Elm Creek Park Reserve

What a great place to visit. This park/nature reserve is full of amenities for all seasons. The reserve is quite large so there are many miles of hiking/biking/ and horse riding trails. There is a giant playground and picnic area with a swim hole. They have a few camping options and an amazing nature center. There is an excellent dog park as well.

This place has very friendly staff and the park is absolutely beautiful and huge! They also have shuttle busses so you don’t have to walk from the overflow lot which we loved. The drivers were also great! Overall great experience!

Great place to bike, hike, walk, or enjoy with your kids. Great areas to picnic, walk your dog off leash, swim, and a nice playground. Especially great for fall leaf viewing. Do the north loop for a longer path. Connects to the Medicine Lake Regional Trail.

I had a great time hiking out here. I was surprised by the little amount of people hiking.

I absolutely LOVE this dog park. Most of the dogs are incredibly well behaved and there to have a good time. And the owners too! 🤣 The walking trails are really well kept and the open area is nice too. I also really love that they lock up the pond if the water quality is bad.

We love walking here to mark seasonal changes. A Variety of walks, super kids outdoor play area, and the best interpretive center we've found.

Very clean unique play area. Our kids range from youngest being 2 to oldest being 5 and was so much for them all to do and enjoy. I even enjoyed some of the slides. Nice picnic tables spread about and clean restrooms to use if needed. Definitely will need to go back and explore more of the park.

Best place to take the pups for a walk, especially in the Winter months. This year exceptionally nice with warmer weather and not much snow. My favorite park in the world!

Took the pup and my boy for some fresh air. Walked about a mile and a half. Was a Sunday night so we were the only ones out there. Lovely! Peaceful

Be transported to nature when you enter the Elm Creek Park Reserve.

Lots of trails to hike, run, ride a bike, or horse back ride.

Large play area, disk golf, pool, and the Eastman Nature Center...a place where kids and adults can learn.

I moved up here a few years ago and was so excited to find this fantastic park basically in my backyard. Wow! From the walking trails to picnic areas to the beach….awesome! My son might even get married there in the beautiful party building. It adds so much to Maple Grove and I’m blessed to have it so close by. Thank you!

Beautiful place for popular wedding 💒 parties 🎉
4,900 acres with nature center, camping cabins & activities including hiking, swimming & disc golf. You are welcome

Can't say enough good things. Every time of year. This place is 10/10. Tons to do at all sides of this park.

Love the Eastman Nature Center for kids and families as well as the little outdoor mud/snow kitchen.

They also have spare coats and mittens which is seriously amazing. And free binoculars to check out and bird watch.

The mountain biking area is super fun and there are beginner paths for people that want to take it slow, or kids.

XC skiing on both sides of the park but the "far side"/back is much quieter. Groomed for classic.

Came here many times as a kid with my family and always enjoyed it, but had a chance to visit earlier this year for the first time as an adult. I was pleased to see it's still in good shape. Nice walking and biking trails and nice visitor center.

The nature center was lovely as always! I grew up going here and now I have the honor of sharing it with my fiance. I absolutely love this area. The weekend we went was the World Bird Migration Day I believe. There were lots of tables set up with volunteers exhibiting bird artifacts, photos, and more.

The nature center building was open so we got to explore! We made a turtle friend that was deeply intrigued with me and/or my phone.

This is a great place to learn how to cross country ski. I went here for my first time on a Friday night, and I couldn't be happier with my experience. I was horrible at it, but I was treated with respect, and nobody seemed to be bothered by my terrible form and constant falling. With our current lack of natural snow, I would highly recommend this place for anyone interested in learning how to cross country ski.

Great trails clearly marked! Bathrooms open even when the visitor center.

This place is huge! There’s a lot of parking lots and nature. My husband and I walked on the nature trail for 4 miles. We saw interesting animal tracks as well as see the wild life. If you have kids, they also have a big playground and a pond for them to swim and play in. There’s also a lot of bike trails. It looks like in the winter, they use it for skiing since we saw a lot of ski signs. There’s also a lot of public bathrooms available, some water fountains, and disc golf area. We also saw park rangers and police were monitoring the place pretty well. The best part about the place is that it’s covered by taxpayers and doesn’t have an admission fee.

It’s such an interesting place and we plan to come here again more frequently.

If I could live in a tent in the woods of Elm Creek Park, I would consider it. I love this place.. so much to do, well maintained trails, a fantastic playground for the kids, swim pond, skiing, horseback riding, frisbee golf and more. Growing up outside of MN I can say we’re truly lucky to have places like this around the Cities. It’s a gem.

The trails are great all season long. I enjoy going there by myself and with family for parties. The archery range is quite large and has several distances as well as heights to practice shooting! Near the archery area there are campsites as well. The hill for winter activities are well groomed and affordable. There is a bunny hill, a few advanced hill options, tubing and trails from cross country skiing. Weekends tend to get busy but are fun! (Images are of archery and camp area)