Mineral Springs is the most natural setting of all the multi-purpose parks in Owatonna. It's an old…read morepark, and its geography is probably what's prevented the addition of facilities for field sport's like baseball and soccer. It does however offer volleyball, disc golf, and very nice horseshoe courts. Maple Creek twists and turns through the park, and bridges span it in several places. The area around the pavilion is wooded, but groomed and not cluttered. There is a parking lot next to the pavilion and there is another to the north, across a bridge. There are picnic tables and trails that lead uphill to the woods. There is a statue of Princess Owatonna, with a sign describing the story that ties her with this area. This park may not have all the features that some of the others do, but to just get away to a peaceful natural setting, it is my favorite.

Visited today with my daughter. Beautiful. Well kept. Perfect place for pictures, playing, bbq,…read morehorseshoes, disc golf, walking paths. Love visiting this park!

Spent a weekend camping & hiking here and it's lovely! This state park occupies a large swath of…read morethe coastline of Lake Albert Lea, and is very convenient to the city of Albert Lea and 35-W. As such, this is a very easy park to get to. I camped in one of the two large drive-in campgrounds, both of which are very well-appointed with amenities. There are drinking water faucets distributed liberally throughout the campgrounds, and there are large restroom facilities at each, which are kept clean and have plenty of toilets, sinks, and showers. They even have little stations to plug in devices to charge them. Probably my biggest gripe with this park is that the restroom facilities are so brightly lit, right next to where the campsites are, that it strongly impacts the outdoorsy ambience. Many campers might not mind that & might even prefer it. But between that and the audible proximity to the Interstate, I prefer to feel a little more isolated. I saw lots of big trailers plugged into outlets, and there are also group camps, rentable cabins, and backpacking sites. I definitely want to return here to try one of those backpacking sites along the east side of the lake. Speaking of the lake, I did spot a number of fishing and canoeing options being taken advantage of. With all the beautiful lakefront area here, this is a really cool place for that kind of activity. I was surprised that the office wasn't staffed when i arrived mid-afternoon on a Saturday in June (2022) to check in; I wasn't able to get my hands on a physical map, and I had to put cash in an envelope to get some firewood. But other than that, it felt like a well-staffed park. All things considered, I will defintely return from the Twin Cities, and if it's more convenient to where you live, you can consider that a good thing! EDIT: I did indeed return two weeks later and try out a packpacking site. Loved it! It's way more remote over there. Really beautiful and lots of cool, well-posted trails. There was a big stash of firewood they'd prepared for free; do they do that for everyone? It's great! You can get to all the backpacking sites via canoe. Bumping my rating from 4 stars to 5!

Beautiful, large park with trails for walking and bike trails. Wetland areas, big trees, and well…read moremaintained public areas

This has got to be one of the most fun parks I have taken my boys to in awhile!…read more There is free street parking and a small parking lot down the street. This park has all kinds of things to climb, swing and explore but it also has... TOYS!! What kind of a park has toys!? The best kind of course!! As far as what is surround the playground, it's wood chips and the vast majority of the playground it wood. The entire playground is fenced in with only one way in and out, truly a parents dream haha!! There is a big sand pit to the left and alllll kinda of trucks, push toys and things to ride! There are several benches and picnic tables as well! This was a clean and well maintained park! If you are in the area, it's definitely worth the stop!

I know this place as "Wood Park". As in "Can we go to Wood Park, please please please ...". After…read moreall, its made mostly of wood. But to the city of Rochester and the kind people that made it happen, its know as the Field of Fun. Its located just a hop and a skip from the Soldiers Field Veterans Memorial. This park is small, but is a great place to take younger children. The play area is enclosed so they cant stray to far. There is a separate area for the toddler set with toddler sized play gear. For the 4-8 crowd there are more advanced slides, poles, and other climbing do-dads (even a climbing wall). There are even some picnic tables up front. if you were 4, wood it get any better than this?

Dartts is a beautiful park that sits along the north bank of Maple Creek. There's no densely wooded…read morearea, but a lot of trees are scattered throughout the park, giving it a very comfortable feel. The west part of the park has tennis and basketball courts. There's also an impressive baseball field. The east portion of the park is more peaceful with a pavilion, picnic areas, and bridges. I've been to a few company picnics and family events there, and large group or small, it's always been a great location.

Although this place is amazing, very beautiful, but this place is so shady and so insecure for…read morepeople last night when we went there with the family the moment we parted, there was a huge bunch of people who came in different cars mostly African-American. People are not US based Somalians or somewhere from that side of the country Because I could not hear them talk properly. They were dealing with illegal drugs and the park was so dirty and nasty that you could see used condoms all over the place. If you're going with the family I strongly recommend you avoid this side of the park because it's not very safe. We feel really insecure and left that place although the park is very pretty we could have stayed longer, but we didn't feel safe with the amount of people coming in there with the law-enforcement can make rounds in this area. They can have a good check on what's going on in there

Here's a weird fact. When I lived in Rochester, I never dropped by Silver Lake Park. I always drove…read morearound it to get to and from my home to the downtown area and beyond. The only explanation that I can muster is that I had a park within walking distance from my home. I visited that park often that I didn't think of visiting others. After having a decent lunch on Saturday afternoon, I decided to drop by the park to finally check it out. There are a number of parking spots. I backed my car into an available spot and walked around. Rochester is unique in that it's the only city in Minnesota that has manmade lakes. I believe that the number of lakes in Rochester is in the double digits these days, but the lakes were designed for cooling. Specifically, Silver Lake cools the Rochester Public Utilities power plant. The park surrounds Silver Lake. You can get quite the workout walking around it. I walked maybe a quarter of it. I had spotted a swing that had enough space to comfortably seat two adults. There were indeed two people on it, so I decided to walk somewhere else. When I noticed that they were walking towards me, I headed over to the swing. I like a good swing. This one faces the lake and it was enjoyable taking in downtown Rochester and the view while swinging on it. There are geese in the area. They are known as Canadian honkers. They have longer necks than your traditional Canada goose, which I didn't know about until I learned that Canadian Honker, the restaurant in town, was named after it. Cool! If you do see these birds, you can feed them. There isn't a bylaw that says that you'll get fined for feeding them. During the Fourth of July, fireworks happen in this area. It's definitely a smaller version of the Victoria Day fireworks at Ashbridges Bay in the Beaches in Toronto, but it's pretty decent. I never watched it from the park, but admired the display from afar. This park has a memorial dedicated to fallen firefighters. I also like that each tree has a sign that identifies what you are looking at. It's a cool place to walk around, and learn and discover on your own. It was great getting to know this park instead of driving around its perimeter! I look forward to returning and checking out the rest of it. (140)

I have been here in the Summer and also in the winter. It is a nice park that isn't too small just…read moreoff of Hwy 169. We have gone here for some cross country skiing last winter with a bunch of assorted family members! It was a blast. We were also here to take senior pictures for our son a few years back. This park isn't too large that you would get lost. The trails are not paved but most of them are mowed and clear. This used to be an old family farm and many of the buildings and the old house still exist. They have several small lakes to enjoy walking around in the summer. They have ski trails and snowshoe trails in the winter. We always enjoy this park when we come here. We have family that live in nearby Henderson which is just down the road past the Ney Nature Center, heading west on Hwy 19. There are places to eat and shop in town. If you are running low on fuel, they also have a few gas stations. We are planning to return this winter to ski some more! Maybe i will see you there! Enjoy the photos!

My wife and I took our two granddaughters here today, and I was astonished at what a lovely place…read moreit was - and staffed with such helpful people. It's a hodden Twin Cities gem!

Parking, cleanliness, presentation was 5 stars. However, the condition of some of the animals had…read moreme a little concerned. The bear we saw was pacing and panting back and forth. I'm not a zookeeper by any means, but considering the heat and kids screaming, maybe stress and hot! The same was for the mountain lion. He actually was pawing at his enclosure door to get out of the sun, but seemed unable to do so. Other animals were even seen pawing at empty bowls, which again, assuming this to be for water. I grew up on a farm, not a zookeeper, but the animals looked very uncomfortable.

This was unexpected. Like, really unexpected. We drove here after camping at a state park nearby,…read moreand the roads made us think we were headed towards someone's backyard and we might be the only ones there. We could not have been more wrong! Buses full of field trip kids! So many granny nannies! Plenty of older kids, including a few groups of teenagers! This is a legit nature center, quality playground, and perfectly nice little zoo. I don't know what it's like to live down here, but apparently the locals love this place. That said, it wasn't too crowded at all, and the bathrooms were clean. Parking was easy. We stayed for about an hour, but plenty of people looked like they had packed lunches and intended to stay all day.

Outside the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center, you will find over 500 acres of prairie, forest, and…read morewetlands. Inside, offers hands-on learning. You can learn about owls, hawks, snakes, turtles, and more. You can find each of these live animals inside. Most have a write-up near their exhibits to teach you more about them. If you are lucky you can visit the center when the snake is taken out of its cage and have the opportunity to hold it or see it up close. There are plenty of interactive displays inside and several places where little ones can play. Whether outdoors or indoors this is the perfect way to spend a day.

The Hormel Nature Center brings back warm fuzzy memories from my childhood when my Dad used to work…read morehere. They have educational events, tours, nature walks, a visitor center, etc. And of course you can always explore on your own as well. The park features native prairie, hardwood forest, wetlands and streams. I rememer climbing the big rock out in the front of the visitor center and feeling like it was SO TALL (when you're 5, everything's giant). Not sure if everyone would or could enjoy it as much as I do, but it's still a great little retreat.

This park has quite the variety! Playgrounds and gazebos as well as ponds to fish in. The parking…read morelot is plenty big enough for quite a bit of parking, especially if you're throwing a party here. The bathrooms weren't the cleanest and there was some trash throughout the place, but otherwise it seemed pretty decent. It doesn't seem to be as heavily patrolled as other places, considering there were people parked at one of the gazebos, where you clearly should not be driving your vehicle; they drove up the foot path and through the grass to get to it. It is a pretty fun place though. Lots of shade as well.

Morehouse is a beautiful park in west-central Owatonna. It probably offers more things to do than…read moreany other in town. The Straight River borders the park to the north and west. In the northwest corner there is a dam with a pedestrian bridge across it. This part of the park is a reasonably short walk from much of the downtown area and is a popular spot to relax and watch the ducks and geese. On a nice calm day I like to sit there and read. The park has a pavilion as well as places for picnics and grilling. It's the only park in town that's active during the winter, other than cross-country skiing. There are ice skating rinks as well as skating on the frozen river. The chalet is great place to get skates on and off, as well as warm up. I think they rent out cross-country skis there too. The park also offers, softball, horseshoes, pickleball,and volleyball. There's also a skate park and a playground. Morehouse Park is also the hub of the paved trails that extend to other parks: the walking and bike trails at the north edge of town, and south to Lake Kohlmier (swimming, beach, fishing, canoeing) and Kaplan's Woods Parkway ( woods with 6 miles of hiking trails and 2 miles of paved trails). It's got something for everyone that wants to be outdoors.