Best Beautiful Parks In Minneapolis Near Me

4worldlovers: Through short interactive narratives, this ongoing series presents behind the scenes tours of your favorite outdoor sculptures.

Explore more than 60 sculptures from the Walker’s collection on 11 scenic acres in the heart of Minneapolis. The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is free, open to the public, and is open from 6 am to 12 midnight every day. Enhance your visit using the free Bloomberg Connects app to learn about the Garden’s history and uncover the meaning behind the sculptures on display.

Download the free Bloomberg Connects app to access multilingual content on the Garden’s history, the sculptures on display, and more.

Visitors to the Garden are encouraged to try our fun self-guided Minneapolis Sculpture Garden tour for all ages.

For more information about public parks and trails, please visit the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board.

Help the Walker maintain and preserve the sculptures you have come to know and love with a 100% tax-deductible gift to the Garden fund today! Give now.

Explore two new works in the Garden: Okciyapi (2021), a commission by Twin Cities–based artist Angela Two Stars; and Adam and Eve (2021) by Simone Fattal.

Since opening in 1988, the Garden has welcomed millions of visitors, showcasing works from the Walker Art Center’s renowned collections of modern and contemporary art in the setting of an urban park. The Garden is a partnership between the Walker and the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, a national award-winning park system.

This parkland has seen many changes over time. A landscape shaped by glaciers more than 10,000 years ago, the area was once an expanse of marshland used as a seasonal camp by Minnesota’s first people, the Dakota and the Ojibwe. In the late 1800s, the site held an armory and parade grounds. In the early 1900s, formal gardens and a series of sports fields were established by the Park Board. When the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden opened in 1988, it was one of the first major public/private urban sculpture parks of its kind in the United States.

The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is home to more than 60 outdoor sculptures. Generations of artists from 10 different countries around the world created these artworks. Many of the works are site-specific and made especially for this public park—from the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry centerpiece to structures that offer spaces for gathering, conversation, or dreaming. Rediscover the Garden’s art and natural beauty through Minnesota’s ever-changing seasons.

What happens when experts from many fields—architects, curators, designers, artists, landscape architects, gardeners, environmentalists, writers, scientists, and many others—come together with community members to reimagine a beloved public space? The result of this multifaceted partnership is a forward-thinking design for the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, which was fully reconstructed in 2017. The site features ecologically sustainable water management, a flourishing habitat for plants and wildlife, and creative landscape elements that showcase the artworks in nature. Learn more about how the Garden came to be.

To reconstruct the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden’s north end, the site—formerly a marshland—needed to be considered carefully. Landscape architects worked in partnership with the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization to envision ways that this land might be used to better support the art, plants, and wildlife, while also more responsibly managing stormwater as a resource rather than a waste product.

Improving the park’s sustainability, a fresh meadow filled with native plants and engineered soils helps absorb runoff from stormwater, returning the landscape to a more natural state. This environment is interspersed with three “islands” that showcase contemporary sculptures from the Walker Art Center’s collection.

At the center of the park is an underground cistern, or water collection tank, near the Spoonbridge and Cherry. This feature helps to water the garden and nearby ball fields and also keeps more than 4 million gallons of runoff out of the storm sewers each year, thus reducing pollution in the Mississippi River basin.

4worldlovers:
Hidden Falls Regional Park is located along the Mississippi River bluffs just below Lock and Dam 1. This beautiful park is great for birding, fishing, picnicking, walking, and biking.


CLOSURE NOTICE: Roads, trails, amenities, and sections of Hidden Falls Regional Park may be closed at times due to flooding, construction, restoration, or other conditions. The gates may close to vehicle traffic during the winter due to the steep roads becoming hazardous. Please obey all barriers and signage. Do not trespass into closed areas of the park. For updates and information, visit the Park Closures & Special Notices page and the Public Works Road Closures page.


BBQ Grill, Benches, Biking Trail, Boat Launch, Fire Pit, Hiking Trail, Picnic Area, Restroom Facilities, and Shelter


With about 6.7 miles of paved trails, the park provides a beautiful setting for an afternoon's walk, run, or ride. Trails run along shady, wooded bottomlands next to the Mississippi River, past scenic picnic areas, and connects to the Mississippi River Boulevard parkway.

Fitness in the Parks is a free outdoor exercise program offered throughout the summer. Classes are open to all ages and no registration is necessary.

Expect to catch primarily panfish when fishing the Mississippi River banks. One DNR official called the Mississippi River "the fishin' river of Minnesota." It has a fantastic array of gamefish such as walleye, sauger, northern pike and muskie. Standard state regulations apply to fishing on the Mississippi. Call (651)259-5831 for more fishing regulation information.

Note: Boat launch is located at Hidden Falls North (Magoffin entrance)

Hidden Falls has an open shelter that covers 12 of 16 picnic tables and seats approximately 60 people. Electricity is available at a 110 volts. Multiple crock pots, coffee pots, roasters and other electric items may cause overloads on the power source.

Also Available are the following: drinking fountains, 2 fire rings, 1 boat launch, paved trails and barbecue grills which are located around the site.

Note: The possession or consumption of alcohol is prohibited in this park.

Please contact the Park Permit Office at 651-632-5111 or ParksPermits@ci.stpaul.mn.us for more information or to make a reservation. Office hours are 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The possession or consumption of alcohol is prohibited in this park.

Please remember that despite the wilderness setting of Hidden Falls Parks, it is still a city park and subject to the same rules for dogs as any other city park. Pets must be licensed and secured by a leash six feet or less. Owners are required to carry clean-up materials for their pets' droppings. Anyone violating these rules are subject to ticketing. Remember, loose dogs and wildlife don't mix!

May be used only on designated bike paths. Motorized vehicles have the right of way at all intersections with bike paths. Bicyclists are allowed only on bike paths and roads reserved for vehicular traffic.

Barbecue grills are available, and people may bring their own grill for outdoor cooking. Recreational fires are allowed only at fire rings.

The park dates back to 1887, when it was selected by Horace Cleveland, a nationally known landscape architect and park planner, as one of four major park sites for the City of Saint Paul. Except for the use of a portion of the land as a tree nursery, no improvement was made in Hidden Falls Park until 1936-37, when the WPA carried out an extensive improvement program on the site. Featured in the park was a small spring-feed waterfall from which the park got its name. In the mid 1960's the park took much of its present form as work began on the park's four primary use areas: the primitive area, boat launching area, general picnic area, and scenic falls area.

The Hidden Falls - Crosby Farm Regional Park Master Plan was adopted in 2019. The plan guides future park improvements and natural resources management. Priority improvement projects will be implemented as funding and opportunities become available. See the Hidden Falls - Crosby Farm Regional Park Projects webpage for more information.