snail lake regional park

The first park on our birthday-scouting trip was a flop. Luckily for us, Snail Lake Regional Park (4191 Snail Lake Boulevard, Shoreview) was just a few minutes away.

While I hadn't planned on stopping to this place out, we could see the playground as we drove by and the kids just had to play on it (you know how it goes).


Here's what you need to know:
Parking: Lot
Age range (playground): 1+
Sidewalks: Paved to and around play area
Seating: Benches around play area
Bathrooms: In warming house
Picnic tables: In nearby picnic shelter
Grills: In nearby pavilion
Sports field: Sand volleyball court, trails, and fishing (both shore and off-shore)


The picnic shelter (which is huge) and play area are located in the same direction right off the parking lot (a personal preference). The lake is on one side of the shelter and the sand volleyball court between the shelter and playground.

Although the play area itself isn't shaded, there's ample shading surrounding it. You can pick from sitting on a bench to lounging around in the grass.


Part of the playground has turf flooring while the other part has mulch. The turf is well-worn, but still more ideal than mulch (again, a personal preference).

The playground itself is big. On one end, little tots can peruse without help while big kids can keep themselves entertained on the other. The entire play structure is connected and, if able, your kiddos can navigate the entire thing continuously.


Zoey (17 months) enjoyed the ramps, tunnels, slides, and stairs on her end, as well as the bridges and bigger slides on the other. She's even trying to find her way up curved and rope ladders.

Titus (3) and Madeline (4.5) enjoyed the monkey bars, fireman pole, slides, and variety of climbing challenges on the big-kid half of the playground.


All three kiddos also took time to relax on the swing set, which sits on the far end of the play area. It has a baby swing and regular swings.

Another swing set sits on the opposite side of the play area with a high back and regular swings. Near this swing set is also a pair of spring riders, one double and the other single.


We visited in the morning. Considering school was out and this is a regional park (which means bigger park and, more often than not, more traffic), it had a reasonable amount of traffic (not overwhelming like at Sitzer).


Aside from park traffic, Snail Lake Regional Park is a clean, well-kept, and engrossing park. If you're looking for somewhere to throw a big outdoor party, maybe complete with water-front activities or playground entertainment, it's a worthy contender.