All News

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.

October 29, 2020

Bonding bill passes, key parks and trails projects funded

Minnesota's Legislative Session was unprecedented, which is to say, it fit perfectly into the year 2020. For most of the year, the much anticipated bonding bill was stalled. It didn't get passed in regular session (Feb - May), nor in the June, July, August, or September special sessions. Then, finally, in October, during the fifth special session, the House and Senate passed a massive, $1.9 billion bonding bill, which was signed by Gov. Walz on Oct. 22. The bill funds a wide variety of items from roads, affordable housing, and college buildings to parks and trails projects.

October 27, 2020

Parks and Trails Legacy Advisory Committee seeks applicants

From MnDNR The coordinating partners of the Parks and Trails Legacy Plan, which include the Metropolitan Council, the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, are seeking applicants to serve on the Parks and Trails Legacy Advisory Committee. The committee champions the 25-year …

October 14, 2020

Trail building update: Swedish Immigrant Trail connects into Interstate State Park

On a perfect fall day on October 10, a small group of people gathered for a ribbon-cutting for the newest half-mile segment of the Swedish Immigrant Trail. This extension is small in length, but big in impact as it connects into Interstate State Park with giant maple trees and dramatic ravines.

October 12, 2020

Our ResearchBike pedals in key data for Saint Cloud trails

Discerning an objective rating for a trail condition can be a daunting project—something Parks & Trails Council (P&TC) learned when we first undertook the task for our 2017 State of the Trails Report.

October 7, 2020

Membership Tracking Template

Details This virtual training shows how to use the membership data tracking template. Download the Excel template and walk through how to enter, evaluate, and export data. More Webinar Recordings