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Monday 8am - 4:30pm Tuesday 8am - 4:30pm Wednesday 8am - 4:30pm Thursday 8am - 4:30pm Friday 8am - 4:30pm

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

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Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board cares for 7,000+ acres of parkland, including 185 parks, 13 lakes and 49 rec centers.

Social Media Terms of Service: https://www.minneapolisparks.org/about-us/ordinances-park-rules/social-media-terms-of-service/ The Minneapolis Park System consists of 182 park properties and 49 full-service neighborhood recreation centers. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board annually serves nearly 400,000 citizens of Minneapolis. Approximately 18 million visits are made to the system each year, with an estimated five million visits to neighborhood parks.

09/14/2026

Two great events, one beautiful weekend in Minneapolis parks! Thanks to everyone who came out to play on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Pickleball on the Parkway along the downtown riverfront and Monarch Festival at Lake Nokomis.

🏓Pickleball on the Parkway with served up friendly competition, big rallies and sunny skies all along the West River Road. Our very own Superintendent Al Bangoura, Deputy Superintendent Jennifer Ringold and Commissioners Dan Engelhart, Kedar Deshpande, Meg Forney, Cathy Abene and Tom Olson brought their A-game!

🦋 Meanwhile, over at Lake Nokomis, the Monarch Festival celebrated one of Minnesota’s most iconic pollinators with activities, education, art and plenty of opportunities to learn more about monarch butterflies and their incredible migration.

09/12/2026

Hey Minneapolis, there's a new park in town! 🌿 After more than a decade of planning, community engagement and construction, Upper Harbor Park is opening the Mississippi riverfront to North Minneapolis with 20 acres of new parkland, a mile of new multi-use trails, gathering spaces, restored habitat and plenty of ways to experience the river.

📍Join us Saturday, Sept. 19, at 10:30 am for the Grand Opening Celebration at North Dowling Ave. and West River Road North.

Come explore the restored riverfront, walk the trails and celebrate a new destination for North Minneapolis and the entire Minneapolis community.

Thanks to our partners City of Minneapolis Government and Mississippi Watershed Management Organization
and

09/11/2026

With tomorrow's splendid weather forecast, we expect a equally splendid turnout of monarch fans at tomorrow's 18th annual Minneapolis Monarch Festival-Festival de la Monarca, in partnership with Joint Venture.

That’s why we’re sharing these ideas to help festival-goers avoid traffic congestion and the hunt for auto parking:

1) Hit the trails!
The festival is easily accessible from Minnehaha Parkway, other MPRB parkways and trails – plus City of Minneapolis bikeways and Hennepin County trails. (There’s a reason why Minneapolis consistently ranks among the best cities for biking!)

2) Free bike parking:
Stash your wheels at the supervised bike corral on the east side of , near the pickleball courts.

3) Transit
Use the Trip Planner to get there via bus routes A (rapid bus), 7, 14, 22, 46C or Blue Line LRT to 46th St.
www.metrotransit.org/trip-planner

4) Split the difference: Park-n-ride/walk or transit 'n' ride/walk
Not up for a long-haul walk or bike ride? Park or ride a mile or two from the festival, then pedal or walk your way over.

5) Our favorite tip: Stroll the “Monarch Mile” to the Monarch Festival
Whether you’re biking, using transit or driving, get yourself near 50th Street, anywhere between the lake and Hiawatha Avenue.
Neighbors along this stretch of the road planted boulevard gardens to attract monarchs and all sorts of pollinators.

Make your journey to tomorrow's festival part of the experience!

The 18th Annual Minneapolis Monarch Festival is Saturday, Sept. 12, 10 am-4 pm, at Lake Nokomis Park.

First image: Monarch butterflies in Mexico, Pablo Leautaud, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0, https://www.fws.gov/media/monarch-butterflies-mexico

09/09/2026

This month's construction update from North Commons Park includes a sneak preview of a major public artwork, getting installed soon on the facade of the new fieldhouse.

The three-dimensional, monumentally sized work is a collaboration between artists Roger and Changó Cummings, a father/son duo who may be familiar from Juxtaposition Arts (JXTA), the art and design center a few blocks from the park that Roger co-founded.

The piece draws from pair's many and varied interests, including urban architecture, regenerative community-building, Hip Hop, sustainability, and the symbiotic relationship between education and community.

Find out more about the Cummings and four other artists who were commissioned by the Minneapolis Art in Public Places program to create work for the park's new and renovated facilities:
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MNPARKREC/bulletins/3bdec96

09/08/2026

That’s not a discarded football or water toy; it’s a bryozoan colony, spotted in a Minneapolis lake just a few days ago!

Also known as zooids, bryozoans have been around some 480 million years, a time when the earth was mostly ocean. Each year, these tiny, filter-feeding organisms - no more than four millimeters long - come together to create blob-like colonies called zoaria. Each dot on the blob is the entrance to an individual bryozoan’s tubelike home.

Zoaria look like a clear gel with the consistency of well-set jello: Think coral, but soft rather than hard. When bryozoans were much more common they were, like coral, reef-builders. Stone foundations and porch supports of old Minneapolis homes might feature fossils of ancient bryozoans that lived in a warm, shallow ocean.

Today, only a few types of bryozoans remain and some still live in Minneapolis – but now in freshwater. They are rather elusive: MPRB staff see bryozoan colonies only every few years in late summer. They say your best bet, should you wish to spot one, could be Lake Hiawatha.

More info from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is at dnr.state.mn.us/areas/fisheries/baudette/bryozoans.html

09/07/2026

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board offices and program facilities are closed today for Labor Day. Starting tomorrow, recreation centers and program facilities move to school-year hours.

And there’s plenty to look forward to this fall! From seasonal events and activities to school release day programs that keep kids active and having fun, there are lots of ways to make the most of your Minneapolis Parks.

Check out what’s happening this fall and find a program or event near you!

09/04/2026

This is the last weekend to make a splash in Minneapolis parks! As we head into the holiday weekend:

💦 50-plus wading pools and splash pads are open 10 am-9 pm through Labor Day.

🏊 Jim Lupient Water Park and Webber Natural Swimming Pool are open 4-7 pm Friday and 1-7 pm Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

☀️ Eight beaches are clear for swimming.

🗺 For real-time updates, check these online maps!

🤽‍♀️ Pool and splash pad locations and operating status
https://minneapolisparks.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=e1feb778cef841c0b94b80c5189ed8c3

⛱ Beach locations and water quality updates
https://minneapolisparks.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=88319f73c7904adcbabccacdff38bbf1

And please play it safe!
✅ Swim at designated beaches and pools that are officially open.
✅ Know your limits and don't go beyond them.
✅ Note that lifeguarding season has ended at Minneapolis beaches.

09/03/2026

🚲 The final set of clues in the Grand Rounds Scavenger Hunt drops TODAY!

We’re down to the last stop in the Grand Rounds Scavenger Hunt! Your final clues are here, so it’s time to get out, explore, and see if you can uncover the last location.

Follow the clues, find all five spots and complete the hunt by Sept. 13 for your chance to collect a prize at the end of the season.

👉 Get the latest clues and subscribe for cycling email updates at www.minneapolisparks.org/activities-events/events/cycle_the_summer/

09/02/2026

The 18th Annual Minneapolis Monarch Festival-Festival de la Monarca is Saturday, Sept. 12, 10 am-4 pm, at Lake Nokomis Park.

Every year, millions of monarchs make the remarkable journey from their breeding grounds in Canada and the United States to the warmer climates of central Mexico. From Minnesota, they travel 2,300 miles beginning in late September and arriving in Mexico in early November. Monarchs are also the only butterfly species in North America that migrates!

The Minneapolis Monarch Festival celebrates the start of this journey with music, food, dance, hands-on art and native plant sales. Visitors will learn where monarch butterflies live, what they do and how to protect them while they’re here in Minneapolis.

Learn more at minneapolisparks.org/activities-events/events/minneapolis_monarch_festival/

In partnership with Monarch Joint Venture

09/01/2026

Save the dates, gather your people and get out there, Minneapolis! From pickleball to monarchs to the Mississippi River and a new regional park, there’s a lot to celebrate in September.

Address

2117 West River Road
Minneapolis, MN
55411

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	8am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	8am - 4:30pm
Thursday	8am - 4:30pm
Friday	8am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+16122306400

Website

http://minneapolisparks.org/

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