This is a fishing pier. A great place to have fun in the outdoors. Sunfish and bass are the most…read moreplentiful in this location. We caught fish all morning long from 8am-10am. Pier is handicap accessible and has plenty of parking. Restroom on site. Great for kids. Bike trail is close to the pier if you want to make a day of it and bike around the lake.

Another of our bike group destinations that was a great experience. One waitress on duty that…read morehandled 16 of us with great service. The food was very tasty and good beer on tap.

We stopped in for golf at River's Bend Golf Course. Wednesday special was unlimited golf for $35…read more(includes cart). The front nine was rather short from the forward tees so I eked out a few pars. Water plays a factor in a few holes. Not much for sand and there were a few rolling hills. Tee boxes were in bad shape but the greens were very nice. Back nine was hillier and more challenging with narrower fairways and more water challenges. Staff checking us in was friendly and helpful. The area is beautiful. The bike trail is near so we heard a few riders zooming past. We played fast. Our first 18 holes took about 3 hours. We bopped over to hole two after finishing 18 and played 6 more of the front nine until we caught up to a foursome. Beautiful day on the course.

When you live in Rochester and you have a boat--this is one of the nicest places to get it wet for…read morea couple hours as you don't always have time to drive north ---We have used this lake many times just to get out of the house and drop a line--and I have caught a few fish but always thrown them back. There is a waterski show on the lake typically every wednesday night during the summer. It gets busy with tubers, skiers, and fishing. It is a small lake but the summers are short in MN so you need to get your boat out every chance you get even if it's just for a few hours.

Although this place is amazing, very beautiful, but this place is so shady and so insecure for…read morepeople last night when we went there with the family the moment we parted, there was a huge bunch of people who came in different cars mostly African-American. People are not US based Somalians or somewhere from that side of the country Because I could not hear them talk properly. They were dealing with illegal drugs and the park was so dirty and nasty that you could see used condoms all over the place. If you're going with the family I strongly recommend you avoid this side of the park because it's not very safe. We feel really insecure and left that place although the park is very pretty we could have stayed longer, but we didn't feel safe with the amount of people coming in there with the law-enforcement can make rounds in this area. They can have a good check on what's going on in there

Here's a weird fact. When I lived in Rochester, I never dropped by Silver Lake Park. I always drove…read morearound it to get to and from my home to the downtown area and beyond. The only explanation that I can muster is that I had a park within walking distance from my home. I visited that park often that I didn't think of visiting others. After having a decent lunch on Saturday afternoon, I decided to drop by the park to finally check it out. There are a number of parking spots. I backed my car into an available spot and walked around. Rochester is unique in that it's the only city in Minnesota that has manmade lakes. I believe that the number of lakes in Rochester is in the double digits these days, but the lakes were designed for cooling. Specifically, Silver Lake cools the Rochester Public Utilities power plant. The park surrounds Silver Lake. You can get quite the workout walking around it. I walked maybe a quarter of it. I had spotted a swing that had enough space to comfortably seat two adults. There were indeed two people on it, so I decided to walk somewhere else. When I noticed that they were walking towards me, I headed over to the swing. I like a good swing. This one faces the lake and it was enjoyable taking in downtown Rochester and the view while swinging on it. There are geese in the area. They are known as Canadian honkers. They have longer necks than your traditional Canada goose, which I didn't know about until I learned that Canadian Honker, the restaurant in town, was named after it. Cool! If you do see these birds, you can feed them. There isn't a bylaw that says that you'll get fined for feeding them. During the Fourth of July, fireworks happen in this area. It's definitely a smaller version of the Victoria Day fireworks at Ashbridges Bay in the Beaches in Toronto, but it's pretty decent. I never watched it from the park, but admired the display from afar. This park has a memorial dedicated to fallen firefighters. I also like that each tree has a sign that identifies what you are looking at. It's a cool place to walk around, and learn and discover on your own. It was great getting to know this park instead of driving around its perimeter! I look forward to returning and checking out the rest of it. (140)

Very fun float kayak paddling trip! We rented kayaks and they helped us put in and take out along…read morewith a quick bus ride back. It was about 8 miles on the river with a few small rapids. The water was fairly shallow and easy to navigate. It took us maybe 2.5 hours for our kayak trip with beautiful scenery. We saw deer, 2 fawns with spots and a doe. We saw two bald eagles and 1 golden eagle, blue herons, turtles, kingfisher, turkey vulture etc. The parking is free; there is a bathroom where you put in. You need to sign waivers before going. They offer PFDs to everyone; under 18 must wear PFD.

We love the town of Cannon Falls. We decided to plan a Kayak trip with some family and give this…read moreplace a try. This area is beautiful and we saw many Bald Eagles as we strolled down the Cannon River. I don't think this was too expensive and it was a lot of fun. We had not been kayaking before and my wife was clueless. I had used canoes when I was a kid and had been up to the Boundary Waters, I felt okay. We told the people that it was our first time and without much of any instruction, they put her in the kayak and away she went. I felt like they could have done anything to make her more comfortable. The rental area is a shack, basically. They put you in kayaks and then pick you up in an hour from departure at the pick up point. Look for the large pink rock, that is where you exit the river to be picked up. We had the last time slot with several people overturning and having to empty their kayak, not me, I stayed dry. The people that had to drain their kayak wasted a lot of time and we were late to our pick-up at the end of the day when you know they wanted to go home and start their weekend. I felt bad but it wasn't my fault. This was a fun time. I would recommend that you have some experienced people to help you if you are new at this. The people running this place are not interested in spending time teaching you how to stay dry. That is up to you.

This is one of our favorite parks here in rochester. Very clean and well taken care of. Very close…read moreby to downtown too ( maybe about 5-10 min drive). It has two play grounds, one for little kids and another for bigger toddlers and adolescents. What we also really love is the volleyball sand court! We've had so many good games there. There's also a shelter for groups to eat and sit around. We used it several times with friends for birthday parties and potlucks. Have I mentioned the lake yet? Really nive Lake with a little sand beach. You can swim there too. They do hold several sport events there for swimming during the year. People also bring fishing poles and go fishing there. During the winter, the lake is frozen and people come here to do ice fishing. I just love coming there and reading or chilling around sunset time.

Good beach. Big sandy area, volleyball net, playground nearby, beach house with showers, and a even…read morea security guard was on duty (it was a weekend). The lake is pretty small, but gets really deep within the swimming area. (There is a rope marking off a shallow area for the kiddos.). I'm pretty tall, and easily couldn't touch about half way into the swimming area--good distance between me and all the kids. Will definitely be returning!

This is an excellent fishing pier for kids. Lots of pan fish. Sunfish, Bluegills, Crappie and…read moreLarge mouth Bass. Pier is on the end of a paved path. Parking is available. No restroom near by. Handicap accessible. Fish normally bite in the evening but anytime is good. Best in the spring and the fall. Weeds take over the area around the dock during the summer.