I'm not sure where to start. Have you inline skated before, or are you a total novice? How many miles would you want to go? If you have inline skated before, how comfortable are you with using the brake?

For the purposes of giving you a few suggestions on where to skate, I'm going to assume you're a novice. There a few flat trails I can think of right off the bat:

The Gateway trail is about 20 miles of mostly flat pavement that starts in St. Paul near 35E and Pennsylvania. A good place to pick it up near there is east of 35E at Arlington and close to Westminster. I remember a parking lot there. There's another parking lot in Oakdale on 55th St., the frontage road south of Hwy. 36 at Hadley Av. There are fewer road crossings if you start there, and skate eastward, but there are also a few hills.

The Sunrise Prairie trail is another flat one I refer to as "The Wind Tunnel," because it runs North/South along the west side of Hwy. 61 from Hugo to North Branch (about 10 miles). It's another good one for beginners because there aren't very many road crossings. But, there are prettier and more pleasant trails out there, in my opinion. When I skate there, I start at Hwy. 61 and 140th St., and park on street.

West of Minneapolis is the Dakota trail. It's about 12 miles long, and runs from Wayzata west to St. Bonafacious. There's one hill where the trail dips down to cross Hwy. 110, west of Mound. If you start in Wayzata, there's a parking area for trail users next to the lake, at Grove Ln., on the west end of downtown.

In Minneapolis, I would suggest Lake of the Isles. It has the smoothest surface of the chain of lakes, without a downhill leading to a busy road crossing, like Calhoun and Harriet have. There's only one downhill at Lake of the Isles, at the south side, and it's gradual enough to stay in control. Lake of the Isles is about 2.7 miles around. I like to do laps of the trail, and see if I can finish them in 11 minutes.

If you're skill level is higher than I think, and you have confidence using the brake on a pair of skates, there are many more trails that would be suitable for you. But, these four are good for learning. And, I highly recommend a helmet.

Monticello, wow! I think trails close to home for you will be limited, but I can think of a few more that at least won't be on the opposite end of the metro for you:

Elm Creek Park in Maple Grove has some nice paved loops around the park, and a trail extension to the Coon Rapids Dam. There are some hills and wooden bridge crossings in Elm Creek park, so you may want to get a little practice first. The extension is called Rush Creek trail, and it's mostly flat with only a couple of road crossings. The most challenging part of the Rush Creek trail is the hill and wooden bridge crossing over Hwy. 169. You can get on the Rush Creek trail and avoid the bridge by starting at Winnetka Av. (the trail lines up with 101st Av.) and skating east to the dam. That's about a 3.5 mile stretch of trail.

Baker Park in Medina has a 6.2-mile paved loop that has a fair amount of hills. I've been there once or twice, and it's a nice loop for skating, but on weekends, there are sometimes families with small children on the path. Kids (and a lot of adults) don't expect a skater to come by as fast as they do, but it's not as dangerous if you have a lot of control and can easily slow down when there are groups of people.

That's about all my knowledge of the Northwest metro, but I have two other ideas. Crow-Hassan Park south of Albertville, and Lake Rebecca in Independence. I don't know if either of these have paths suitable for inline skating, but it might be worth checking out since they are closer to you.

My skates? Well, they're not anything you could purchase locally, if that's why you're asking. I used to race, so I have the kind of inline skates that are made from separate components, like a bicycle. I have a pair of custom Bont boots that were sewn together over plaster molds of my feet at their factory in Australia. The top of the boots are at ankle height, and they don't have any cushioning in them. They're just hard shoes. The molds of my feet were made by a guy in Shoreview, and baked in his own kitchen oven, much to his wife's chagrin. Then, I have some old Rollerblade performance frames that can accommodate five wheels each. I buy my wheels locally from a guy known as RollerBob (RollerBob.com), who is in Delano. He has the best deals on wheels. Ha!

I actually didn't purchase these skates with the intent of racing, I got them because garden variety skates don't fit a narrow foot. But, once I got the skates, I was reluctantly persuaded into racing by some friends.