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Other stories in "Water play"

• Tubing a lazy river
  Lolling on water, it's easy to play it cool.
• Duluth's other waterfront
  The quiet St. Louis River is a hub for hikers, bikers, paddlers and train buffs.
• Water, water, everywhere
  The Dells were first, but now indoor water parks are popping up everywhere.
• Languid in Lanesboro
  In summer, head for this lovely bluff-country burg and go with the flow.
• Waking the dragon
  A sport inspired by ancient Chinese legend takes off on local waters.
• One in 1,000
  Somewhere, in Minnesota's glorious lake country, there's a resort for you. Here's how to find it.
• Summer's last resort
  On Lutsen Mountains, we find a sweet deal in late August.
• 10 great beaches
  In the land of lakes, it's not hard to find a place to play.
• Watching a water-ski show
  It's the perfect way to end a summer day.
• Last call for lake breaks
  A Bemidji resort is one of best places to snatch a few more days of vacation.
• Land of big water
  On Minnesota's vast Rainy Lake, a little horsepower is a good thing to have.
• Quick getaways on a lake
  Thanks to B&Bs, people without a week to spare still can get onto the water.
• Grand sand
  Along Lake Michigan, the Sleeping Bear Dunes are a giant playground for all ages.
• Camping out west
  Not far from the Twin Cities, county parks provide easy access to beach life.

Cheat the heat

When summer becomes a sauna, it's time to chill out.

When heat wraps itself around your shoulders like an electric blanket with static cling, there’s only one thing to do: Look for cold water.

You'll find it tubing on a spring-fed river, such as the South Branch of the Root River, which takes a short cut through Mystery Caverns and heads toward Lanesboro chilled to 48 degrees.

On Minnesota's North Shore, plop yourself into one of the Baptism River’s potholes and let the cool waters swirl around you. Or go whitewater rafting on the St. Louis River south of Duluth — a fast cool-down is guaranteed.

If it's really scorching, try a dip in Lake Superior. Sheltered coves can be tolerable, especially off Michigan's Upper Peninsula, but otherwise it's perfectly chilly.

Below are some of the best ways to cool off in hot weather.

Tubing

At least one part of the anatomy is perfectly cool on a tubing trip, and on the South Branch of the Root River in southeast Minnesota, that part is turned into a Popsicle.

Mystery Caverns refrigerates the South Branch before it hits downtown Lanesboro, where people hop onto tubes and ride through town on a series of rapids, returning by foot on the Root River State Trail or continuing through the South Branch’s confluence with the warmer waters of the North Branch and returning by shuttle. People who rent tubes from Root River Outfitters can start from the shop. For more, see Languid in Lanesboro.

In northwest Wisconsin, the spring-fed Namekagon is nice and cool, and on hot days, Trego is a junction for people in tubes, canoes and kayaks. Rent them from Jack's or Log Cabin Resort. For more destinations, see Tubing a lazy river.

Swimming North Shore rivers

A quarter-mile above Illgen Falls in Tettegouche State Park, the Baptism River flows through a chute of volcanic rock and into a deliciously cool pool; from there, it flows over and among a jumble of smooth boulders and slabs, many bearing potholes that make perfect one-person spas.

Swimmers can park off Minnesota 1 or stay next to the river at Illgen Falls Cabin, a luxurious, two-bedroom disabled-accessible house managed by the park. For more, see Cabin on a waterfall.

Many other North Shore rivers  — Temperance, Silver Creek, Gooseberry — have swimming holes, but be careful. When water is high, people have been carried away by the river and drowned.

Whitewater rafting

In northeast Wisconsin, from which the state's biggest rivers surge, there's plenty of cold, frothy whitewater. The Wolf River is a favorite, and Travel Wisconsin lists other outfitters on the Menominee, Pestigo and other rivers.

Near Duluth, the St. Louis River from Scanlon to the Thomson Reservoir provides chilly thrills; when I went rafting there one August, I actually had to wear a wetsuit to stay warm. Superior Whitewater offers trips through six rapids, varying from Class I to Class IV. Guides in freestyle kayaks accompany customers, who paddle five to six in a raft.

Swimming in Lake Superior

This lake, whose temperature barely fluctuates from 40 degrees year-round, is barely tolerable. But when a strong wind blows in from the northeast, the surface water warms up and pushes out the cold water. Then you can swim from the beautiful sand beach of Duluth's Park Point Recreation Area, across the Aerial Lift Bridge from Canal Park and off 43rd Street. There are lifeguards, but pay attention when rip-current warnings are posted.

In late summer, you can swim around the Apostle Islands, at the city beach in Bayfield or at Big Bay State Park on Madeline Island. Near the Michigan border, try the beach at Saxon Harbor County Park.

Across the Michigan border, try the beach at Little Girls Point and, farther east, Union Bay Beach in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. For more, see Afoot in the Porkies.

Bicycling to the beach

If you pedal on a hot day, you deserve a swim at the end of your ride, and you can get one on the Lake Wobegon Trail. Start and end your ride in Avon, where pretty Middlespunk Lake is just a block from the trail.

In Minneapolis, the Grand Rounds passes beaches on lakes Nokomis, Harriet, Calhoun and Cedar. In Chicago, the 18-mile Lakefront Trail passes 15 miles of beaches.

In Wisconsin, the Mariners Trail from Manitowoc to Two Rivers connects with the Rawley Point Trail, which leads to Point Beach State Forest. For more, see Two trails from Two Rivers.

Skinny-dipping

One of the nation’s most popular clothing-optional beaches is Mazo Beach, a long strip of sand on the Wisconsin River, west of Madison near Mazomanie.

When I was there one Memorial Day, a grandfatherly habitue assured me that the atmosphere is friendly, low-key and family-oriented: “You don’t think anything of (the nudity),’’ he said. “It’s the freedom we like.’’ A younger sunbather told me the water is clean and the current mild unless the water is high; people often swim out to a sandbar or even across the river, he said.

Aside from issues of attire, it’s a gorgeous setting, across from a range of wooded bluffs with stone outcroppings. It’s reached by a 20-minute walk (bring a bike or insect repellent) from a parking lot off County Road Y. And if you like that kind of thing, both Minnesota and Wisconsin have family-oriented naturist resorts.

If you like to skinny-dip but not around other people, try the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Windsurfing

When you're traveling through southwest Minnesota in summer, you need a place to cool off. Thanks to steady winds year-round, Worthington is a windsurfing hot spot and hosts the U.S. Windsurfing National Championships every June.

Windsurfers frequent Sailboard Beach on the eastern edge of Lake Okabena. On the northwest side of the lake, there’s a beach in Centennial Park and a municipal pool with water slide across from it. On the south side of the lake, there’s a beach in Slater Park.

Last updated on December 30, 2009