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All News

April 5, 2021

Where Gretchen the Lion once roared, park visitors will soon stroll

You wouldn’t guess it by strolling the grounds today, but the property Parks & Trails Council acquired for Charles A. Lindbergh State Park in 2020 was once famous for the menagerie of wild animals that lived there when it was the home of the Smuda Zoo.

Newspaper clipping showing the owners of Smuda Zoo

March 24, 2021

Volunteers support bluebirds on Gateway State Trail

Bluebirds along the Gateway State Trail enjoy a helping hand from volunteers with the Gateway Brown’s Creek Trail Association (GBCTA). Since 2014, the friends group has maintained 16 houses each year, installing them in spring, monitoring the nests throughout summer, and cleaning and storing the ...

Man in biking outfit stands in tall grass

March 15, 2021

Redwood County announces new camper cabins

Redwood County’s one and only park, Plum Creek Park, is proud to announce the addition of camper cabins for the 2021 camping season.

March 10, 2021

House Legislative committee hears our case for state trail rehab

On Tuesday, our staff presented at the House Capital Investment Committee to share our State of the Trails report.

March 8, 2021

Parks & Trails Fun Quiz – March

March 2021 Fun Quiz 1 / 4 What is the largest source of fine particle pollution in Minnesota? Personal wood burning (wood stoves, boilers and campfires) Road transporation (cars, trucks, buses) Factory emissions (point source) According to the MnPCA, wood burning for campfires, stoves and ...

February 3, 2021

2019-2020 Youth Engagement Grant Projects In Review

In 2019, Parks & Trails Council launched a grant program designed as a partnership with friends groups to engage youth in parks and trails. In this first year of the program we began working with eight friends groups who identified innovative ways to engage youth ...

January 22, 2021

History of Lake Shetek State Park

1862 Tensions escalate between the Dakota and white settlers leading to a group of Dakota attacking the Lake Shetek settlement in the early days of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. 1863 The bodies of the 15 white settlers who were killed in the attack are ...

Wooden sign mounted between stone pillars

January 22, 2021

Saving a rare forested peninsula for Lake Shetek State Park

Parks & Trails Council secured a treasured landscape for Lake Shetek State Park during a live auction on Oct. 24, 2020. The sale is expected to be finalized by May. The 24.5-acre property, with 3,000 feet of lakeshore along Lake Shetek, was put up for ...

January 21, 2021

Meet the Friends of Chester Woods Park

This is a park that wholeheartedly welcomes volunteers. “There’s a whole culture of embracing volunteers within all Olmstead County Parks,” says Joel Dunette, one of the founding members of the friends group. In fact, the number of hours that volunteers contribute toward the park is equal to the staff hours.

Eight people standing outdoors with buckets around waist to collect seeds

January 19, 2021

5 Ways Nature Time Makes Us Healthier

1 It helps us feel healthy and happy Spending at least two hours in nature (such as parks, woodlands and beaches) per week, has been associated with significantly more likelihood of reporting good health or high well-being. And just 20 minutes spent in urban parks, …

Two women with three children all on bicycles

January 19, 2021

Movement growing for doctors’ to prescribe nature

The next time you’re at your doctors office you may end up leaving with a prescription not for pills, but for nature.

Doctor's prescription to spend time at a park and image of people at Frontenac State park

December 21, 2020

New cabins to open at Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park

From MnDNR Reservations open Dec. 28; first lodging begins Dec. 31 The new camper cabins at Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park, in northeastern Minnesota, are ready for visitors! Campers can begin making reservations at 8 a.m. Monday, Dec. 28 for stays beginning on Dec. …

Two cabins nestled between trees and plants

October 29, 2020

Portion of Lake Vermilion State Park opens to OHVs

All-terrain vehicle (ATV) advocates have been pushing to open up state parks to ATVs for years, and in 2020 their focus was on Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park in northeast Minnesota.