Woodbury Family Fun: 19 Close-To-Home Parks to Explore This Summer

When looking for Woodbury Family Fun at local parks, we had to approach it a bit differently than with other municipalities. Woodbury plans new neighborhoods with a designated park space. However, the city waits to develop the park for a couple years until the neighborhood evolves. The parks department then designs a unique park based on the specific needs and complexion of the neighborhood. This has resulted in a lot of small parks with individual personalities throughout Woodbury. While each park is really built for its small community, there is a connecting trail system running through the city bridging the parks into a cohesive whole. This makes it hard to pick just 10 parks. Instead we’ve highlighted 5 more community-oriented parks and mapped several others that could be combined into a family bike tour.

Woodbury parks are open, but the City is not cleaning the playgrounds and discourages using them at this time.

1. Watch a Family Film at Ojibway Park

Ojibway Park building is closed at this time.

Starlight Cinema summer movies begin begin July 9th this year and run through August on select Thursdays. Find the line up here or on our calendar. This park is also home to a new accessible playground and a skate plaza.

Learn More: 9 Ideas for Family Fun at Ojibway Park

Image courtesy City of Woodbury. New playground and park building.

2. Visit Madison’s Place Playground at HealthEast Sports Center

The splash pad remains closed and may not open in 2020. The Indoor Sports Center is also closed at this time.

This all-inclusive playground is so popular that we’ve had complaints from residents that it is too busy. Who wouldn’t love its fully-accessible, sun-shaded play decks, swings and sensory play equipment?

Learn More: Learn more about HealthEast Sports Center Here.

3. Bike at Carver Lake Park

Carver Lake Park has a 5-mile off-road bike trail and a “bike playground” where kids can develop off-road biking skills in a safe environment. It has loops for various ability levels, including a tot track, pump track, and an advanced loop with challenging features.

Learn More: 10 Ideas for Family Fun at Carver Lake Park

Image courtesy of the City of Woodbury.

4. Fish at Powers Lake Park

The DNR lists Powers Lake in its FiN Guide because it is a good pond for fishing with kids. It has a good stock of fish, including Bluegill, Black Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Walleye, Yellow Perch and Bullhead. The park has a fishing pier and nearby restrooms – both amenities the DNR looks for when determining a lake is a “Kids Pond”. For more fun, download the guide before heading out. It contains pictures of the various fish species, tips for beginners, and an Anglers Diary kids can fill out.

Learn More: 10 Ideas for Family Fun at Powers Lake Park

5. Hike Tamarack Nature Preserve

Not to be confused with Tamarack Nature Center in White Bear Lake, this natural preserve is a great place to get close to nature. This 169-acre rich-fen wetland is surrounded by woodlands and home to the rare Tamarack trees for which it is named.

Learn More: Tamarack Nature Preserve, Woodbury

Two Bike Tours of Woodbury Neighborhood Parks

This is a bit of an experiment, I used Google maps to create these bicycle tours. While Woodbury has many paths that connect its parks, these routes do not use nearly as many bike trails as I had hoped for. You could easily convert them to driving tours. We would love to hear your thoughts on these routes if you try them. How did it go for you? And what would you change? Do you recommend a better route?

East Side Woodbury Parks Bike Tour

The east side ride visits 6 neighborhood parks is approximately 10 miles long.

Summit Pointe Park – Good park for pond dipping. Maybe you’ll find a turtle to observe.
Colby Lake Park – Explore the wetlands or play on the playground.
Fairway Meadows Park – A nice 10-acre park.
Liberty Park – This 100-acre park is a good place for walks.
Stonemill Farms Park – Of the two public parks in the Stonemill Farms neighborhood, this one has the nicer playground.
Edgewater Park – A place to fish with kids.
Ending back at Summit Pointe Park

West Side Woodbury Parks Bike Tour

The west side ride visits 8 neighborhood parks is approximately 16 miles long. Shorten it by approximately 4 miles by skipping Oehlke Park..

Shawnee Park – A lake with fishing pier and a playground safely located on the opposite end of the park.
Evergreen West Park – The playground was replaced in 2017. The new playground has an outdoors theme.
Timberlea Park – Play on the playground spinner or picnic in the green space.
Ridge Park – Featuring a tot lot and equipment for bigger kids.
Oehlke Park – The playground equipment was just installed in 2019 and has a treehouse-style tower with a tornado slide that kids love.
Cobblestone Park – This park is due for new equipment this year.
Windwood Passage Park – Kids love the Crazy Hoopla Bridge on the playground equipment,
End at Shawnee Park

Parks Coming Soon:

Looking for something new? These three Woodbury parks are under development.

Year-Round and Seasonal Family Fun Woodbury

Annual Family Fun Woodbury

Family Friendly Businesses in Woodbury

Your Turn. Which is your favorite park for some Woodbury Family Fun? Leave us a message and let us know what park you love and why you love it. We’ll share with the community.