Ney Nature Center

My SO and I visited Ney Nature Center for their Valentine’s Day lantern-​lit night hike, and we really enjoyed ourselves! The Nature Center has activities year-​round, but I’ll be commenting on the winter options specifically here until I come back during the warmer months.
The Nature Center is in Richard Ney Memorial Park Reserve, in the Wright County parks system. For the Valentine’s Day hike, they set up lanterns along the a 1.3 mile trail around Ney Pond. The moon was full and the scenery was gorgeous. The trail was nice and wide, well-​kempt and perfect for a stroll. There are a few more trails in this part of the park that I’ll have to try out another time.
For the xc skiiers, the Ney Pond Trail had a classic track set. They have ski and snowshoe rentals in the lower level of the Nature Center. However, their hours are pretty limited: January-​mid March, noon-​4pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
Be sure to check out their website for programs and activities; most of them seem to be free (including our V-​Day hike), and if our experience was any indication, you can expect them to be fun and high-​quality.
What I liked the most about Ney Park was that it gave us a chance to take a step back and «get away from it all» without having to go too far (it was about an hour drive from St. Paul). The stars were brighter, the air more crisp, the sounds of the winter night uninhibited by city noise. If you’re looking for somewhere to enjoy nature away from the hustle-​and-​bustles of the metropolitan area, but with the high quality we city slickers have come to expect from our own County parks systems, this is the place for you.