Light Rail To Minneapolis: Mall of America Parking

This past Thursday I had the opportunity to spend the day with 3 of my good friends at a Twins game at the Metrodome. Two of my buddies and I were coming from my house in Shakopee and our fourth counterpart was coming from Eagan. I suggested we meet at the Mall of America and take the light rail from there to downtown Minneapolis.

If you are taking a trip downtown for any reason I highly recommend trying the light rail if you haven't already done so. It is a very nice ride where you can relax and visit with the people you are traveling with or you can even get some work done or do some reading if you are traveling alone. Not only can you save on parking but with the gas prices creeping up on what seems to be a daily basis, you probably can save a fair amount on fuel costs as well.


Whenever I am going to a sporting event in downtown Minneapolis (and not planning to tailgate) I like to take the train. Most of the time I park at the MOA because the 28th Avenue park and ride lot is always full by the time I get there. On this trip I learned that the new ramp at the 28th Avenue park and ride is almost complete. This will be a fantastic option for future trips but for now the Mall of America is the place to park.


I always park on the lowest level of the east side ramp near a stairwell that takes me right down to the trains. I am a landmark guy so I always seem to find it with ease but to try to explain how to get their is a whole different story. I tried to tell my buddy coming from Eagan where to park without success so I decided to take note of where I actually was in the ramp for future trips.


If the MOA is a convenient park and ride location for you, I highly recommend parking in the East ramp. I usually come in on 24th Avenue and pull right into the middle of the East ramp. I take the first right into "Maine" or you can pull into "Georgia" and take an immediate left down aisle 9 or 10. You will want to drive until you see signs that say aisle E9 and E10. When you see a stairwell by those signs, park as close to that as possible. You can take the stairwell down to the bottom level, walk across the crosswalk in the bus lane and head to the loading station for the trains. You can purchase your tickets right where you load with cash or credit card.


It was a lot of fun to take in a game and some camaraderie with some near and dear friends but it was even better not having to deal with traffic afterwards!