Though MINNESOTA is more than a thousand miles from either coast, it's virtually a seaboard state, thanks to Lake Superior , connected to the Atlantic via the St Lawrence Seaway. The glaciers that, millions of years ago, flattened all but its southeast corner gouged out more than 15,000 lakes , and major rivers run along the eastern and western borders. Ninety-five percent of the population lives within ten minutes of a body of water, and the very name Minnesota is a Sioux word meaning "land of sky-tinted water."

French explorers in the sixteenth century encountered prairies to the south and, in the north, dense forests whose abundant waterways were an ideal breeding ground for beavers and muskrats. Fur trading, fishing and lumbering flourished, and the Ojibway and Sioux were eased out by waves of French, British and American immigrants. Admitted to the Union in 1858, the new state of Minnesota was at first settled by Germans and Scandinavians, who farmed in the west and south. Other ethnic groups followed, many drawn by the massive iron ore deposits of north central Minnesota, which are expected to hold out for two more centuries.

Minnesota still thrives on its natural resources and on a progressive social outlook typified by such Democratic heavyweights as Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale and Eugene McCarthy. Current governor Jesse Ventura , a former professional wrestler, has garnered attention nationally and beyond for his unconventional and outspoken approach to politics.

More than half of Minnesota's hardy inhabitants, who endure some of the fiercest winters in the nation, live in the southeast, around the so-called Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul . These attractive and basically friendly rivals together rank as the Midwest's great civic double act for their combined cultural, recreational and business opportunities. Smaller cities include the northern shipping port of Duluth , the gateway to the Scenic Hwy-61 lakeshore drive, and Rochester , near pretty river towns like Red Wing and Winona. The tranquil waters of Voyageurs National Park lie halfway along the state's boundary with Canada.

In recent years, the state has earned a reputation as the "Hollywood of the North," thanks to its increased use as an affordable, talent-rich filmmaking locale. Internationally acclaimed fraternal filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, responsible for the Oscar-winning, Minnesota-set Fargo , were raised in the Twin Cities' suburb of St Louis Park.  TOP

Minneapolis and St Paul
Commonly known as the Twin Cities, MINNEAPOLIS (a hybrid Sioux/Greek word meaning "water city") and ST PAUL are competitive yet complementary. Fraternally rather than identically twinned, they may be even better places to live than they are to visit, thanks to their good looks, cleanliness, cultural activity, social awareness and relatively low crime rates. About thirty of Fortune Magazine's 500 top corporations are based here; many extend substantial financial support to local arts, community projects and sports. Life for a majority of Twin Citians seems so vibrantly wholesome that the most significant threat would appear to be their own creeping complacency.

St Paul has been called "the last city of the east," making Minneapolis across the curving Mississippi "the first city of the west." Only a twenty-minute expressway ride separates their respective downtowns, but each has its own character, style and strengths. St Paul , the state capital - originally called Pig's Eye, after a scurrilous French-Canadian fur trader who sold whisky at a Mississippi River landing in the 1840s - is the staid, slightly older sibling, careful to preserve its buildings and traditions. Its residents are mainly German, Irish and Catholic. The compact but stately downtown is built, like Rome, on seven hills: the Capitol and the Cathedral occupy one each, august monuments that keep the city mindful of its responsibilities.

Minneapolis , founded on money generated by the Mississippi's hundreds of flour and saw mills, is livelier, artier and more modern, with skyscraping, up-to-date architecture and an upbeat and even brash attitude that never quite jeopardizes its essential affability. The mostly Slavonic, Nordic and Lutheran residents are spread over wider ground than in St Paul, with dozens of lakes and parks to underscore the city's appeal. The home-grown superstar Prince and the recording company Flyte Tyme cast a global spotlight on the local music scene.

Northern Minnesota
Minnesota's substantial northern half, covered with forested lakes, remains much as it was when the Europeans first traded with the Indians. The northeast - the Arrowhead , poking into Lake Superior - holds the greatest charm: most visitors choose secluded outdoor vacations centered on fishing, canoeing and snowmobiling, but there's infinite potential for driving tours in a wilderness comparable to the Alaskan interior.

The Arrowhead is anchored by busy Duluth . From here, Scenic Hwy-61 skirts the clifftops around Lake Superior, passing waterfalls, state parks and neat little towns on the way northeast to the Canadian border. Sleepy little Grand Marais is poised at the edge of the wild Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the Gunflint Trail . Inland, the Iron Range makes a scenic route north to the idyllic Voyageurs National Park . To the southwest, in Itasca State Park , the Mississippi River begins its great roll down to the Gulf of Mexico; you can cross the headwaters on stepping-stones. Everywhere you'll find campgrounds and Ma and Pa lakeside resorts , havens of homely simplicity dedicated to soothing urban-ravaged souls.

Pipestone National Monument
The town of PIPESTONE , eight miles east of the South Dakota border, is named for a soft red clay, within the local quartzite, that was used for centuries by Great Plains Indians to make ceremonial calumets, or peace pipes. The quarry site, a kind of neutral, inter-tribal United Nations, is now the Pipestone National Monument (daily 8am-5pm, longer on summer weekends; $2). A self-guided trail winds from the visitor center through stands of trees, past rock formations and exposed quarry pits and over a creek, complete with picturesque falls.

Pipestone's small historic district includes a sleepy county museum and a building with several amusing sandstone gargoyles. Pick up a walking-tour brochure from the visitor center (tel 507/825-3316 or 1-800/336-6125), near the junction of highways 75 and 23. You can sleep and eat at the grand old Calumet Inn , 104 W Main St (tel 507/825-5871 or 1-800/535-7610, ; $75-100), though the Arrow Motel , Hwy-75 N, is less expensive (tel 507/825-3331 or 1-888/825-9599; $35-50). Each late July to early August the town puts on the nine-day "Song of Hiawatha" Indian pageant in an outdoor amphitheater.

From a distance the red rocks at Blue Mounds State Park , sloping into a long cliff a few miles north of the junction of I-90 and US-75 at Luverne, create a great hump that appeared blue at sunset to approaching pioneers. Twice a year, at the equinoxes, the sun lines up with a curious 1250ft row of rocks, aligned on an east-west axis. There are seasonal campgrounds (tel 1-800/246-CAMP) and a permanent small herd of buffalo. Ring the same number for picturesque Split Rock Creek State Park , only seven miles south of Pipestone and the site of a dam dating from 1935.

Southern Minnesota
Southern Minnesota is split between high plains, timbered ravines and slow-flowing Mississippi tributaries in the east, and the drier, flatter prairie and checkerboard farmland of the west. In the scenic southeast , spared a filing down by the last glacial advance, attractive small towns sit along the Mississippi, or on bluffs above it, in the ninety-mile Hiawatha Valley . Mississippi shipping helped sustain easygoing communities like Winona, Red Wing, Lake City (where water skiing was invented about 1922) and Wabasha , all of which share well-preserved old homes and hotels.

The agricultural and college center of Northfield , off I-35 thirty miles south of the Twin Cities, annually commemorates the Jesse James gang's foiled attempt to rob the town bank in September 1876. Harmony , almost in Iowa and near Minnesota's largest Amish colony; Lanesboro , with a storybook setting on the hillsides of the Root River; and Mantorville have all kept at least one foot in the nineteenth century. Further west, New Prague and New Ulm were prime targets for the beleaguered Sioux during a six-week war with the US government in 1862.  TOP