This lake is part of our daily walking route and we appreciate having the park in walking distance…read morefrom our house. The trails around the lake make for a nice walk and the park is usually well kept. If I recall correctly, I think one inner lap around the lake is about half a mile which is nice because it's short enough that you can choose exactly how much you'd like to walk. Plenty of birds and ducks, along with a playground, bathrooms, benches around the lake, and even a geocache or two.

This is a small pocket park that sits adjacent to the Smith Avenue Bridge high atop the bluffs. It…read moregets its name for its view that its visitors get of the Minnesota State Capitol. It also provides stunning views of the Cathedral of Saint Paul, the Mississippi River, and downtown Saint Paul. There is free street parking in front of it and within a reasonable walking distance. This park is not for those with a fear of heights because you are high above the water. I have seen this park spelled with an "a" and with an "o". The correct spelling is Capitol, with an "o", as in the Minnesota State Capitol. Outside of the breathtaking view the park does not have much to offer. There are some benches in the area to sit on. There are however, some shady characters that hang around the area and use a little opening on the side of the overlook to walk underneath the bridge. This is a nice spot that overlooks downtown St Paul and the Mississippi River. You can get some good pictures from here. It is in relatively decent shape, even though it is in an area that seems to be neglected. This place is definitely worth a peek if you are in the area. I would not make a special trip for it or anything.

It's not much in the way of a park, small and without grass. However, it delivers what it promises…read morein the name. You do get great panoramas of St. Paul. There is also a car/pedestrian bridge directly next to it, so you can add depth and variety to your photos of the skyline.

I'm a new annual pass-holder for the Washington and Anoka county parks. I've wanted to check out…read morethe Lake Elmo Reserve for a very long time and the fact that the Reserve had the Nordic Renewal Co. Sauna (pop up) on Thursdays and Sundays...this was the jump start I needed to just buy a pass. I've gone to the park now 4x's in over 2 weeks. I did the sauna once, took my kiddo to the beautiful brand new huge playground twice and then did a little hike solo. The park is huge. There are lots of spots to camp, they have their own beach (in the summer), beautiful lakes, lots of hiking trails, etc. I look forward to coming back not only to this park but others that are part of the pass. No time like the present to get outdoors and explore!

If u have kids this is a good place to go because it is super shallow I recommend u come before…read more12:00 so u can get thare before the lifeguard because they have dumb rules

6/2/22: Overall 3.5 stars. Located in suburbs of Woodbury, I had to create this as a new Yelp…read morelisting because it was nowhere to be found. Hopefully, by adding this in, it'll give this cute little lake some much deserved love. They call it La Lake Park, but it's really just a grassy area that leads to a dirt trail that goes around the lake. It's good for walking, running or hiking. I saw someone walking their dog, so I guess it's pet friendly. You can also ride your bike there. It's just nice to have a getaway within the city. It's probably 1.5-2 miles and it's good for if you don't want to run on asphalt, and just want a quick nature outing. My friends say you need to touch nature everyday! lol ;) There are no bathrooms, picnic tables etc. Nothing fancy. Just a quiet little nature spot in the 'burbs. So overall, 3.5 stars with a nice little round up to 4 stars.

We went to this park after my daughter's daycare had a field trip here. What a little pearl. It's…read moresuch a fun park. I wanted to tell all my friends...but at the same.time want to keep it secret. It has some fun items that you dont see at other parks. One in particular is the circular monkey bars...so fun! My kids really enjoyed their time here There is also a spacious parking lot. Easy to find. And both a play structure for littles as well as a bigger one that goes up to 12 years old.

This is a small neighborhood waterway behind the Park Place development. It has been here for about…read more24 years. It has nice paved trails to bike, walk or walk your dog. It isn't too large. Recently they are adding a new development behind the waterway and they decided to extend Spruce Street right through the waterway. We are told that the area taken away will be replaced and extended out further. I have not seen a plan of the new proposal. They are working on the Spruce St extension now, it should be complete soon. I am hoping the trails will extend further. There is already swamp area and a couple small lakes where people spend time fishing. If you see a small trail that goes off of the paved path, it is likely to a fishing spot. There are fish in the larger lakes and other wildlife. It is planted with prairie grasses and flowers. If you see me and my Puggle running around (by running, I mean out sniffing every tree) be sure to say HI. Enjoy the photos that I have taken over the years. It has a loop that is plowed in the winter also with ice fishing on the lakes. This is a city park with a picnic gazebo and a softball field and playground equipment in a small park across 12th street from this waterway. Enjoy!

This is such a convenient little trail to walk my dogs on, I take them on it once daily, sometimes…read moretwice. They finally got all the big cracks filled (they were pretty large holes in the ground, easy to twist an ankle). I do notice many people walking their dogs without leashes back here, which is not only specifically posted you shouldn't do, but I've had multiple dogs run up to mine, who's quite leash aggressive, and almost created incidents. Also, there are a few places where I've personally seen and smelled kids smoking weed within the woody areas of the path.

I was in the area the other day and decided to take advantage of the nice spring weather. I wasn't…read moreexpecting a $7 day fee to enter, but I decided to consider it a donation to the parks system, fed it my debit card and got a ticket to put on my dash. There were three parking lots to choose from, but I drove all the way down to the third and last one by the park office and playground. Decided to do the approximately six mile loop on the dirt path trails (also used for skiing when there's snow on the ground). It was nice hiking through the various groupings of pine trees. I could still hear the freeway noise, but it was mostly in the background. The prettiest part was definitely at the beginning beside the lake though (but perhaps in other seasons, like fall, it might be even prettier). Some mild elevation change, nothing too challenging by any means. There was also the option to walk on a paved path with many benches if you do need something less strenuous or you aren't hiking. The playground was really cute with relatively new equipment. Lots of climbing options, slides, and one large swing (very comfy to lean back in and admire the lake). There were picnic tables around along with barbecues and trash/recycling bins. There's a dock for fishing off of, and another (at the second parking lot) for canoe/kayak launching (which I'll have to come back and try when I have some free time this summer). There were two port-a-potties available for when the park office isn't open. The park office has many a toilet, all singletons so non-gendered, which was lovely. They were clean and well-stocked. The park office didn't have much going for it from what I could glean, but there was space in the lobby to sit and relax if desired, as well as a large backroom that seemed like it was probably for classes and such. It wasn't very busy while I was there; likely because the weather was predicting a storm, but I lucked out and it never came the two hours I was there. I came across a couple that had their dogs off leash, which the park rules state you're supposed to keep your dogs leashed... People, man.

A beauty hidden gem in the southeast metro that I would recommend if you are looking for a close to…read morehome walk/bike with some varied terrain. We hiked this the first week of March and we both wish we would have worn spikes or brought poles- if you get off the main trail, there is some really great up and down. I did not have my cross country skis with me but the trails looked amazing and are groomed for both skate and classic! Highly recommend if you need to get outdoors and want some up and down!

Absolutely beautiful park. Went jet skiing with my family there and had a great time. They have…read moreplenty of parking and lots of shaded seating to get a break from the sun. The beach part is just gorgeous too. Water is pretty peaceful. On a non windy day like this, it was easy to ride the jet ski around. There was a decent sized separated area to go swimming in, which sd enjoyed. I loved that there was a playground and also a small splash pad nearby. My toddler loved it. Definitely plan to be back some day to explore more of the park, as we were mainly on the water.

Came for a few hours for hiking, which was great! The kids played in the splash pad area for a few…read moreminutes, they almost didn't get to use the splash pad because we couldn't figure out how to get it running, it started going after we started walking away....other than that it is a unique design. The beach was good size but I don't recommend swimming, the water is nasty green and scummy.