News – Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota

July 3, 2024

Friends Groups invited to participate in photo contest

Parks & Trails Council is hosting its 2024 Photo Contest and there are two ways Friends Group Partners can get involved. Promote the Photo Contest All P&TC's Friends Group Partners are encouraged to share our photo contest with their membership. It's a great way to ...

Improving the view at Frontenac State Park

The Frontenac State Park Association couldn’t have picked a better day. Sandwiched between days of forecasted rain, Wednesday, May 29th dawned clear and sunny, with a cool breeze that alleviated the early-summer heat. Frontenac State Park was in its element, bursting with green foliage, colorful ...

Volunteers pose in front of Frontenac Pond.

2024 LEGISLATIVE RECAP

Some wins, some losses for parks and trails May 28, 2024 The Minnesota Legislature’s 2024 legislative session came to a chaotic and contentious close on May 20. The session evolved around a myriad of issues, and like always, it was an eventful one for parks …

State Park track chairs open miles of opportunity for people with mobility impairments

Top Photo: MNDNR Parks and Trails Division Imagine hiking at a Minnesota state park, your trail mix packed for a long trek—raisins aside, because who wants those? Going along, you watch a butterfly pass by when, out of the corner of your eye, you ...

Person in an ATV wheelchair on a dirt path in a state park

The Friends of Scandia Parks & Trails start work at Liten Park

About a dozen residents of Scandia braved cold winds, wet ground, and prickly ash on April 20th in the name of restoring Liten Park. The park, recently acquired by the City of Scandia, is currently an irregularly shaped trapezoid of long grasses and woody bracken. ...

Nine people stand in front of a pile of cut branches, smiling.

Three Friends Groups receive funding for habitat restoration in 2024

Three Friends Groups have received funding for habitat restoration in 2024. These projects will address a variety of habitat-related issues at state and regional parks, including the restoration of bird habitat around a wildlife blind, creative erosion control measures at a high-traffic picnic area, and ...

Meet the Friends of Munger South

Dave Auchter saw a problem that he couldn’t afford to ignore. A longtime user of the historic Willard Munger State Trail, he had had front-row seats to the slow degradation of the trail’s asphalt surface. A popular thoroughfare for hikers and bikers, the trail had ...

DNR Update: What’s going on with the MOU?

An update from Arielle Courtney, DNR Greetings, friends! Thank you as always for your dedication and service to our state parks and trails. While this winter has been abnormal, I know many of you worked hard with our staff to put on a variety of ...

Webinar: Friends Groups & Volunteer Appreciation Events

Details Hear from Friends Group leaders Jon Slock (Gateway Brown's Creek Trail Association) and Tony Manzara (Friends of Sunfish Lake Park) about holding successful volunteer appreciation events. More Webinar Recordings

Get to know e-bike rules in Minnesota

Minnesota codifies e-bike classes and offers rebate incentive to buy your own If you’ve spent time on Minnesota trails in the last few years, you may have noticed a growing trend: Electric bicycles, or e-bikes now make up the fastest-growing bicycle segment. And all projections ...

Three young adults bicyling down a wooded trail

Indigenous informed management at Grand Portage State Park

× On Dec. 7, 2023 P&TC hosted a webinar presented by leaders from Grand Portage State Park. This article stems from that content. An inspiring example of parks as a shared resource and benefit Heading north along the North Shore on Hwy. 61, on the ...

Meet the Friends of Minnehaha

The Friends of Minnehaha Park came into being in early 2023. Susan Glenn, a resident of Kenny neighborhood and a lifelong nature and history lover and park user, spent many hours outdoors exploring the park and sharing the love of the park with family and ...

October 25, 2023

Webinar: Habitat Restoration Panel

Details Friends Group leaders Steve Dietz (Frontenac) and Beth Hayden (Gateway), with long-distance assistance from Gitchi-Gami Trail Association's Michelle Pierson, provide advice to prospective Friends Group applicants for P&TC's 2024 grant round. More Webinar Recordings