Photo: Jeanqueq · CC BY-SA 4.0

Outdoors in Prior Lake

14% of Prior Lake’s land is conserved, and 99% of residents live within a half mile of a park

14% of Prior Lake’s land is conserved, about 1,418 acres. 1,476 acres are parks and preserves, 53 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Spring Lake Regional Park (1.1 mi), Lakefront Park (0.5 mi).

Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns · #38 of 274 in Minnesota. What drives it

Conserved land

14%

1,418 acres · of 16.3 sq mi of land

Trails

9.8 mi

0.6 per sq mi of land

Park land

1,476 ac

53 acres per 1,000 residents

Near a park

99%

of residents within ½ mile

Bike routes

68 mi

3.1 mi lanes · 64 mi paths

Lakes & rivers

2 beaches · 2 boat launches

What kind of outdoors town is Prior Lake?

Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.

Land that stays wild14% of the land is conserved; a typical Minnesota town, 5%.Parks close to home99% of residents live within a half mile of a park.

Outdoors grade

How much outdoors does Prior Lake have?

On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Prior Lake is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #38 of 274 in Minnesota. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, trail miles lowest.

OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Prior Lake’s overall grade.

Conserved land14% of the land · typical MN town 5% · U.S. 4%A⁻Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · MN 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B⁺Park land53 acres of park per 1,000 residents (1,476 acres) · MN 24 · U.S. 13A⁻Parks close to home99% of 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 17% of Prior Lake’s area (3 of 20 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 11%.

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 Spring Lake Regional Park, with 1.1 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.

Spring Lake Regional Park

Park

367 acres1.1 mi of trail

Dog rules not recorded

Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗

Lakefront Park

Park

140 acres0.5 mi of trail

Dog rules not recorded

Directionsto the parking lot

Prior Lake

Park

20 acres

Dog rules not recorded

Directionsto the parking lot

Woodview Nature Area

Park

19 acres

Dog rules not recorded

No trailhead mapped yet

All 17 parks & preserves

Spring Lake Regional Park367 acres · 1.1 mi of trail

Directions

Lakefront Park140 acres · 0.5 mi of trail

Directions

Brooksville Hills Park4 acres · 0.2 mi of trail

Wilds North2 acres · 0.2 mi of trail

Memorial Park13 acres · 0.1 mi of trail

Directions

Wilds Park6 acres · 0.1 mi of trail

Directions

Carriage Hills Park4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail

Raspberry Ridge Park4 acres · 0.1 mi of trail

Directions

Prior Lake20 acres

Directions

Woodview Nature Area19 acres

Cardinal Ridge Park15 acres

Directions

Fish Point Park10 acres

Rice Lake Park8 acres

Jeffer's Park7 acres

Directions

Sunset Hills Park3 acres

Willows Park3 acres

Directions

Crystal Lake Park2 acres

Who protects it

1,418 conserved acres

14% of Prior Lake’s land. Water is left out: Prior Lake has 16.3 square miles of land and 3.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Prior Lake’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.

Town or city1,011 ac

County405 ac

State fish & wildlife1 ac

Regional agency1 ac

Local Park · 1,354 acLocal Other or Unknown · 31 acLocal Conservation Area · 28 acAccess Area · 4 acState Conservation Area · 1 ac

The biggest protected parcels

Parcel (PAD-US)	Managed by	Acres	Public access
Spring Lake Regional Park Local Park	County	405	Open
Jeffers Pond Park Local Park	Town or city	149	Open
Lakefront Park Local Park	Town or city	136	Open
The Ponds Local Park	Town or city	67	Open
Enclave At Cleary Local Park	Town or city	62	Open
Cardinal Ridge Park Local Park	Town or city	49	Open
Jeffers South #1 Local Park	Town or city	40	Open
Thomas Ryan Memorial Park Local Park	Town or city	37	Open
Whitetail Island Park Local Park	Town or city	34	Open
Open Space Local Conservation Area	Town or city	32	Open

5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.

Things to do

64 places to go in Prior Lake

Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.

Playgrounds in Prior Lake

Deerfield Park Playground

Directions

Playground at Raspberry Ridge ParkIn Raspberry Ridge Park

Directions

Trillium Cove Park Playground

Directions

58 playgrounds are on OpenStreetMap in all; the list shows named ones from the first 30.

Trails & water

1 named trail and 16 lakes & rivers

Named trails

Open to bikes · 1.3 miUnpaved · 1.4 mi

Carriage Hills Park Path0.2 mi

Lakes & rivers tap for directions

Arctic Lake Blind Lake Campbell Lake Cardial Ridge Lake Cardinal Ridge Lakelake Crystal Lake Hass Lake Howard Lake Jeffers Pond Jeffers Wildlife Pond Lakefront Lakepond Lower Prior Lake Markley Lake Mystic Lake Pike Lake Upper Prior Lake

Biking & sports

68 miles of bike routes

Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.

3.1 mi

painted or protected bike lanes

64 mi

off-road bike paths

0.4 mi

shoulders & shared lanes

Courts & fields

36Baseball

36Basketball

17Pickleball

14Tennis

5Volleyball

4Soccer

4Football

3Softball

Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.

When to get out

The walking year in Prior Lake

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)	9.2	10.4	11.8	13.4	14.8	15.6	15.2	14.0	12.4	10.9	9.5	8.8
High (°F)	23	28	41	56	69	78	82	80	72	58	41	28
Rain (in)	0.8	0.8	1.7	3.0	4.3	4.9	4.3	4.5	3.2	2.6	1.6	1.1

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 Prior Lake →

Next door

Prior Lake and its neighbors

Tap a town to see its outdoors.

Credit River23 mi Shakopee19 mi Savage13 mi Prior Lake9.8 mi Spring Lake Township2.9 mi

Town	Conserved of land	Trail mi per sq mi	Park acres per 1,000	Near a park ½ mile	Outdoors
Prior Lake	14%	0.6	53	99%	A
Spring Lake Township	2%	0.1	89	31%	C⁺
Shakopee	11%	0.7	30	98%	A
Savage	18%	0.8	36	98%	A
Credit River	18%	1.0	488	35%	A

The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.

Questions about parks and trails in Prior Lake

Where can I hike in Prior Lake?

The longest trail networks: Spring Lake Regional Park, 1.1 miles; Lakefront Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.

How much of Prior Lake is conserved land?

14% 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 Prior Lake’s trails?

Spring Lake Regional Park and Lakefront Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.

Where can I bike in Prior Lake?

68 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.1 of painted or protected lanes, 64 of off-road paths and 0.4 of shoulders and shared lanes.

Is there public land near Prior Lake?

26,825 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Prior Lake or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 1,476 of them inside the city line.

How much outdoors does Prior Lake have?

Ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #38 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 Prior Lake neighbors.

Town Square →

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 →

Post to Prior Lake

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14% of Prior Lake’s land is conserved, and 99% of residents live within a half mile of a park

What kind of outdoors town is Prior Lake?

How much outdoors does Prior Lake have?

Conserved land, trails & bike routes

Pick a walk

Spring Lake Regional Park

Lakefront Park

Prior Lake

Woodview Nature Area

1,418 conserved acres

64 places to go in Prior Lake

1 named trail and 16 lakes & rivers

68 miles of bike routes

The walking year in Prior Lake

Prior Lake and its neighbors

Questions about parks and trails in Prior Lake

Trail talk

Where this page comes from