cayuga park

The other day I realized that we barely visit any parks in St. Paul. We're mainly venturing in cities right outside it like Roseville and Maplewood.

I've been intentional, then, about hitting some parks in this area. Honestly, it's not easy: Parks are either outdated, in unfriendly neighborhoods, or without a play area.

The more I park shopped, the more I realized that we may have already visited one of the nicest parks in St. Paul: Cayuga Park (198 East Cayuga Street).


Here's what you need to know:
Parking: Off-street
Age range (playground): 1+
Sidewalks: Paved to playground and basketball court
Seating: Benches by playground
Bathrooms: None
Picnic tables: 1 by playground
Grills: None
Sports field: Full basketball court, makeshift baseball field, open field


Cayuga sits on a corner lot, with its playground at the peak of a hill (great for sledding!), a basketball court down one side, baseball field next to the court, and an open field (often used for volleyball) next to the baseball field.

The play area appears to be recently renovated and is in great shape. The basketball court was just put in last fall and has been the most popular feature of Cayuga since its completion. The park is relatively quiet during work hours and quite busy thereafter.


The play area is laid with sand. The flooring where the playgrounds themselves are located are laid with synthetic flooring. It's slip- and heat-proof. Bordering one side of the park is a small but beautiful mural of different animals.

The play area has several sections: a playground for kiddos 1+ and another for kiddos 3+. All three kiddos (ages 15 months to 4.5 years) were comfortable navigating both playgrounds on their own. The major drawbacks for them were the monkey bars and climbing wall, both of which are better suited for kids 5+.


The playground for kiddos 1+ has a tunnel and climbing challenges. There are also a seesaw and standing version of a merry-go-round nearby. The playground for kiddos 3+ has stairs, ladders, slides, monkey bars, and a curved climbing wall.

Underneath the playground is a little picnic table with benches. There are several gross-motor skills obstacles to one side of the big kid playground.


A swing set stands to one side of the play area and an open sand area sits in front of it. Available swings are a high back swing, baby swing, and regular swings. The swings are often coiled up to make them shorter in length.

One of the things we enjoy about Cayuga is the view: From the playground we can see Highway 35 and all sorts of vehicles we try to identify. We can also see trains pass by on the tracks kitty corner the park. My kids love seeing the variety of transportation in this area of town.


While Cayuga has two sections for different age, it's a relatively small park. Unless you bring toys to play with in the sand, it's hard to make visits last an hour.

Furthermore, the park is not located in a friendly neighborhood. We have gone on our own plenty of times without any trouble, but I am always hyper vigilant on our trips here.

When visiting in the summer or after work hours, keep an eye out for other park visitors. Kids are often unsupervised, which can make for all sorts of trouble.