Tony Schmidt Regional Park
Park
281 acres1.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Gabriel Vanslette · CC BY 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Arden Hills
7% of Arden Hills’ land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 597 acres are parks and preserves, 62 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Tony Schmidt Regional Park (1.2 mi), Chatham Trails Park (1 mi), Floral Park (0.7 mi).
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns · #40 of 274 in Minnesota. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
356 acres · of 8.5 sq mi of land
Trails
6.4 mi
0.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
597 ac
62 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
18 mi
18 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
7
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Arden Hills?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Arden Hills have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Arden Hills is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #40 of 274 in Minnesota. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, conserved land lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Arden Hills’ overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (6 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land62 acres of park per 1,000 residents (597 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · MN 95% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 93%
LessMore
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (274)Ahead of 86%
Water is 12% of Arden Hills’ area (1 of 10 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 6%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Tony Schmidt Regional Park, with 1.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Floral Park
Park
20 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Crepeau Nature Preserve
Park
26 acres0.4 mi of trail
Crepeau Nature Preserve
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 14 parks & preserves
Tony Schmidt Regional Park281 acres · 1.2 mi of trail
DirectionsChatham Trails Park29 acres · 1 mi of trail
DirectionsFloral Park20 acres · 0.7 mi of trail
Crepeau Nature Preserve26 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
DirectionsCummings Park14 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
DirectionsHazelnut Park18 acres
DirectionsPerry Park15 acres
Royal Hills Park7 acres
Ingerson Park4 acres
Valentine Park2 acres
DirectionsFreeway Park2 acres
Lindey's Park2 acres
Arden Oaks Park1 acres
AHATS Wildlife Observation Area, Arden Hills1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
356 conserved acres
7% of Arden Hills’ land. Water is left out: Arden Hills has 8.5 square miles of land and 1.1 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Arden Hills’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County233 ac
Town or city86 ac
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service68 ac
Local Park · 307 acNational Wildlife Refuge · 64 acLocal Conservation Area · 13 acConservation Easement · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 4 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Schmidt Regional Park Local Park | County | 224 | Open |
| Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 64 | Restricted |
| Perry Park Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| Chatnam Trails Park Local Park | Town or city | 19 | Open |
| Crepeau Nature Preserve Local Conservation Area | Town or city | 13 | Open |
| Floral Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Tony Schmidt Park Local Park | County | 10 | Open |
| Cummings Park Local Park | Town or city | 7 | Open |
| Hazelnut Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Ingerson Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
18 places to go in Arden Hills
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Arden Hills
Cummings Park PlaygroundIn Cummings Park
DirectionsPlus 13 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Arden Hills
Hazelnut Park Dog ParkIn Hazelnut Park
DirectionsPerry Park Dog ParkHours: 08:00-20:00 · In Perry Park
DirectionsBoat launches in Arden Hills
1 boat launch without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Peaks in Arden Hills
Seminary Hill
DirectionsTrails & water
1 named trail and 7 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.1 mi
Crepeau Nature Preserve0.4 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
18 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
18 mi
off-road bike paths
0.1 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
23Tennis
12Baseball
8Basketball
4Soccer
4Pickleball
4Tracks
2Field hockey
2Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The walking year in Arden Hills
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.4 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 8.8 |
| High (°F) | 22 | 28 | 41 | 56 | 68 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 72 | 57 | 41 | 27 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 1.1 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.6 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Arden Hills →
Next door
Arden Hills and its neighbors
Arden Hills has the most mapped trails of the 3 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arden Hills | 7% | 0.8 | 62 | 99%+ | A |
| New Brighton | 14% | 0.4 | 28 | 99%+ | A |
| Shoreview | 24% | 0.5 | 65 | 98% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Arden Hills
Where can I hike in Arden Hills?
The longest trail networks: Tony Schmidt Regional Park, 1.2 miles; Chatham Trails Park, 1 miles; Floral Park, 0.7 miles; Crepeau Nature Preserve, 0.4 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Arden Hills is conserved land?
7% of its land, against a typical 5% for a Minnesota town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Arden Hills’ trails?
Tony Schmidt Regional Park and Chatham Trails Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Arden Hills?
18 miles of bike routes are on the map: 18 of off-road paths and 0.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Arden Hills?
30,029 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Arden Hills or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 597 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Arden Hills have?
Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #40 of 274 in Minnesota. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Arden Hills neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →