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All United States Minnesota

The Atlas Obscura Guide To Minnesota

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

Updated March 31, 2023

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Cities

Top Cities
Minneapolis
Electro-Metabograph
Saint Paul
Entrance to the tunnel.
Duluth
A 1927 Greyhound bus on display at the museum.
Hibbing
Devil's Kettle.
Grand Marais
Split Rock Lighthouse
Two Harbors
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. Two Harbors
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.
Devil's Kettle.

Grand Marais, Minnesota

Devil's Kettle

Half of a waterfall goes into the river while the other half seems to disappear.
Electro-Metabograph

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Museum of Quackery and Medical Frauds

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

Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum

20,000 pieces in a Frank Gehry-designed building.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

City Salvage

An architecturally-focused antique shop.
See All 172 Things To Do in Minnesota

Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Minnesota

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.
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?
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.
Gold Medal Flour Mill

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Mill City Museum and site of "The Great Mill Disaster"

When flour explodes, it's not a pretty sight.
See all 10 Places to Eat in Minnesota
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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

Art 14
Architectural Oddities 14
Water 13
Statues 12
Roadside Attractions 11
Music 10
Museums And Collections 10
Animals 9
Parks 9
Monuments 9
Sculptures 9
Collections 9
Unique Restaurants & Bars 2
Places To Stay 2

Minnesota Leaderboard

Places Added

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    typosinkeye
    5
Join the Ranks!
Add an unusual place to Minnesota.

Places Edited

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    Collector of Experiences
    51
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Places Visited

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Recent Minnesota Activity

  • P

    philipcoates

    has been to The Steamboat Minnehaha

  • E

    egckull

    wants to go to Museum of Quackery and Medical Frauds

  • E

    egckull

    wants to go to The Bakken Museum

  • J

    jordynnolivia

    wants to go to Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum

  • D

    dij 54ff2c25

    has been to University of Minnesota Shoe Tree

Stories About Minnesota

The trees of the Lost Forty are in general taller than the surrounding woods.

How a Map Mistake Saved a Forest of 300-Year-Old Trees

Minnesota's "Lost Forty" survived the lumberjack's ax thanks to a improperly drawn lake.
by Frank Jacobs, Big Think
March 31, 2023
While details of its appearance vary over time and across geography, the Wendigo is always a symbol of hunger and desperation during the coldest season. And Winter is coming.

Beware the Wendigo, the Frostbitten Flesheater of North America’s Chilly Heartland

This terrifying creature has evolved over millennia—but never lost the need to feed.
by J.W. Ocker
October 12, 2022
Gerry Kulzer works on sculpting Princess Kay winner Rachel Rynda.

How a Big Block of Butter Becomes a Masterpiece

Inside the centuries-old art of transforming butter into dragons, cows, and princesses.
by Sam O'Brien
September 12, 2022
Simple and sweet, with a surprising story.

The All-American Appeal of the Bundt Cake

A clever pan made elegant baking possible for everyone.
by Anne Ewbank
December 22, 2021

Meet the Woman Who Trekked a 1,200-Mile Ice Age Trail in the Dead of Winter

Emily Ford is the first woman and first person of color to complete the grueling hike.
by Gemma Tarlach
March 29, 2021
For 56 years, Molter lived a mostly solitary life on Knife Lake.

Minnesota's 'Root Beer Lady' Lived Alone in a Million-Acre Wilderness

The "loneliest woman in America" brewed root beer for thousands of visitors.
by Terri Peterson Smith
September 16, 2020
Love fades.

How a Minnesota Town Fell In and Out of Love With Its Ginormous Geese

Like most human-fowl relationships, it's complicated.
by Molly Monk
February 13, 2020
John Kelsch poses in the Judy Garland Museum with a replica of Garland's ruby slippers. The originals were stolen in 2005 and recovered in 2018.

How Two Oz-Obsessed Midwesterners Made Judy Garland's Birthplace a Museum

"This is as important to me as any President’s house.”
by Allison Herrera
September 25, 2019

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

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

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