outdoors

Former Farmington parks and recreation director Jim Bell remembers well negotiating the purchase of a large chunk of parkland north of 195th...

There were a lot of sounds Saturday afternoon at the Dakota County Gun Club. There was the pop of pistols, the comparatively quiet report of small-caliber rifles and, from time to time, a deep roar from a bulky buffalo rifle. Scattered among it all, there was laughter. A lot of laughter....

Art, food production and unique camping cabins are the focus of a plan for the first phase of a new Dakota County Park that will start to take shape next year in Empire Township. Dakota County parks officials and representatives of the design firms that put the plan together presented...

Bouncing through the trees at Dakota Woods Dog Park, the sun beams off of Lucy's golden fur. Lucy and her owner, Deborah Lindberg, are regulars at the off-leash dog park in Empire Township, and on a warm Monday morning the two are out for a stroll. Lucy and Lindberg travel to the...

On Saturday morning, assuming trends hold, a hundred or more boys and girls will pick up a rifle or a shotgun or a bow and arrow and see what it feels like to take a shot. For many, it will be their first time on a firing range, their first time with a firearm in hand. And that...

Dakota County is looking for your opinion on a new 456-acre regional park in in Empire Township. County staff will use those comments to create a final master plan for the project. County staff will take comments through Jan. 12 on the draft master plan, and the county will hold...

A few raindrops aside, Saturday was a warm and sunny late-summer day in Farmington, a good day for a walk through the Big Slough. The restored...