Well, this was a surprise. Fabulous indoor park for kids, the grands had to be literally dragged…read moreout. Climbing, slides, tubes, giant Legos. And only a $10 admission for the park only. (There is a pool on the premises but it is not a water park-type of pool experience.) Lots of parking outside and places for guardians to wait inside. Tons of kids of all ages and I noticed that the older kids were very gentle and caring for the littles. It was nice to see. Bring your own snacks and water. There is a robotic vending machine for $4 water the kids loved. Great for a rainy or snowy day. Follow it up with a visit to Dave and Buster's down the road at Southdale. (That's how we got them to leave!)

This place is AWESOME! I decided to get my boys (9,5) out of the house and they had a blast! They…read morehave already been asking when we can go back! There is free parking. Walk in and pay the fee for the kiddos. As of Jan 2026 it was $10 a kid with unlimited time. Parents/guardians are free. There is a large park towards the end of the building! It kept my kiddos plenty busy! There is seating for the adults. There is also a gym space for kids to run, balls to play with, mini basketball hoops and items for the little kids to push ride on! There is also a pool to do laps and a gym with equipment, but I'm unsure if those cost extra. You can do birthday parties here! Check the website for additional information!! They do have 2 spots where you can get snacks and picnic tables to eat! Overall this was a very solid experience and we will happily be back!

I am transplant from the other side of the river and absolutely love living in this neighborhood…read more Obviously the perks of this park requires a list so here goes: - The old water tower gets opened up during Highland Fest and in the fall for the fall colors. Once you climb the many stairs, you are treated to an amazing open air view of the surrounding area. The planes at the airport look like toys landing and taking off and all the colors just pop if you time it right. When open, it is only on the weekends. - Two golf courses. On the 18 hole, the 15th hole has a sand trap done up like Snoopy (zoom in on link) in honor of Charles Schulz once being a caddy. The 9 hole across the street is much hillier and is that way because a lot of it is the dirt from the construction of I-94 back in the 60's linking the two cities. http://goo.gl/maps/ZnXbz - Cross country skiing. Both course become x-country ski havens in the winter with even one of the courses having trails groomed. There is also a sliding hill by the water tower which gets packed after a fresh snowfall. - The Pavilion (and many other shelters) can be rented for picnics. Many a fine Booyah's, a fine upper midwestern treat that you need to have once in your life, are served here by neighborhood groups doing fund raisers. Bring a tupperware container to bring some home if you'd like. People will be there with empty ice cream bucket containers for the good ones. - The swimming pool. St. Paul has a few pools now that utilize sphagnum moss as a major cleaning process. Amazing water and you don't come out smelling like a chlorine factory with your hair turning a different color or your eyes burnt red. It's fantastic. - Frisbee course. While I don't understand the layout, many people do and it is always getting used. - Just walk around in the park or on the paths. Towering oaks, deer, fox, willow trees, hills and hidden stairs. This is really an old park and a gem in the city. Even the playground equipment has been updated in the last few years.

The pool facilities are excellent at the Highland Park Aquatic Center, and lots of updates since I…read moreenjoyed swimming here as a kid have really made this a very entertaining destination for kids of all ages and adults too, but the way it's run leaves a lot to be desired unfortunately. There was plenty of free parking and lots of shade available on the pool deck, but during the 4+ hours we spent there (2 adults, 3 kids under age 10) I didn't see one adult worker anywhere-just lots of teen life guards and workers. Also, the pool and deck rules are very unclear, sparsely posted and inconsistently enforced, so we found ourselves breaking all kinds of secret, nonsensical rules only the lifeguards seemed to know about (and we definitely weren't alone). Then, when asked to clarify how what we were doing was wrong, we could never get a clear answer and the lifeguards were often rude and dismissive. We were also given contradictory information from 3 different lifeguards about the same rule! We figured things out for ourselves quick enough and learned which lifeguards really could be consistent, so in the end we had a really good time, just be aware when you go that it's on you to figure it all out, not many of the staff will be helpful (even in matters of safety) at all. Lastly, the admission cost is a little steep ($6 per adult, $5 per kid under 48" tall), and even though they give a little break to families, it's not like you're getting all that much bang for your buck. Also be aware that no outside food or drinks are technically allowed--which I understand to a point, but this is also not listed online or posted officially anywhere on site which is annoying and inconvenient, especially since the concessions are mainly very overpriced junk food. So it would be nice if they offered some healthy alternatives like fruits and veggies rather than more processed, packaged, sugary junk for sale. If that's not possible then just let us bring at least those things with us? With little kids it's not easy to drag them out of the pool, back to the car for a healthy snack--which we ultimately did only to be harassed exiting AND re-entering by the overly enthusiastic little "teen bouncer" at the front gate even though re-admission is permitted as long as you're wearing your wristband. Like I said earlier though; ALL the rules at this facility and how they're communicated and enforced are very inconsistent to say the least! We resolved that if we return we'll just smuggle our own snacks in since they that's what we observed most people doing anyways! The bottom line: you can have a great time in the pool and the facilities have a lot to offer people of all ages if you take some of these tips to heart, learn how to work the ill-managed "system" of rules and their teen army of enforcers, advocate (and think) for yourself a little, and just basically ignore the incredible inconsistency that truly rules here!

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.

I would recommend adding a canopy to the food tables, away from the beach. We had to wait out a…read morestorm, and weren't allowed in the water, and it would have been nice to have somewhere covered to wait. Also, I wish they had slides or lily pads and some more fun things for the kids. Finally, I know it is a chlorinated lake, but it was gross seeing all the goose poop on the bottom of the pond.

I walked past this while on the trails with my dogs. Have not been there for swimming, but it looks…read morelike it would be great fun. Huge sandy swimming area and lots of parking close to the entrance. The walking trails near there are beautiful and not too hard to navigate.

Love this place! Tubing, snowboarding, skiing, cross country skiing! We did the snow tubing and…read morethey had 10 nicely groomed lanes and even at max capacity there was not that long of a wait. Easy to go online and reserve your two hour time slot which is plenty of time. Staff was friendly and helped give a push to start off if needed.

Love coming to this park! Lots of trails, there is a huge beach and a wonderful park as well!read more

I play volleyball here occasionally, and it's one of the most beautiful parks in the Twin Cities…read more It has well kept sand volleyball, basketball, and tennis courts. There's also a decent beach located on the lake. There's a ton of parking. Overall this park just has great vibes going on.

Okay, maybe I'm biased because my husband and I had our wedding at the barn at Lake Riley but... I…read morelove this park! Plenty of amenities such as trails, a picnic area, a basketball court, a tennis court, a big playground, grills, etc. The beach is really nice, and there is a lifeguard present. You can drink in the picnic area (not the beach). Makes for a nice afternoon.

We have been coming to the Blaine FOSS since our eldest daughter was 6 months old. Our daughter…read moreloves water and she developed some good skills at FOSS. She's 6 years old now. Facility is nice and employees are great, what's not so great is, the evaluation system. I understand it's some what subjective to who's doing the evaluation, but the general goal shouldn't be to maximize as much revenue as they possible can, rather considered your child's skills. It feels like the pass/repeat/fail all depends on how many kids they have registered and if they have available room or not, definitely your child's skill set isn't the primary factor. Exhibit A: our daughter tried North Wolf swimming club and passed with flying colors. She just wasn't used to the coach style learning and she was intimidated with coach yielding to other kids, she wasn't ready for that. We decided to continue with FOSS. They kept her in the same class for 3 consecutive seasons and the excuses were, she needs to work on her "breathing" or she needs to work on her hands! This is a girl that swamped the whole Olympic size swimming pool back and forth for her try out! Later we discovered they didn't have enough student registered for the next up session and the existing class is over capacity! Exhibit B: They placed a new student in their group, whom happens to be a girl my friend goes to school with. She never attended swimming lesson but she ended up in the same class as our daughter! Now you have kids with high varying degree in their skill sets and our daughter ends up not getting enough attention the instructor focuses more in monitoring others and helping others. I don't like singling out employee as they get the over arching theme instructions from the corner offices, but Alexander, floor manager, took it to the next level when I tried to approach her with our over all concerns! Her general responses was, "you telling me your concern doesn't change how we grade" paraphrased! So, this is our last session and we are taking our daughters to a different place where they can learn and excel!! PS: they charge us ~$250 per season. roughly we spend ~$750 to learn the same skill sets, the pattern has been repeat x3 per each session/season!

Yes it's expensive. But learning to swim is a must and I think every child should know how to swim…read moreso cost isn't important to me IF they are progressing. We've had a few headaches with the level progression. They wanted to hold my child back based on one thing he needs to work on. Then he's bored in the next session while the other kids look like beginners. I dislike that they level eval so early in the session. It seems like they don't want to pass anyone. So they get your child swimming? Yes. Its a headache sometimes that they aren't working specifically on what your child needs to work on. Frustrating. I wish they'd teach more endurance and how to tread water. They need more showers too. And as of today the pool is filthy. Like so dirty. Yuck! No wonder why my child keeps getting ear infections. Overall we continue to go as we have a pool at our House. He needs to learn to swim and nothing in the area compares.

I'll update my reviews since some of their policies have changed…read more They allow make up lessons now if your kid is sick! As a parent, this really helped relieve some of the stinging of the sticker shock. They started taking teacher consistency, more seriously, and I think it is made a huge difference. No more cycling of teachers as much. It's a warm pool, warm locker room, and Good curriculum where your kid will make progress. There's lots of repeating of levels, but that's true at any swim school. To avoid that, you just need your kid to have tons of pool time outside of lessons. They have a few family open swim times a month but not a lot, you almost need a gym membership with pool access such as at the YMCA in addition to foss lessons if you want to avoid repeating lots of levels. It's still crazy expensive, but you get what you pay for. I have yet to find another swim place that can produce the results that Foss can.

We faced the daunting task of teaching our son to swim. He likes to splash around in the pool with…read moreus holding him, but swimming is something different. We came to Foss as it was highly recommended. First off, it is hard to even get in here. They announce their courses (a slate of weekly sessions stretching over a couple of months) and they almost immediately fill up. It's like buying Superbowl tickets. I think the reason is that not many places have a curriculum of very organized, structured, swim teaching programs like Foss. The prices are reasonable, too. Our little guy was a bit scared the first class (groups of 4-5 kids plus 1 parent per kid), but we kept going and the teacher kept working with him and now he loves swim class and even dances around in the lobby when we get there. The facility is clean, well maintained, etc. and the people are super friendly. I highly recommend Foss for teaching your kids to swim.