A very lovely, family-friendly place, with lots of activities to do there. It has a very fun and…read morelarge playground for children. The beach is also very clean and fun. You can have barbecues.

Love the free regional parks. Lots of amenities! I was just there for a hike so didn't need much…read more There is lots of parking. The bathrooms are locked in the off season, but there are porta potties. I went for a hike and it didn't disappoint. I found ducks, geese, and deer. The only weird thing is the park is designed so similarly to Hyland that it confused me a bit as far as navigating.

Can you review a park?? Well... YES!…read more This park is a must if you: 1. Want a fabulous walk. Park by the beach and take the long way around! It's completely paved if you have probs walking (like me) or have a lovely in a wheel chair!! 2. You want to swim! The beach didn't appear to have life guards. But there is plenty of swimming room... or SUP, or kayak.. or... 3. Want to host a party! Every weekend the pavilions are being used for gatherings! It's pretty cute! 4. Love photography! The wild flowers are insane this year (even with the lack of rain)! 5. Are an urban forager! I got a bowl full of blackberries today! Delicious 6. You're a mocker. You hang that hammock anywhere you can! 7. You bike! The trek by the lake links to other trails! Well paved are ready for the cycles! Or you just love a good playground! Go to this park!! Here's my boy playing in the lake (not at the beach) and the new friend we made!

Excellent park for walking, playing and socializing. I'm at the beach a lot here that connects to…read moreLong Lake. Nice size city beach. Water is fairly clean for a city lake. A little murky but not horrible. Open space to play volleyball or sit in the grass. Nice wooded paths to walk dogs or go for a run.

Lovely trail to walk this fall. Very popular so very busy…read more If you don't want crowds during these covid times probably not the best location. So popular that parking can be an issue. They have a long lot and thankfully someone else was leaving when I arrived so I could park in the lot to meet my friend for our outdoor walk and talk. Nice variety of nature- woods, lake, etc. Clear marked trail and nice spot during a less busy time.

Need a quick but close-by getaway and one with lots of wildlife? I highly recommend this one,…read moreespecially with the little humans as the trail is super easy but still is dirt so feels more like in nature. The highlight was going on the bridge and seeing swans, ducks, turtles, & egrets! Not too busy right now with the center under reconstruction. Just park on the street and walk in.

Minnesota has always impressed me with the effort it puts into its green spaces, parks, trails and…read moreespecially its playgrounds. There are a lot of good ones scattered throughout the Twin Cities, but the Hyland Play Area is operating on a different scale. The first thing that hits you is simply the enormity of it. A landscape photo barely does it justice. This isn't a playground with a couple of oversized structures--it's an entire playscape built around elevation, exploration and seemingly endless ways for kids to disappear upward and reappear somewhere completely different. There are distinct areas that make it approachable for kids of different ages, select water features, and plenty for younger children to explore without making the bigger kids feel like they've outgrown it. But the stars are those towering structures and enormous climbs spread throughout the park. If you've got a kid who needs to "get their zombies out," this ought to do it. A determined child could probably accumulate the equivalent vertical ascent of Minnesota's Eagle Mountain before lunch. What impressed me almost as much as the playground itself was how well the space handles people. There can seemingly be hundreds of kids here and somehow it doesn't feel like hundreds of kids. The scale absorbs everyone. Instead, you get this constant background soundtrack of giggles, playful screams and kids absolutely exhausting themselves. And somebody clearly thought about the adults. There are huge umbrellas providing shade along with benches, tables and places to settle in while the kids go explore. You quickly understand why the crowd is such an interesting mix: stay-at-home parents making a morning of it, grandparents with their grandchildren, friends meeting up with their kids, and even remote workers squeezing in some laptop time while periodically looking up to make sure everyone is still accounted for. It's less "take the kids to the playground for 30 minutes" and more pack some food, bring water and make this the destination. We're only reviewing the play area for now, but based on this alone, Hyland deserves the five stars. It's enormous without feeling chaotic, ambitious without forgetting the little kids, and thoughtfully designed for the adults who inevitably spend half their day here too. Minnesota does parks exceptionally well. This is one of the ones worth going out of your way for.

Hyland Lake Park is one of my favorite places to rent a kayak and fish for bass in the Twin Cities…read more The lake is never too busy and the bass are always biting :) I easily rented a single-person kayak online and walked up to the rental booth to pick up my life jacket and paddle - off I went! There is a nice sandy beach, and other boats available to rent (including paddle boats!) This is a must-stop for your summer itinerary in Minnesota!

Me and my friends go here all the time and it's one of our favorite spots to play soccer, frisbee…read moreand just any sport or game.

I remember going to Powderhorn Park as a kid. Happy to see it still around and well maintained…read more I've been here just to walk and/or chill, the art fair and more recently went for a pride event. The event was pretty chill. They had vendors, free food, live performances and such going on. Parking was all street. I parked 2 blocks down into the surrounding neighborhood. There is a lake - Powderhorn lake. The water didn't look the best as far as swimming or anything but generally nice for the views. There is a playground & wading pool. Also some other amenities.

This Carver Park Lake Auburn Campground is so very well maintained. And it's quiet and calming…read moresituated among the woods of Victoria, Minnesota just 29 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis. I absolutely loved every minute of my one night stay here! For any person, avid camper, adventurer, tourist, or simply just a local wanting to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city or looking for a short weekend getaway...this Lake Auburn Campground is it! Alright well, although it may not have all the amenities I look for when camping out (like showers, flush toilets and electrical AMP Power), I was easily able to overlook all of those additions for the simple fact this place is so easily accessible for folks like myself who showed up randomly without a reservation and needing a simple spot to rest for the evening. I couldn't have been more pleased and satisfied with my experience here. Let me run down all the terrific details this Carver Park Lake Auburn Campground offers.... - They have 57 campsites. - Prices are $15.44 for each campsite per night and then with 6.8% sales tax it = $16.50 in total. - They accept cash or check payments. - There's Wi-Fi, though cell phone reception works perfectly. - You can purchase firewood for $5 per bundle. - Check-in is at 4pm and you can check-out as late as 3pm. - You can re-register for each additional night starting at 11am. - Make reservations ahead of time by calling (763) 559 - 6700. - Quiet hours are 10pm - 7am. - Maximum of 2 tents and 6 guests per site or 1 tent and 1 RV. - Each site has a firepit and picnic table for barbecuing. - Pets are permitted at campsites but must be leashed among the grounds. - Even beer and wine are permitted, though no kegs or hard liquor. - How cool...they rent canoes, rowboats and single kayaks by the lake for $15 every 2 hours, and tandem kayaks for $20 every 2 hours. - Dump Station is $5. Some last things I'd like to mention.... - I discovered this Carver Park Lake Auburn Campground through the amazing app on my phone called Campendium. I highly recommend it for all camping enthusiasts. - The entrance road into the campground was not paved but easily drivable on very flat ground. - Once past the entrance station, I simply looked for an unoccupied campsite, backed my car into the space, set up my tent and then returned to the front section with my written check payment inside an envelope and released it into a white drop box. - I was able to pitch my tent on nice, fluffy grass which made the padding for lying down inside my tent that much more comfortable. Ya know, a lot of campgrounds are situated along hard, dirt ground that can make for difficult night sleeps. But not here, I always appreciate setting up on the grass! - Even though it was no big deal for me, there weren't any showers and only vault toilets. I guess just keep that in mind for when visiting. - The town of Victoria, MN is only 2 miles away and has all the extra necessities you'd expect from a big town like restaurants, grocery stores and even a Dairy Queen to stop in for a blizzard dessert treat at night. And that's it. I can't say enough good things about this Carver Park Lake Auburn Campground. Had I been staying in the area longer I'd happily camp out another few nights. In the end, I just keep thinking about how it was so peaceful here among the charming woodsy outdoors of Minnesota...I hope I can return during my 2022 summer cross country road trip.

Looking forward to checking this out this summer!!! The people working there were very nice and…read morehelpful

I have such a nice time at this park. I go here to study. To relax. To take in the scenery…read more It is a bit crowded but that's because it's such a nice environment. I enjoy finding quiet nooks at the park

Love this place!!! There seems like so much to do in the summer and winter. Today we had some time…read moreto kill exploring Minnesota more and thought the paddle boats would be fun. Normally I can't get on a Pb due to weight limits but the duck/swan hold 1400 pds or so. They are easy to drive and it's a nice scenery. If you are hot and want to get wet you can go under the fountain (which we did!) the workers were super friendly!

I love this park and consider myself so lucky to live close by. The walking and biking trails…read morestretch for miles and seem almost endless. They also follow the Mississippi which makes for a truly calming and serene experience. The playground is huge! There are things for every age group. My only dislike is that it is a sand playground but the kids love it so I can't complain too much. There are picnic shelters and a lot of unsheltered grills with one picnic table which I don't believe require reservations. The interpretive center building is a great place for kids to play and explore. It has a little golf putting area, animal costumes and so much more. You could easily spend an hour in there and the staff are so nice. We're excited to try the wading pool this summer!

North Mississippi Park convinced me to live in North Minneapolis…read more I come here for the playground, which is a bit larger than your typical Minneapolis playground. It is rarely crowded, maybe bc not many people could walk here. I always bring my camera bc it is so freaking gorgeous by the river. The park get busier when the wading pool opens, but we have wading pools closer to our house. I also love taking my kids right down to the shore. Too bad I'm not any good at skipping stones. On the south side of the park is a great Nature Center. Kroening has some great programs and many of them are free! It also has a little history information on the neighborhood which is cool.