This place I have been SOOOO many times! The high dive is so fun and exhilarating.... The food is amazing (I recommend SpongeBob popsicle) The water is not polluted because they do not let and speedboats or stuff like that (although you always wonder if something is lurking in the depths....) If you are wearing goggles I recommend looking for the fish under the mini docks, but DO NOT wear them in the deep. It makes everything scaryyyyy~ read more

Great place to enjoy a sunny afternoon. Shady Oak beach is well maintained and the staff is super helpful and friendly. When my son lost his glasses two lifeguards - Beth and Josh - jumped into action to help retrieve them Thank you! read more

Fantastic place for kids and the family to keep cool on a warmer day. The high dive was super fun for both kids and adults. Great experience. Will be back again! read more

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I remember going here as a kid!! Fun place and they updated the beach area.the tall docks are in the middle of the water to jump off.

Great beach for kids of all ages. Water is clean and kids love the jumping platform.. Good viewing spots for parent to watch. Enough food options. read more

This Beach is part of the Shady oak Park which was not a listing on Yelp for that. I had not been here before but i was visiting a customer in the area and I wanted to check it out. The beach area looks very nice and is a pay to play kind of thing. They conveniently tell you that you cannot swim anywhere else in the lake except the pay area. I find that to be a very non-community thing to do. Granted the lake has weeds, rocks and other stuff but we are in Minnesota and you can't swim in a lake? The pay area is nice looking from outside but there were not many kids on this nice day, I wonder why. I like to do nature walks so I walked on a trail that seemed to split the lake. I have to say that it is about a mile long and dumps you in the surrounding neighborhood. There is a lot of wildlife around here. It was a beautiful day and it made me look like a good photographer. The water is pretty clear in this lake. There were people fishing so i imagine there are fish in that lake too. There is a nice bike path that seems to be close by to ride here. Interesting. I will have to check that trail out too. Enjoy the photos. Happy Yelping!! read more

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This is the best neighborhood beach in the west suburbs. Clean, very family friendly and quiet. Lots to do for all ages, swimming and on the lake. This is by far my daughters favorite beach. We go a lot in the summer, my only caution would be to no rely on the lifeguards to watch your children. read more

Lake-swimming is milfoil-laden activity that makes me shudder- hey, what's that touching my leg, HOLY SHIT. Oh wait, it's more milfoil. However, Shady Oak Beach is clear, relatively milfoil free, and overall a nice experience. Only 9 miles from Minneapolis - an easy ride right off the Greenway bike path, might I add - this is definitely a family-oriented type of place. So please put away your beers and crude manners; this is a nice beach! Unlike most beaches, it does cost $5 to get in. However, the lockers/bathrooms don't smell too bad - toilets flush automatically so no touching anything! - and they have some bomb-ass playgrounds. I was impressed by the ones that have faucets so you can recreate erosion patterns in the sand. The water quality is also outstanding. Very clear and little to no plantlife to scare the bejesus outta ya. They also have some docks built out, one end with a diving platform and the other a springboard. Pretty neat. The rest of the shoreline is devoted to private residences which makes me glad the chain of lakes in Minneapolis are largely open to the public. Go MPLS. They closed the 2011 season this past Sunday, which made me a little sad since it means summer is at an end. But I know where to go next summer when the mercury rises! read more

The play area and the beach is FREAKEN PAY TO PLAY, and the ironic thing is they post NO SWIMMING along the shore line outside of the PAY area, so if you wanted to play or swim , then FREAKEN pay up!!! If you're looking for playground for kids, take them to maple grove , very nice FREE area for kids , way bigger too. The canoe launch area is old and broken and slanted , better just use the shore line . Fishing is poor, but part of the water area are some what clear . read more

This place is simply a gem in the west burbs. At least I've fallen in love with it. It's relatively quiet on the water (as they don't allow large motorized boats) which makes it perfect for paddle boarding or kayaking. The beach area seems super "family friendly". Expect to see lots of sandy beach shoreline here and some great amenities too. There is a large newer playground area that seems suitable for most ages. The swimming area is marked off and monitored by life guards. The high dive and large platform dock seems to be a very popular feature and there is also a sand volleyball court. I mostly enjoy paddle boarding ($10) here and staff are always so friendly. The nice thing is that if you rent something they waive the park entry fee ($6). When I've been on the water it's exceptionally clear but if you travel away from the swim area to other parts of the lake you will find it fairly weedy. Nothing though that doesn't stop me from coming back! read more

today our experience was terrible! my teenagers were jumping off the dock and the lifeguards thought they were pushing each other off. apparently the lifeguards were yelling at them and telling to come in. my girls did not hear this and the lifeguard was too lazy to come over to tell them. they were going back to the sand, when a lifeguard talked to them and made them sit on the dock for 10 minutes as a timeout. i believe my daughters are too old for timeouts and didn't do anything wrong. if they had heard something, they would have listened to the adults in charge, they simply did not hear and that's not a their fault. while they were in "timeout", an old man came and tried to talk to them, but the lifeguard shooed him away. my girls apologized after the 10 minutes but the lifeguard responded rudely. also, for some reason floaties aren't allowed past the rope which is an inconvenience and less fun. read more

Great beach for families or groups of friends. The water is clear and the kids and teens love to swim out to the diving pier! Large areas of both nice sand and grass for hanging out. Lots of fun to be had: volleyball, water obstacle course and 2 play areas for younger kids. Great way to spend a summer day! read more

cant wait for summer! i loooooove the beach and this beach is AMAZING! super crowded in the summer with all the little kiddies and mommies but its still awesome. they have food and playgrounds and stuff. get there early! people and parking is kinda hard sometimes! read more