Valley View Park
Park
135 acres2.8 mi of trail
Valley View TrailPerro Pond Board Walk
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Tony Webster from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0A+Outdoors
Outdoors in Oak Park Heights
7% of Oak Park Heights’ 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. 4.9 miles of mapped trail cross Oak Park Heights, 1.7 per square mile of land. 281 acres are parks and preserves, 59 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns · #19 of 274 in Minnesota. What drives it
Conserved land
7%
136 acres · of 2.9 sq mi of land
Trails
4.9 mi
1.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
281 ac
59 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
18 mi
16 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
2 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Oak Park Heights?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Oak Park Heights have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Oak Park Heights is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #19 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 Oak Park Heights’ overall grade.
Conserved land7% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4APark land59 acres of park per 1,000 residents (281 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 96%
LessMore
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (274)Ahead of 93%
Water is 13% of Oak Park Heights’ area (0 of 3 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 Valley View Park, with 2.8 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Environmental Learning Center
Park
50 acres1.6 mi of trail
Prarie LoopWoodland Pond LoopWoodland LoopCentral Loop+1
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Oak Park Crossing Park
Park
39 acres0.3 mi of trail
Valley View Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
All 8 parks & preserves
Valley View Park135 acres · 2.8 mi of trail
DirectionsEnvironmental Learning Center50 acres · 1.6 mi of trail
DirectionsOak Park Crossing Park39 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
DirectionsAutumn Hills Park19 acres
DirectionsBrekke Park10 acres
DirectionsSwager Park4 acres · City of Oak Park Heights
DirectionsHaase Nature Preserve3 acres
DirectionsCover Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
136 conserved acres
7% of Oak Park Heights’ land. Water is left out: Oak Park Heights has 2.9 square miles of land and 0.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Oak Park Heights’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city136 ac
Local Park · 136 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley View Park Local Park | Town or city | 57 | Open |
| Oak Park Crossing Park Local Park | Town or city | 41 | Open |
| Autumn Hills Park Local Park | Town or city | 18 | Open |
| Brekke Park Local Park | Town or city | 10 | Open |
| Linear Park Local Park | Town or city | 6 | Open |
| Swagger Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Cover Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
19 places to go in Oak Park Heights
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Oak Park Heights
13 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Oak Park Heights
St. Croix Crossing Public Water Access
DirectionsSunnyside Launch Ramp
DirectionsScenic views in Oak Park Heights
Stillwater Overlook
DirectionsPlus 2 scenic views without a name on the map.
Community gardens in Oak Park Heights
1 community garden without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
6 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 3.1 mi
Valley View Trail3.0 mi
Prarie Loop0.3 mi
Woodland Pond Loop0.3 mi
Woodland Loop0.2 mi
Central Loop0.2 mi
Spruce Loop0.2 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.
16 mi
off-road bike paths
1.4 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
15Tennis
8Baseball
4Football
4Soccer
4Basketball
3Lacrosse
2Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The walking year in Oak Park Heights
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) | 23 | 28 | 41 | 56 | 68 | 78 | 82 | 80 | 72 | 58 | 41 | 28 |
| Rain (in) | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 1.2 |
January is the driest month (0.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 82 °F). 4.9 inches fall in June, the wettest month. The climate in Oak Park Heights →
Next door
Oak Park Heights and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Lake Elmo44 miStillwater Township13 miSt. Joseph11 miStillwater6.0 miOak Park Heights4.9 miBaytown Township1.3 miBayport1.2 miHoulton0.0 mi
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oak Park Heights | 7% | 1.7 | 59 | 99%+ | A+ |
| Stillwater | 4% | 0.7 | 18 | 99%+ | A− |
| Bayport | 8% | 0.7 | 18 | 99%+ | A |
| Baytown Township | 6% | 0.2 | 54 | 36% | B |
| Stillwater Township | 11% | 0.9 | 204 | 52% | A− |
| Lake Elmo | 20% | 2.0 | 222 | 82% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Oak Park Heights
Where can I hike in Oak Park Heights?
The longest trail networks: Valley View Park, 2.8 miles; Environmental Learning Center, 1.6 miles; Oak Park Crossing Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Oak Park Heights 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 Oak Park Heights’ trails?
Valley View Park and Environmental Learning Center don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Oak Park Heights?
18 miles of bike routes are on the map: 16 of off-road paths and 1.4 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Oak Park Heights?
19,497 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Oak Park Heights or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 281 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Oak Park Heights have?
Ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #19 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 Oak Park Heights 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 →