Rice park is an adorable spot right in the heart of the city. Featuring the peanuts characters,…read moreplenty of benches and lights, it is a breath of fresh air! Very well decorated and a popular spot for events. Currently hosting the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship events including s'more's, plenty of hockey games, and more family fun in the park.

Rice Park has a beautiful water fountain, plenty of seating and shade under the large trees. Events…read moreare often hosted here on the weekends and throughout the summer. In the winter there are ice sculptures and displays.

This is a fabulous park in St Paul. It's easily accessible by bike trail. This is a perfect spot to…read moreenjoy some green space, with a view of the Mississippi River. I'd love to bring a blanket and enjoy a picnic here.

We did an Urban Sketching event at this park. We were there to sketch the paper machete Mexican…read moresculptures. So colorful and lively. I was surprised at how many people were walking about enjoying this artwork. I parked off the island and walked over the bridge. Didn't realize there was parking right on the island. Either way, the walk was not an issue and the parking limit was 4 hours off the island so plenty of time. Definitely worth a trip to check out this outdoor exhibit.

What a beautiful setting for the Twin Cities Jazz festival. What a wonderful cool clear skies…read moresummer night!! The gardens at Mears Park are so pretty and you can tell they are cared for with lots of love. The flowing water feature through the park is really special. It engages visitors by inviting them to cross the stream on the boulder stepping stones. It feels exciting even if it's such a small stream. I was very impressed with this park and hope that next time I am in St. Paul I will pay it another visit and see more details in the gardens.

This is such a nice, quaint park right in the middle of downtown St. Paul. It has a beautiful…read morelayout featuring two separate ponds and a ton of large, mature trees that provide the perfect canopy of shade to sit under. There's a large amphitheater for outdoor performances, and the park has fantastic seating options with benches spread out all over the place. The location is incredibly convenient, too--it's an easy walking distance from both the St. Paul Farmers Market and Union Depot. It's a wonderful, easy place to walk through and a especially nice spot to sit and eat some ice cream in the summer.

This is an amazing playground and one of our favorites...not only is this a playground but it also…read morehas a splash pad. Madison's is named after a little girl who passed away when she was young. The cool part of this playground is that it is accessible to those who are handicapped. Lots of fun ramps, slides and more modern playground fun stuff. Try to score one of the trees to put a blanket under so you can chill in the shade.

Found this place on accident and very happy I did. The playground is very large and splash pad is…read moredirectly next to it. The location is clean and it has a very great story about why it was created. I highly suggest it

Irvine park is a nice quiet quick walk from my apartment. My partner and I take our dogs here…read moreeveryday multiple times a day for some much needed outside time. The park itself is beautiful with nice sectioned green grass some decorative bushes and benches throughout with a gorgeous fountain at its center. There's street parking available immediately near by so no need to walk from blocks away for a visit. There's also a lovely little gazebo with lights that's very pretty in the early mornings or later/darker evenings. I know it's a historical site as well so that's nifty. We have also seen even a few weddings and photo shoots being done in the park

5/31/22: Overall 3.5 stars. Located in St. Paul, this is a small, quiet & intimate park. Calling it…read morea park might even be a stretch, as it's more like a place you just stroll through to escape the sun (lots of trees & shade) or snap a few pics. There's really no parking, nor any picnic tables, drinking water fountain, or bathrooms. Just a few benches facing the fountain. This isn't a place with jogging paths or much to do. So as a "park", with its lack of amenities, I'd say it's 2.5 stars, or 3 stars at best. However, you can rent the park from the city for $200 (prices as of May 2022) for an intimate wedding, which grants you the permit, plus very limited parking spots. For events over 2 hours, you must rent your own port-o-potty (from a different company $175), as they don't provide it with your park rental. Because it's a relatively affordable way to have a wedding for those on a budget, who love nature & want to be outside, or those who just want a simple no muss, no fuss type of wedding, for that target audience, I'd say it's a decent 3.5 stars, or perhaps even a good, 4 star option. The biggest plus is that there's really no one there (didn't see anyone running or walking their dogs, etc.), so there'll be no interruptions for those wanting a private event. I would say the biggest drawback of it is that there's no real bathroom or parking.

I love this place e is so peaceful Perfect to come late and…read moretake your time and chill

Ever since my first trip up to this park I have been amazed and enjoyed the views that it offers…read more It arguably has the best views of St Paul and is a great vantage point. There is amble parking along for this park (even if occasionally there are a few creepy looking characters hanging around). I often see people taking photographs up here which really is no surprise given the views and easily accessible location. Summer or winter this place looks impressive. It can get a little windy but it is so worth if for the views and a quiet place to relax. Combine this with the historical and cultural background of the area and it makes for a place you gotta check out!

Small, quiet park. Nice area with benches, sculptures, and pretty landscaping. Free parking all…read morearound. Nice views of Saint Paul.

In the 1880's this site used to be a hotel. It burned to the ground, but before it did, can you…read moreimagine the views? Not too hard to imagine, because you can walk to the ledge over Grand Hill and look down at the river, the bluffs, the bridges and trees and wonder if they look back. The park has been all kinds of tore up for some time as they installed a GIANT statue of an eagle killing a snake, some grand gesture of Americaness or some such that was salvaged from some razed building in St. Paul then moved to a parking garage and then moved to the park for us to enjoy. There will be seating wall, a "plaza" and a drinking fountain, and hopefully coming this spring....GRASS.

great place for a walk and some great views of nature. great place to hike with childrenread more

Hidden jem in the middle of oakdale. Highly recommend for a nice walk and bird watching. Bring your…read morekids bring your spouse, bring whoever wants to learn about nature. I particularly liked the info on the plant life. Plenty of fun birds to watch and just an overall peace visit. Only downside is there are no bike racks. Oh well.

One of my favorite parks in the twin cities! I hang out here a lot because my dragon boat team…read morepractices here. But I also like to walk around the lake and paddle board. When I paddle, I love that I don't have far to carry my board into the water. When I walk, I love that there are plenty of places to park and that there are so many points of interest to admire along the 3 mile loop. The beach is nice and the splash pad is perfect for little kids. Great park for all ages

Great location to walk the lake and take in the beautiful sights. Often they have events and…read moreactivities tha make the trip even more valuable

I'm visiting family and we took our six kids to this part to spend time at the splash pad and…read moreplayground one morning. What a beautiful space! There are small rain gardens featuring native plants and plenty of lawn and field all around plus the baseball fields. But we only came here for the kid attractions. The splash pad has three different fountains that will be running at a time, 6 in total, that alternate with three coming up from the ground and three coming from rocks. And then, this is my favorite part, the water from the splash pad spills into a man-made stream. I actually had a lot of fun looking through the beautiful rocks and organizing them by look and feel with the kids. Find the button to turn on the splash pad on the short blue pole by the fountains. There was a small playground that didn't get much attention while I was there, but the large playground has a lot going on for little kids as well as big kids. There's even one really close tonight that you can only get to by climbing up a few rope ladders. They did have porta potties nearby, but the only thing missing is a bathroom. I love that they have a partial fence separating the main playground from the parking lot, and a shaded gazebo for grown-ups to sit at. I wish I had a park like this in my city near Atlanta! It would get so much action. I was actually surprised this place wasn't swarming with people and we visited on a summer Tuesday morning.