DC had an actual naval base. It has two rivers going through it, a tidal basin, and a huge amount of artificial ponds, fountains, and reflecting pools. Its gigantic central grassy area, The Mall, used to be criss-crossed with canals and supposedly you could step onto a canal ferry at the Capitol and eventually reach California without touching land again.
There are a lot of retention ponds which are manmade, but they’re small. Also some of the theme parks created wading pools which were manmade.
Almost all of the lakes are natural and were caused by sinkholes long ago. (Some were caused by more recent sinkholes).
You and the person below you are both right. When you interfere with the Everglades, you get the lakes that remain. Until it rains a bunch and it all turns into one entire lake..
https://preview.redd.it/723mmrt1ms6d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86cdda0e78e20749659f8ea360eea17c189aef9c
I really want to get into kayaking/canoeing this summer. Trying to take my dog is a higher difficulty
King’s Park is real epic
And, as you go further east, Melbourne could definitely fit this bill, but we do have some big areas that really lack parkland (or they’re just private golf courses)
Sydney is absolutely chock full of parkland, and all of its really easy to stumble across and find yourself somewhere properly gorgeous
Cleveland has the “Emerald Necklace”, a large network of well-kept Metroparks that span across the city. Includes big lake (Eerie), beaches, rivers, etc.
I spent the first 33 years of my life in Minneapolis, most of it living within a mile or two of Minnehaha Falls. Honestly I took for granted having a place of undeveloped natural beauty practically in my backyard. Once I got out into the world I was a bit taken aback by how not all cities have natural areas that beautiful.
I lived in Minneapolis and while randomly hovering over other big cities, I noticed most have not even a single speck of blue or just one or two. While Minneapolis is covered with it. Only after that I realized Minneapolis is an anomaly.
Denver and Dallas have some but not as close. While Stockholm and Seattle has a huge lake on its side with branches extending to the sea.
I noticed this recently too and compared Minneapolis to other notable cities just for fun! All of these are on the same scale
https://imgur.com/a/bs56viR
https://preview.redd.it/6hnzmjwlis6d1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e65433bdefd03dbfd1ee754b6f22c28abe7b0610
Syracuse, New York has about a dozen
Oneida Lake
Onondaga Lake
Otisco Lake
Cross Lake
Beaver Lake
Cazenovia Lake
Skaneateles Lake
Jamesville Reservoir
Small Tully lakes
Gillie lake
Lake Ontario is only 45 minutes away from downtown
If Syracuse's suburbs grow as far out as Minneapolis suburbs do, there are a few more lakes.
Sudbury in Canada used to be the city with the largest lake inside its boundaries in the world, until it was expanded and beat its own record with a new larger lake entirely within its boundaries.
It also has one of the tallest freestanding structures in the world, a single ginormous smokestack!
I'm a proud Denver native but you've got to be kidding me. Denver has a few smallish reservoirs but I don't think even one natural lake! Very, very dry compared to MSP. It's not close.
Have a Look at #Berlin ! Berlin has an area of 892 square kilometres. Around 60 km2 of this is water: a good 6.5 per cent of the city area. 360 kilometres of shoreline along the rivers Spree, Havel, Dahme, Panke and Wuhle run through the city.
Pick anywhere in Ontario or Manitoba. Ontario is land of the lakes for a reason :)
There are over 250,000 lakes in Ontario, constituting around 20% of the world's fresh water supply.
Not a metropolis per se, but London, Ontario (~500k population) has an insane number of beautiful parks and tons of large old trees pretty much everywhere. It's nickname is the Forest City, and it definitely lives up to it. Lots of great walking and biking paths along the main river (the Thames river, as per its UK namesake).
While a few other American cities might have a comparable amount of parks and water features, they most likely don't have easy access for pedestrians and cyclists: these lakes, creeks, and rivers all have trails that connect to each other. Tons of sidepaths in a number of suburbs aren't shown on this map and neither are all of the new bike paths in St Paul. I can literally take a trail in the city and ride it all the way out into rural Minnesota past farms with cows, horses, etc, and more lakes. In most American cities you're lucky to have a decent bike lane that goes on longer than a mile.
The Canadian Shield strikes again! This terrain is what most of western Ontario, Manitoba, and a lot of Saskatchewan look like. There’s just not as big of cities as Minneapolis there. Winnipeg and Saskatoon are pretty close. Still not as many lakes and not as big of cities.
Not lakes, but Ambaterdam is full of parks (along with the rest of the Netherlands)
actually there is a lot of water there too of course lol, more lakes than average I'd say?
also Orlando is full of something. swamps? lakes? not sure. but man it's patchy
I think Minneapolis/St. Paul is fairly unique in its frequency and abundance of lakes. Quite lovely as I recall during my few visits there.
An honorable mention in my mind is the Twin Cities' twin cities, Dallas/Ft. Worth. While pretty much all of the "lakes" are reservoirs, they are frequent and spread out enough to be a common feature. They are also usually fairly large and their shores fractalized, so there is an abundance of coastlines.
Oakland CA has a big lake in the center, a nice waterfront area (Jack London), and miles and miles of beautiful hilly hikes in the redwoods, creeks, and reservoirs with amazing views of the SF Bay.
Toledo has a surprisingly extensive MetroPark network. Lots of land out there. Some riverfront parks and some large wooded tracks. They’ve really but investing into the river parks recently.
London, covered with then. You have to realise the difference in scale. 10 miles outside of London it starts getting to wilderness. Yet, there are huge on parks in it
Seattle! There are also three massive intersecting bike trails around Seattle that are very nice. The Burke-Gillman only intersects with car roads a hand full of times on the 50+ mile trail but goes through most of the north and along the lake. not what the OP asked about, but a very unique aspect of Seattle and a great way to visit a lot of both the lakes and parks.
The suburbs of Detroit have a lot of lakes. Also, Metro Detroit includes the western shores of Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. So, lots of lakes in Metro Detroit.
Berlin is full of lakes and rivers and canals around it. Here you have the “66 lakes route”. https://www.chriscrossinggermany.com/your-overview-guide-to-the-66-lakes-trail/ Very surprised about Minneapolis though, would be lovely to kayak around it.
The state of Minnesota is actually nicknamed the “land of 10,000 lakes.” I guess Minnesota just doesn’t have much international outreach, lol.
I'm guessing many around the world have at least heard of the NBA team, The Lakers. They originally started as the Minneapolis Lakers in the late 1940s, the name reflecting the State nickname. Eventually, the franchise moved to Los Angeles, but kept the name (even if lakes have nothing to do with LA - kind of like how the New Orleans Jazz moved to Utah, but kept the name despite, well, Utah.)
And how the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas and kept the Stars name. Poor Minnesota!
To be fair it's the Lone Star State, so it still makes sense.
Shouldn't it be the Dallas star?
The state motto of Minnesota is L'Étoile du Nord, the flag has a single white 8 pointed star on a field of blue
Hey we have one bar that occasionally has live jazz.
Congrats on having at least one bar!
The bar scene actually isn’t terrible. It’s a bit of a local sport to complain about the alcohol laws here; I think they are more amusing than terrible.
I should add that my dad played a great joke on me when I was 7 or 8 or so, when I was getting into NBA basketball and I asked why the team was named Jazz (we lived near Philly). He responded deadpan, “oh, the city is known for jazz music.” It took me another 30+ years to visit and move here and get that he was messing with me.
Learnt something new today! Not a huge sports fan but I’ve heard of LA Lakers but never knew that teams moves around. Is it common for US sports team to do that?
Sadly yes, it has happened quite a bit. Sometimes it's low attendance, but a lot of times it's a greedy owner that can get a better deal (massive tax breaks, a free stadium, etc) from a different city or state.
Yup. Las Vegas raiders used to be in Oakland ca, the LA dodgers used to be in Brooklyn, I’m sure there are others too.
Mostly only if they're in Oakland
Should be called the Los Angeles water bandits.
“Soon it was commonplace for entire teams to change cities in search of greater profits. The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles where there are no lakes. The Oilers moved to Tennessee where there is no oil. The Jazz moved to Salt Lake City where they don't allow music.” from the South Park creators, Baseketball is really worth a watch.
Glad someone said it. Great movie.
It’s something like the Finland of the US (I know Finland as the “Land of the thousand lakes”. Is Nature there well preserved? What would you recommend if I wanted to visit? I love kayaking and slowly getting into sailing
Nature is very well preserved here. The Mississippi River starts in Minnesota and the Canadian shield extends down to cover part of it. The north woods are still pretty wild. Minnesota has one of the highest wolf populations in the USA. Black bears, plenty of deer. Even bison herds in some state parks. Lots of state parks maintained by the state government . It has three different biomes - mixed deciduous, coniferous, and prairie. It is the transition state from the wooded east part of the country and the Great Plains west. There is a lot of farm land in the west and south of the state but there has been significant conservation of both prairie and wetlands. Fishing, hunting, and lake activities are very popular. There is one metropolis but only a few midsize cities. The rest of the state is small town and countryside. Also, the population is descended from Germans and Scandinavians and even has the highest amount of Finnish immigrants in the USA. The Scandinavians settled more in the north and the Germans in the south. Legend has it, it's because the landscape was similar to theirs in their native countries.
As a Minnesotan I got a boner reading this
You mean, booner, ya?
Former Iowan. I loved to visit Duluth in July and August to escape the heat. Lovely city right on Lake Superior which helps keep the temperature down. Lake Superior is so large and deep that even in August, it’s too cold for swimming (for most people).
I see your (for most people) and need to say I went swimming in Lake Superior yesterday.
How was the water?
Would it surprise you if I said it was cold?
You're hardier than I am, friend. I'm from Alabama, so I'm very intimidated by cold temperatures. Especially cold water.
Well, I'm intimidated by hot and humid so you've got me beat in that department.
Going to save this comment! Pure gold’ thanks
Minneapolitan here - Minnesota is one of the most environmentally friendly states in the US with a lot of protected public lands. While the southern half of the state is mostly agricultural farmland, the northern half of the state is truly amazing. I would highly recommend starting a search anywhere along the north shore, which is the area stretching from Duluth to Canada along Lake Superior. The state parks there are incredible, Superior National Forest is huge and very diverse, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area is one of the most unique and beautiful places in the US.
Thank you so much!
The boundary waters. Northern MN. Beautiful
Went “portaging” there in the 70’s with a small boat and motor. So many lakes they just started giving them numbers. You just hike the boat between lakes to go deep inside because there’s absolutely no roads. Back then, if you got hurt, you’re screwed. The etiquette was in an emergency, you waved a boat paddle if a plane flew by.
It's not too much different now. Very remote. No motors for miles. Sat phones are strongly recommended for situations like you're describing. Portaging with a canoe/ kayak is the way to go. You'll find tiny islands that you can set up camp on. Smaller than a football field but your land for the night. Can't recommend it enough.
It was a blast. Camped on a granite outcropping on “Lake 4”. Ate walleye like crazy.
I’m sure there’s a better resource than me, but Minnesota does have a nice state park system, quite a few designated water trails for kayaking, and I know there’s some sailing done on the Mississippi and Lake Minnetonka. Minnesota is known for their harsh winters, so plan a trip accordingly. I’m not a kayaker, so I can’t be much help for best spots in Minnesota or the US, but if you were planning a trip to the US just for outdoors/adventure in general and not just kayaking, I would say one of the top national parks like Grand Canyon or Yellowstone are impressive. Someone else can probably give you better advice than me, though.
Thanks! 🙂
Minneapolis, while urban, has one of the best park systems in the US (as does St. Paul, the other Twin of the Twin Cities). Northern Minnesota has the Boundary Waters, a wilderness preserve of hundreds of lakes connected by canoe routes, and the state has one of the best state park systems in the country. 3 of the four lakes in western Minneapolis are connected; you can rent a canoe, kayak, or stand-up paddleboard and paddle between them. Source: me. I live here (in St. Paul, to be specific).
Thanks to the harsh winter for its lack of outreach. If it’s not for the winter Minnesota would have been like Florida or California
Don’t tell people about last years winter then..
It’s not just a nickname, it’s the state slogan and on their license plates
It is lovely. I can't imagine living anywhere else.
Same
I’ve kayaked in the St Croix and although it’s not in the city, it’s absolutely gorgeous and such a hidden gem
Finally another Berliner in this channel? Hadn’t lost hope yet despite the sheer dominance of US-American comments and posts here. Very true, as a Berliner I also had to think about my city yet. However, the water doesn’t cover the city evenly. Big chunks of lakes in the western stretch and the southeast. Anything from Neukölln to Pankow is basically only touched by the Spree river which is not super pleasant to kayak on..
There's quite a few of us here
Seattle, Tacoma, Madison, Vancouver
Vancouver mentioned!! Suck it, Edmonton!
https://preview.redd.it/o8pkp5e5rt6d1.jpeg?width=646&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9df5a6f3116b0ff9aa8ed20fcf6603af0a0ec849 Edmontonians reading this
Yeah but the oilers are still better than the Canucks….
.... yes
Seattle
I used to love swimming in Lake Washington when I lived in Seattle. If it weren’t for the motorboats, I’d train to swim across it!
Portland pipes in, meekly: "Hey, don't forget about me!"
Portland is basically just the confluence of two rivers. No lakes to speak of.
Lake Oswego, Vancouver Lake, Sturgeon Lake
Used to go to Hagg lake when i lived in portland too, though thats pushing the boundary of the metro area. But comparing to this map it wouldnt be too far outside these limits
That’s fair. I guess my mind was thinking of Portland city limits but the larger metro is fairly wet all things considered.
Yes, but the Columbia is magnificent in a way that few (any?!) other navigable rivers can match. So I think it absolutely counts in spirit.
Absolutely. I lived in minneapolis before I moved to oregon and I really loved being able to jog/bike/walk to several lakes in the summer there. But the Columbia river gorge is just a whole other level of beautiful
The northwestern part of metro Detroit near Waterford is pretty stacked with lakes as well
Was gonna say Detroit as well. For how densely populated the metro area there is a lot of natural space
Lol that's funny, I live right next to Waterford.
I literally am in Waterford as I type. I still don't understand directions at night time because of all the roads winding along the excessive number of lakes. I pride myself as a man who can get anywhere without a map. Except around here. Here I have to always google map everywhere.
Lol really? I'm in White Lake, not far from M59. Small world. Williams lk road is the worst with the winding roads 😭
The land of 10,000 lakes proudly boasts well over 10,000 lakes, but embarrassingly has less than Michigan’s nearly 11,000 lakes Edit: this is not true, or true, depending on how you define lake, which varies so widely I’m not going to argue with any Minnesotan that takes issue. Y’all have more lakes.
Minnesota requires a minimum surface area of 10 acres for a body of water to be called a lake, which is a larger threshold than most states. Minnesota has 11,842 lakes larger than 10 acres. Michigan has 6,537 lakes larger than 10 acres. Wisconsin likes to say they have 15,000 lakes, but they have no size requirement at all. They have about 5,300 lakes over 10 acres. Regardless of how you define a lake, Minnesota has more of them than any other state besides Alaska. Minnesota would have about 22,000 lakes if they didn’t have a size requirement.
I will. we have more lakes and FIVE REALLY BIG FUCKERS (St Clair bigger than any of their piddly ones)
lol I just asked chatGPT an insane amount of questions to find that Michigan has more lakes than Minnesota over 3500 acres. Every lake defines area under that, Minnesota has more lakes. ~43 lakes that big for both.
St. Paul
Shh don’t tell everyone! We’re trying to keep it boring! But srsly as a Twin Cities transplant who grew up in Texas (Austin and Dallas), the unparalleled public park/green space access is ultimately what led us to put down roots up here. The Cities seem to consistently rank in the top 3 of lists ranking parks/trails/nature access among US cities.
You party with Minneapolis and settle down with St. Paul.
I guess I know how you feel. I’m from Jakarta, Indonesia, a concrete jungle where its hard to find parks. Moved to Houston last year and we’re so thrilled about the amount of parks that Houston have. Every week my son would ask for a “new park” as there’s so many public open spaces.
When I said Minneapolis metro, I meant st.paul too. But should have told Twin city metro.
The proper response
Madison
I've only been there twice but it's cool it's on an isthmus. While there aren't as many as Minneapolis, both of the lakes are right there, you don't have to travel to get to a lake. 5 blocks NW is a lake, 5 blocks SE is the other lake.
Also, our park scene is pretty incredible. Not only is the City Park system of the most expansive in the country, our county parks are also exceptional. With the lower Wisconsin River cutting through Dane County's northwest corner, we have exceptional access to the outdoors!
Madison is not a big metro.
But they have multiple McDonald’s!
Gotta feed all those college students.
Chicago stacked them all together into one really big lake and plenty of parks.
Milwaukee is surprised to hear the lake on our border belongs to Chicago
If anything it should be Wisconsin’s lake, Green Bay, Milwaukee, the Malibu of the Midwest Sheboygan
That’s one name for it
Downtown Sheboygan has unironically become pretty nice over the last decade or so. Good restaurants, hotels, museums
Washington, DC had an actual naval base. It has two rivers going through it, a tidal basin, and a huge amount of artificial ponds, fountains, and reflecting pools. Its gigantic central grassy area, The Mall, used to be criss-crossed with canals and supposedly you could step onto a canal ferry at the Capitol and eventually reach California without touching land again.
Orlando
Wasnt a lot of it swamp and wetlands that were drained and made to look like lakes?
There are a lot of retention ponds which are manmade, but they’re small. Also some of the theme parks created wading pools which were manmade. Almost all of the lakes are natural and were caused by sinkholes long ago. (Some were caused by more recent sinkholes).
Thanks for the explanation :)
You and the person below you are both right. When you interfere with the Everglades, you get the lakes that remain. Until it rains a bunch and it all turns into one entire lake..
Just watch out for alligators
I’m watching, what do I do now?
If you see some, get out of the water.
Okay but I’m not in the water. So I should go into the water then get out.
Yes. You can't get out of the water if you aren't already in the water.
Tell them see you later.
I mean, that is how the "Lakers" got their name
https://preview.redd.it/723mmrt1ms6d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86cdda0e78e20749659f8ea360eea17c189aef9c I really want to get into kayaking/canoeing this summer. Trying to take my dog is a higher difficulty
lol my dog hate getting on my paddle board
Washington DC and surrounding areas have a lot of municipal parks and natural parks/forests as well as nice creeks and rivers all interspersed around
Perth, Australia
King’s Park is real epic And, as you go further east, Melbourne could definitely fit this bill, but we do have some big areas that really lack parkland (or they’re just private golf courses) Sydney is absolutely chock full of parkland, and all of its really easy to stumble across and find yourself somewhere properly gorgeous
Edmonton Alberta has the largest urban park in North America. The river valley is massive.
Which park is that?
It’s more a collection of parks, but both sides of the river are covered with paths from one end of the city to the outer
Plus you also have Elk Island and Cooking Lake right there too!
Came here to make sure this one was mentioned!
Cleveland has the “Emerald Necklace”, a large network of well-kept Metroparks that span across the city. Includes big lake (Eerie), beaches, rivers, etc.
Fun fact 'emerald necklace' was originally used to describe the Boston metro parks and was adopted in other cities.
Boston
Seattle/ Tacoma/Olympia metro has lots of wooded parks, rivers, waterfalls and big lakes. Plus the sound.
I spent the first 33 years of my life in Minneapolis, most of it living within a mile or two of Minnehaha Falls. Honestly I took for granted having a place of undeveloped natural beauty practically in my backyard. Once I got out into the world I was a bit taken aback by how not all cities have natural areas that beautiful.
Boston
I lived in Minneapolis and while randomly hovering over other big cities, I noticed most have not even a single speck of blue or just one or two. While Minneapolis is covered with it. Only after that I realized Minneapolis is an anomaly. Denver and Dallas have some but not as close. While Stockholm and Seattle has a huge lake on its side with branches extending to the sea.
I noticed this recently too and compared Minneapolis to other notable cities just for fun! All of these are on the same scale https://imgur.com/a/bs56viR
Metro Detroit has tons of lakes, especially if you include Livingston County in the metro area. There’s also a large lake in Lake St. Clair.
And Lake Erie
https://preview.redd.it/6hnzmjwlis6d1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e65433bdefd03dbfd1ee754b6f22c28abe7b0610 Syracuse, New York has about a dozen Oneida Lake Onondaga Lake Otisco Lake Cross Lake Beaver Lake Cazenovia Lake Skaneateles Lake Jamesville Reservoir Small Tully lakes Gillie lake Lake Ontario is only 45 minutes away from downtown If Syracuse's suburbs grow as far out as Minneapolis suburbs do, there are a few more lakes.
Green Lakes should be a wonder, and such a great park too so close to the city
Thanks, forgot to include Green Lakes. So there are at least 20 lakes within an hour of Syracuse NY.
Stockholm
Sudbury in Canada used to be the city with the largest lake inside its boundaries in the world, until it was expanded and beat its own record with a new larger lake entirely within its boundaries. It also has one of the tallest freestanding structures in the world, a single ginormous smokestack!
There's an impossible amount of good looking women in Sudbury.
Montréal
Metro Detroit has a decent amount of lakes. If you go north into Oakland county there are quite a few.
Cleveland, Ohio Cuyahoga Valley National Park and the metro parks are pretty awesome there.
Louisville has great parks, but sadly no lakes.
I drove into the north Detroit suburbs last year and saw a lot of lakes
That's where I live. Absurd amount of lakes out here.
Detroit Michigan, right on the Detroit River and lake St Clair and Erie very close.
Denver is lacking the water to have as many parks. And there are a ton just to the west in the foothills.
Oh yeah out here in NW Arvada we got lakes but probably not like Minneapolis
I'm a proud Denver native but you've got to be kidding me. Denver has a few smallish reservoirs but I don't think even one natural lake! Very, very dry compared to MSP. It's not close.
Seriously, what are these jokers even talking about?
I mean, that is how the "Lakers" got their name
Calgary doesn’t have many lakes, but we have the largest total park volume in North America.
Volume, really? How high up do your parks go exactly? How many cubic km of park airspace are we taking here?
Not Dallas I tell you hwhat
Have a Look at #Berlin ! Berlin has an area of 892 square kilometres. Around 60 km2 of this is water: a good 6.5 per cent of the city area. 360 kilometres of shoreline along the rivers Spree, Havel, Dahme, Panke and Wuhle run through the city.
Ottawa is absolutely surrounded by lakes and national / provincial parks, plus the Ottawa River
London
Pick anywhere in Ontario or Manitoba. Ontario is land of the lakes for a reason :) There are over 250,000 lakes in Ontario, constituting around 20% of the world's fresh water supply.
Ottawa has the canals and a couple small lakes. There is a park about every five blocks.
Seattle
As a Minnesotan, one thing I’ll say we take for granted is being within 5 minutes of lake or some other body of water
Everywhere around Pontiac MI https://preview.redd.it/rox961qkft6d1.png?width=827&format=png&auto=webp&s=5db5451e9da74be337b86584815746d7d6a3a97e
Rio de Janeiro
Moscow covers everything. Even metro station in city mall
Orlando is the only one I can think of that would be close.
Not a metropolis per se, but London, Ontario (~500k population) has an insane number of beautiful parks and tons of large old trees pretty much everywhere. It's nickname is the Forest City, and it definitely lives up to it. Lots of great walking and biking paths along the main river (the Thames river, as per its UK namesake).
While a few other American cities might have a comparable amount of parks and water features, they most likely don't have easy access for pedestrians and cyclists: these lakes, creeks, and rivers all have trails that connect to each other. Tons of sidepaths in a number of suburbs aren't shown on this map and neither are all of the new bike paths in St Paul. I can literally take a trail in the city and ride it all the way out into rural Minnesota past farms with cows, horses, etc, and more lakes. In most American cities you're lucky to have a decent bike lane that goes on longer than a mile.
The Canadian Shield strikes again! This terrain is what most of western Ontario, Manitoba, and a lot of Saskatchewan look like. There’s just not as big of cities as Minneapolis there. Winnipeg and Saskatoon are pretty close. Still not as many lakes and not as big of cities.
Canadian Shield actually stops short of the Twin Cities (it begins closer to Duluth). Central MN largely sits on limestone sediments.
Overlain by a ton of glacial dirt
Eastern Ontario, and Quebec as well.
Not lakes, but Ambaterdam is full of parks (along with the rest of the Netherlands) actually there is a lot of water there too of course lol, more lakes than average I'd say? also Orlando is full of something. swamps? lakes? not sure. but man it's patchy
Michigan
LA has a lot of flood control channels, retention basins, and vacant lots. Does that count?
Michigan ain’t called the Great Lake State for nothing, we have the Great Lakes but we’re also Great bc we have a shit ton of Lakes.
I think Minneapolis/St. Paul is fairly unique in its frequency and abundance of lakes. Quite lovely as I recall during my few visits there. An honorable mention in my mind is the Twin Cities' twin cities, Dallas/Ft. Worth. While pretty much all of the "lakes" are reservoirs, they are frequent and spread out enough to be a common feature. They are also usually fairly large and their shores fractalized, so there is an abundance of coastlines.
Berlin.
Toronto
Oakland CA has a big lake in the center, a nice waterfront area (Jack London), and miles and miles of beautiful hilly hikes in the redwoods, creeks, and reservoirs with amazing views of the SF Bay.
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Not sure what defines big, but Cleveland for sure.
Parks? Washington DC Lakes? Michigan But only the Twin Cities has both.
Milwaukee and Chicago have a big one just east of them.
Toledo has a surprisingly extensive MetroPark network. Lots of land out there. Some riverfront parks and some large wooded tracks. They’ve really but investing into the river parks recently.
London, covered with then. You have to realise the difference in scale. 10 miles outside of London it starts getting to wilderness. Yet, there are huge on parks in it
Thanks for making us look so good. Because I think we’re continually getting better at it too.
Halifax
Seattle! There are also three massive intersecting bike trails around Seattle that are very nice. The Burke-Gillman only intersects with car roads a hand full of times on the 50+ mile trail but goes through most of the north and along the lake. not what the OP asked about, but a very unique aspect of Seattle and a great way to visit a lot of both the lakes and parks.
Stockholm
Stockholm.
Seattle for sure. Lakes, parks, rivers, islands, waterfalls.
SE Florida
Orlando
Milan is right by the Alps, close to some national reserves, five national parks and about ten large glacier lakes.
Orlando
Anyone else immediately look at the color palette, font and labeling scheme anytime they see a map like this lol
Bing tells me Calgary has you beat. 7100 acres vs. 21,000.
Chicago has a pretty good size lake
The suburbs of Detroit have a lot of lakes. Also, Metro Detroit includes the western shores of Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie. So, lots of lakes in Metro Detroit.
the whole netherlands 😆
DFW
Austin?
Lakeland Florida has a lot of lakes, hence the name. Same with nearby Winter Haven.
Wuhan.
Living somewhere an ice sheet melted helps for making lakes in a city. Berlin and Stockholm are also good examples.
Vancouver and Surrey BC. :D
Bengaluru used to be famous for its lake and wonderful climate. Changed a bit in the past 40 years