Four Minneapolis Parks Among Top Five Most-Visited Regional Parks

Via a May 23 email from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board:

Four Minneapolis regional parks and trails were among the five most-visited regional parks in 2011, according to the Metropolitan Council’s "Annual Use Estimate of the Metropolitan Regional Parks System for 2011" report released Tuesday.

The Minneapolis Chain of Lakes Regional Park was the most-visited regional park with 5.1 million visits in 2011. Mississippi River Gorge Regional Park was No. 3 with 2.3 million visits, Central Mississippi Riverfront Regional Park was No. 4 with 1.6 million visits and the Minnehaha Parkway Regional Trail came in at No. 5 with 1.5 million visits. The second most-visited regional park was St. Paul’s Como Regional Park, Zoo and Conservatory with 4 million visits.

Other Minneapolis regional parks and trails ranked on the list include Minnehaha Regional Park at No. 7 with 1.4 million visits, Nokomis-Hiawatha Regional Park at No. 8 with 1.4 million visits, Cedar Lake Regional Trail at No. 11 with 881,000 visits, Kenilworth Regional Trail at No. 17 with 624,000 visits and Victory Memorial Parkway Regional Trail at No. 18 with 614,000 visits.

Walking and biking rank as the top activities in the regional parks system, followed by swimming, jogging, picnicking and relaxing.

Nearly 44 million visits were made to the Metropolitan Regional Parks System in 2011, which is an increase of 7.5 percent from 2010. Minneapolis regional parks saw an increase of more than 330,000 visits, or 2.2 percent, from 2010.

More than 40 percent of visits to regional parks were made in the summer, followed by spring (21.9 percent), fall (21.9 percent) and winter (8.9 percent), while 6 percent of visits were for special events or camping.

The Metropolitan Regional Parks System includes approximately 54,631 acres of parkland and features 38 regional parks, 12 park reserves, 7 special recreation features and 308 miles of regional trails. The park units are owned and operated by the following 10 agencies: Anoka County, City of Bloomington, Carver County, Dakota County, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, Ramsey County, City of St. Paul, Scott County, Three Rivers Park District, and Washington County.

For more information about the Minneapolis Park System, visit www.minneapolisparks.org. To learn more about the Metropolitan Regional Parks System, visit www.metrocouncil.org.