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.

Love the beach area. Great bbq spots, and walking trails. In the summer it's very green and open.read more

Our family rented the community center Saturday (6/2//2025) for a wedding reception for our son and…read morehis bride. The venue was great! They allowed us to park a food truck next to the building for our party. We had a spacious room overlooking Lake Hiawatha, and the event spilled out onto the space by the lake. Eleanor provide very helpful oversite; Thanks!

After yesterday's paddle, I gotta say this place is bliss…read more I'd kind of scoped it out a few days prior just by taking a hike around the entirety of the lake to see what all it had to offer besides hiking and biking. I'd parked over by the larger beach (Nokomis Main Beach) on the west side (there's a smaller one on the east side), utilizing the free parallel parking which was available since it wasn't yet a busy afternoon rather than the pay lot. The large beach is quite nice, with some play equipment for the kiddos, a decent restroom facility, even a eatery/ice cream place. Seasonally, there's also a rental place for kayaks/canoes/swan boats if you don't have your own. There's another parking lot on the north end which is nearby a dock that's great for putting in your own kayak/canoe. This is also where you'll find the nearby Community Center with lots more play equipment and tennis courts outside, as well as gyms and rooms inside (open in the afternoons/evenings). It looks to me that the community center offers a lot of classes/activities for kids throughout the year that you can sign up for. I took a quick detour inside and admired their small common area with little library, fish tank, art, etc. Walking around the entirety of the lake will also take you over the car bridge, which offers some nice views. Just north of that bridge is also where the fancier boats are anchored. When I came back the second time with my inflatable kayak, I was able to easily get out onto the water and enjoy my time. Lovely warm September day meant lovely warm lake water, and I paddled the length of it and back, stopping frequently to just lay back and vibe. I especially enjoyed relaxing at the southern end of the lake where the planes fly directly over on their descent into MSP airport. So cool to marvel at!

Love walking around this lake. Cool beach fronts and nice open fields with playgrounds.read more

This is a nice green space that bumps up against cycling and pedestrian paths along the river. You…read morecan really feel some Minneapolis history when walking around here, as you're surrounded by beautiful buildings from a time when milling was (seemingly) the biggest industry around. Speaking of milling around, I was coming out of a meeting and had a gap between calls, so this was my chance to steal a little time in this fine city and see what the energy is like. I tell you on a late May day with full sunshine and temperatures locked in around 70 degrees, the energy is pretty damn perfect. This only added to my already high appreciation of this city. So you can kind of tell I'm lumping the surrounding area in here, not just the acreage of grass and signs that make up Gold Medal Park. You're also just steps away from some coffee shops, businesses, a liquor store, and even the Vikings stadium. It's great how nestled away it seems despite being integrated into the fabric of downtown. Overall this is a great space and if I stay in the area again, I'll probably try to find the time to explore the paths and surrounds further.

Spend some time in the Guthrie and then came outside to enjoy the the un-conditioned air :)…read more The park is a beautiful open space. The hill gives you are great view of the entire surrounding area. Lovely :)

This park has a variety of options. There are 2 play structures, a large open field, swings, tennis…read morecourts, and a skate park. The playgrounds are mixed sand and squishy tire mat. There are plenty of shaded spots. They have a small parking lot and plenty of street parking.

Went to watch my nephews hockey tournament this past weekend. Great facilities and the rink wasn't…read moreas chilly as other rinks...which is a bonus. The concession stand was great and the people manning it were extremely friendly. Great options including sodas, popcorn, nachos, candy, chips, etc. And love the ode to Charles Schulz.

This arena has two sheets of ice. It's nice, functional, good ice and overall unremarkable. Well,…read morethere is a Snoopy or two on the grounds and it's named after the Peanuts creator and Saint Paul native Charles Schulz. Ample stands for watching high school and youth hockey including heated areas inside the arena. Also next to a nice golf course and a historic brick water tower.

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 little park has a special place in my heart. It has two playground areas for kids. One is…read morebrand new (summer 2025). Complete with a fun little lake to walk around that wouldn't be too far even for the smallest walkers. Pair with a stop at May Day Cafe and you've got a great morning.

Love this park! From the splash pad, skating rink, sliding hill, basketball hoops and playgrounds…read more This park has it all! Usually pretty busy as well but has things to do no matter the time of year.

On one side you have several baseball fields and a meadow, on the other side there's a nice…read moreplayground and a connecting point for a longer bike trail. Overall, I liked it but they only open the bathrooms after 10 am.

A nice little park, over 10 acres in size, in the heart of the Cooper/Longfellow neighborhood…read more You have an active playground area with many parents and children hanging out. Next to it is a nice little pool that has a slow incline so kids can walk in and pee. Besides being the voting location in my neighborhood, I also need to go through the park to get on the Green Way. The place also has a bunch of ball fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, a skate park and just places to lounge and grill. And of course, a complimentary bike pump for anyone to use. The unique feature of this park though is the old rocket that used to be a slide and was part of the original playground equipment. The locals got it repurposed into art (see photo) versus it being dismantled as it was no longer meeting safety standards.

Trying to be more intentional about exploring parks around Minneapolis this year, and Hidden Falls…read moreseemed like the perfect place to start. We usually default to Minnehaha Falls across the river, but I'd never actually explored this side--which looks to be really sprawling with new townhomes and modular single family homes. We parked near the dam and walked along the trail to reach the stairs leading down to Hidden Falls. Heads up: the walk down is a little precarious since there's no railing for most of the stairs, but it's not very steep and the trek itself is pretty short. The falls themselves were a bit disappointing at the moment--more of a trickle than a waterfall--but it is early in the season. That said, the forested park area it winds through was really nice, and made the visit worth it regardless. I can already tell this place is probably stunning in the summer when everything is green and flowing! Even with the lower water level, it was a great way to explore somewhere new and great to see there were so many people already exploring the park with it being chilly still!

Beautiful park near the city. Grabbed some take out and found an empty picnic table in the middle…read moreof the day - lots of parking! Watched a few boats launch, saw some geese, enjoyed watching people along the shore. Picnic tables near the water at the North Entrance. Check it out!