96% of residents live within a half mile of a park in Lake St. Croix Beach
5 acres are parks and preserves, 4.4 per 1,000 residents. 1% of Lake St. Croix Beach’s land is conserved, about 4 acres. 0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Lake St. Croix Beach, 0.4 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. What drives it
What kind of outdoors town is Lake St. Croix Beach?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
How much outdoors does Lake St. Croix Beach have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Lake St. Croix Beach is ahead of 48% of U.S. towns. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
Water is 44% of Lake St. Croix Beach’s area (0 of 1 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 1%.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
4 conserved acres
1% of Lake St. Croix Beach’s land. Water is left out: Lake St. Croix Beach has 0.6 square miles of land and 0.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Lake St. Croix Beach’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pettitt Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Riverfront Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
3 places to go in Lake St. Croix Beach
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
1 lakes & rivers
1.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The walking year in Lake St. Croix Beach
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) | 24 | 29 | 42 | 57 | 69 | 79 | 83 | 81 | 72 | 59 | 42 | 29 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 1.2 |
February is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 83 °F). 5.0 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Lake St. Croix Beach →
Lake St. Croix Beach and its neighbors
Lake St. Croix Beach has the second most mapped trails of the 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake St. Croix Beach | 1% | 0.4 | 4 | 96% | B− |
| Afton | 8% | 0.9 | 469 | 36% | A− |
| St. Marys Point | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Lakeland | 1% | under 0.1 | 11 | 95% | C+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Lake St. Croix Beach
How much of Lake St. Croix Beach is conserved land?
1% 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 Lake St. Croix Beach’s trails?
W. R. Pettitt Park doesn’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Lake St. Croix Beach?
1.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.1 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Lake St. Croix Beach?
18,749 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Lake St. Croix Beach or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 5 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Lake St. Croix Beach have?
Ahead of 48% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Lake St. Croix Beach neighbors.
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 →