St. Louis Park
COMMUNITY GUIDE 2025
Parks provide space to enjoy nature
With more than 50 parks, green spaces from small neighborhood plots of land to regional destinations have helped define the suburban town of St. Louis Park.
In 2025, External defibrillators were installed in the city’ s parks thanks to a public safety aid grant. Four automated external defibrillators( AEDs) in climate-controlled cabinets at Aquila, Wolfe and Louisiana Oaks parks and at Westwood Hills Nature Center, and the AEDs are available for use at any time.
Located next to Excelsior & Grand, Wolfe Park is home to Veterans’ Memorial Amphitheater. Its eight terraced tiers offer seating for up to 300 people. The park, 3700 Monterey Drive, features basketball and sand volleyball courts, a yearround pavilion and a walkway around Wolfe Lake.
Near the northwest part of St. Louis Park, Westwood Hills Nature Center offers a 160-acre nature preserve devoted to outdoor enjoyment, environmental education and wildlife observation.
The nature center, 8300 W. Franklin Ave., features an interpretive center with environmental displays and meeting space for community events and programs. The grounds contain more than three miles of hiking trails, including paved, boardwalk, wood-chipped and crushed concrete surfaces. Trails lead along a wooded hillside, through a cattail marsh and around Westwood Lake, offering anything from a short quarter-mile stroll to a 3-mile hike. A picnic pavilion sits atop a hill overlooking Westwood Lake, while picnic space is also available near the interpretive center.
Visitors can check out a GRIT Freedom all-terrain wheelchair for free to use on the nature center trails. This manual, all-terrain wheelchair has a chain drive system that allows users to operate it independently or assisted by a caregiver
16 | ST. LOUIS PARK | COMMUNITY GUIDE | 2025 with handlebars.
St. Louis Park’ s two off-leash dog parks offer an opportunity for residents and their dogs to get out and enjoy the outdoors. The dog parks are located at Cedar Knoll Park, 2541 Nevada Ave. S., and Dakota Park, 2643 Dakota Ave. S. Hours are 7 a. m. to 8:30 p. m. To use the dog parks, residents must have a current city dog license.
Another notable park is Oak Hill Park, 3201 Rhode Island Ave. S. The park offers a splash pad in the summer months. The city typically commemorates Independence Day with a celebration at Aquila Park, 3100 Xylon Ave. S.
New playground equipment was installed at Ainsworth and Bronx parks after residents near the parks voted to select the design.
A list of parks is available at stlouisparkmn. gov / our-city / thing-to-do / parks. Recreational activities are offered through the city’ s Parks and Recreation Department. For more information, visit stlouisparkmn. gov / government / departments-divisions / parks-rec or call 952-924-2540.
St. Louis Park is also home to numerous regional trails. The North Cedar Lake Regional Trail offers 4.4 miles of paved pathways through Hopkins and St. Louis Park before ending around Cedar Lake in Minneapolis, where bikers and hikers can meet up with another trail in the area.
There’ s also the Cedar Lake LRT Regional Trail, which follows the railroad lines of the Great Northern Railway for 4.5 miles. Both regional trails are part of the Three Rivers Park District. Visit threeriversparks. org for more information.
Other trails of more than a mile in length are at Wolfe Park, Bass Lake Preserve and Louisiana Oaks Park. Other trails of less than a mile are at Aquila Park, Dakota Park, Oak Hill Park, Lamplighter Park, Park Otten Pond, Shelard Park.