Lovely nature center inside the metro! I didn't have a chance this time to go into the visitor…read morecenter but the walking paths in the woods are very nice and secluded. There's some nice ponds throughout the woods that has swans geese and other birds. Theres also a playground near the visitor center. Great place to take your family or little ones for a walk in nature.

Great park with a mix of trails over marshy areas, water, and through woods. There are a lot of…read moreviewing spots and I got to see a lot of wildlife. Great easy hike. The nature center was also great. There's a mix of live native animals and interactive activities for kids. I also liked the viewing area where you could watch the bird feeders. A great spot for a visit!

We have been trying different playgrounds h the is summer and this one was a total hit!…read more Plenty of free parking. There were two parking lots from what I could tell. There are plenty of walking trails! There is a cute bridge that crosses over the creek! There are also trails that walk next to the creek. Very peaceful and you totally forget you are in the suburbs! The playground equipment is well taken care of and no sand or wood chips! It's all rubber on the ground. There are plenty of activities to keep your kiddos entertained. There is also a basketball court, volleyball court, 3 pavilions, an open field and indoor bathrooms. If those are locked, there are porta potties. There is also a small garden with benches. Overall this is a quality park! One definitely worth visiting!

Great neighborhood park with cute features and close to a stream with walking trails. We come here…read moreoften. Overall it's well kept, lots of kids on the playground.

Rice Creek Regional Trail Corridor is quite long-I think that this Yelp review pertains to the…read moreregional trail between the Lexington Avenue to almost the old Arsenal. There is a paved hiking/biking trail as well as a wetland Rice Creek flowing through it. This really is a lovely area. The Rice Creek Off-Leash Dog Area is on just off Lexington Avenue North. There's a canoe access area just before the main parking lot. The public bathrooms are closed for the season.

Wow, Rice Creek is a hidden gem. I'm specifically talking about the creek, we didn't use the…read morewalking trails or dog park. We kayaked down rice creek from County Rd J to Old Highway 8, which goes through Rice Creek Park. It was amazing! It's hard to realize you are ok the Twin Cities, as you are completely surrounded by nature. We saw cranes, deer, ducks, musk rats, flowers, reeds, calm flowing water, and all sorts of other nature. We did not see cars, houses, buildings, advertisements, or any of the other normal sensory bombardments of city life. The entire creek, or water trail as it's called, is pretty long and goes through several lakes. The portion we went down was about 4.5 glorious miles. The water is pretty shallow throughout and the only rough water is just right after you go under a couple of bridges. If you have access to any paddle powered water craft, go check it out now!

Loved our weekend trip to this park! When we arrived, the parking lot was very busy and there were…read morevery few spots left, even though it's a pretty sizeable lot for a park. We quickly learned this was because there was a special event going on (the Sankofa celebration) inside the center, with vendor tables and a couple of food trucks and even some crafting activities. So we got to experience that on top of the rest of the park's great amenities! The center is sleek and modern inside. LOTS of toilets (single occupant, all-gender), lots of coat hangars, multiple water bottle refill stations. The ground level has some cool reptile/amphibians behind glass you can ogle, as well as interactive informational displays (great for kids and adults, imo). Downstairs they have the rental booth for gear and educational rooms (they had a falcon demo in one while we were there!). Beside the center is an awesome multilevel playground, very fun. As well as a splash pad (for non-winter months) and an elevated boardwalk. The most nearby attraction is obviously the dam, which has an impressive spillway that's mesmerizing to watch. You can even walk across it to go over the river to the park on the other side. Apparently this spot is popular with fishers (though I don't have much knowledge on that subject). There are also trails that can be explored. Paved routes good for all recreational uses, as well as further out hiking paths that are just dirt. It'd be great to come back out again sometime and explore more. Across the street it seemed there was even archery!

I'm really happy this park has been updated to such a lovely and unique park. I love the the…read morenatural material and wood playground. The new visitor center is very nice and cute.

Beautiful park with hiking trails. There's also a dog area so that's always a plus. The trails…read moreconnect to other regional trails so make sure you read the maps or bring your own so you don't get lost.

A great walking path if you don't mind a bug or two…read more Hike (or bike) along rice creek in several areas with plenty of newly remodeled benches to rest on. Many connections to other regional trails for the more adventurous. A small area park lies just over a foot bridge for the younger set.

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

Nature Preserve on the Rum River on 200+ acres: oak savannas, rolling terrain, river front, flat…read morelands. Gravel path encircles most of the property. There is 3.5K of cross country ski trails (nothing as of today with no snow). We hiked about 2 miles and only saw a couple of dog walkers the entire time. anokanaturepreserve.org

Lovely wedding venue- small and intimate setting. Natural setting…read more Good sound quality

Parking costs here so save yourself $$ and bicycle here! Currently the playgrounds and buildings…read more(as well as bathroom buildings) are CLOSED. There are portapotties throughout the park. Lots of walking/biking available with no congestion (we were there a nice Sunday afternoon).

Maybe I don't want to leave a 5-start review because then the secret is out…read more I'm searching for nice, quiet beaches around Blaine. I got tired of Anoka County Parks beaches with lifeguards because they tend to be overcrowded and loud. But that's a different post... Golden Beach was recommended to me a couple of years ago, and I finally took that advice. Easy access off of Lexington, down a quiet residential street. No wonder it's a hidden gem. I had no clue this was back here. A big parking lot right next to a playground. The lot was just re-tarred, but no lines were painted yet. The beach is not visible from the parking lot/playground due to a hill... added privacy. A slight walk to the beach made us pass a clean bathroom and pavilion. On the way back to the car, I noticed there was a concession stand open. Must be on the back side of the restroom building. There was another path leading into tree cover (away from beach path)...did not explore where that went. The beach is narrow and long. There was a retaining wall separating the sand from the grass. Prefect place for kids and adults to sit on while getting sunscreen put on or their swim shoes. Lots of grass to sunbathe in. Big mature trees to find shade under for those not wanting to fry as they watch the water. The swimming area is not roped off. To one side is high reeds. To the other is a fishing dock. Kid swimmers were either out in the open or towards the reeds. I dipped my toe in...87 degrees out and it was cold. There was staked signage that the water was treated with something (I can't remember what). It said the water was safe to swim in, but not to drink it (people and pets). The water didn't look clear, no algae. A very lovely beach. How no one reads this so that it stays that way!

Local Golden Lake Park is a public park on the lake. No outboard motors are allowed on this small…read morelake, so it's a quiet lake to enjoy. Fishing, swimming, hiking, canoe or kayak here. The playground equipment and picnic shelter are closed due to CV-19.

I was in the area (for a Yelp Elite experience, actually lol) but it was a gorgeous day outside…read more(aka, forties in February) so I wanted to make sure I soaked up some of the sunshine in the afternoon. Peeking at this place on Google maps it didn't look like much, but I gave it a shot; I'm quite glad I did! Part of why I'd been unsure was because it does have a relatively small footprint of the landscape (it doesn't even encompass the entire lake, as many houses have backyards around more than half the shore... boo). But, they made up for it with a really nice visitor center and art installations! Honestly, I'd say this place wouldn't be half as good without the outdoor art walk; I really enjoyed discovering all the unique and fun sculptures along the path. It meant I got a much more engaged and lengthy experience; I don't know if their longest path was much more than a mile's distance, but because of the sculptures I kept venturing off the paved path to check them out up close (and take photos and selfies with each)! It was fun. There seemed to be two parking lots. The one near the visitor center was pretty large and seemed to be necessary; there were quite a lot of visitors there when I was, plus a school bus! Most of the visitors seemed to be there to enjoy some skating around out on the frozen lake, but others were walking the trail. Inside the visitor center were bathrooms, including a family restroom, water fountains, including a water bottle refill station, cute little trinkets to buy, a cafe with beverages and bakery snacks, a cozy seating area, lots of rooms for community events, a board advertising said community events for the next couple months, and an art exhibit. I was grateful for the easy access to bathrooms and water! Just outside the visitor center was one of the most adorable little free libraries I've ever seen, nestled inside a mushroom-like sculpture! All in all, definitely worth checking out. Unless you lived nearby, you probably wouldn't go too repeatedly (I think the indoor art exhibit changes seasonally, but the outdoor one has been installed awhile... one of the plaques read 2018), but it's great for a one-off or occasional visit!

A really fun park with a lot of great art to see while you walk around it. The QR codes give a lot…read moreof additional information to listen to as well. Lots of trees, walking paths and a beautiful lake make this a great place to enjoy nature and art.