Richfield, MN

 

6710 Lake Shore Drive (street map)

Office Hours
Monday-Saturday  8:30 am-5:00 pm
Sunday  Noon-5:00 pm

Park Hours
Daily: Sunrise to 11:00 pm

Trail conditions: 
Trail conditions are good. Please use caution when walking on trails. We are experiencing a high number of active ground wasp nests. These nests are being flagged and monitored by staff. Please avoid flagged/closed areas in the park and report any new nest sightings by calling 612-861-9365 or at the nature center's front desk. 

 

ALL ADVANCED-SALE TICKETS ARE FULL FOR WOOD LAKE'S HALF-HAUNTED HALLOWEEN ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23. Tickets may be purchased at the door for admission times that begin between 3:00 and 6:00 pm, as space allows.

2021 Fall Programs & Events    ONLINE REGISTRATION FOR PROGRAMS & EVENTS
Check out our 2021 Fall Program/Event Guide, including parent/child classes, kids camps, adult programs, family weekend specials, birthday parties, geocaching receiver checkout, nature exploration backpack checkout, and more!  

Wood Lake Nature Center Building Survey
Online Survey (English)      Encuesta (Espanol)
Share your thoughts with us about a new building at Wood Lake Nature Center!
Wood Lake Nature Center is in the planning stage of a new building to replace the current one, which was built in 1971. We want input from Wood Lake's visitors in order to design a building that reflects how people engage with nature and seek a connection between their community and the natural world. We would greatly appreciate five minutes of your time to share your thoughts.

Comparte sus pensamientos con nosotros acerca de un nuevo edificio en Wood Lake!
Encuesta (Espanol)
Wood Lake Nature Center está haciendo planes para construir un edificio nuevo para reemplazar el que se construyó en 1971. Queremos escuchar las opiniones de los visitantes al Wood Lake para poder diseñar un edificio que toma en cuenta como la gente interactúa con la naturaleza y busca hacer conexiones con la comunidad y con el medio ambiente. Si puede dedicar cinco minutos de su tiempo para compartir sus pensamientos a través de esta encuesta le agrademos mucho.

Wood Lake Nature Center 50th Anniversary Fundraising Drive        DONATE ONLINE (search "50th")
In lieu of a fundraising dinner this spring, the Friends of Wood Lake is celebrating Wood Lake’s 50th birthday with commemorative 50 year birthday gifts. This is a year to celebrate everything Wood Lake brings to the community: a connection to the natural world, educational programs, and a sense of wonder. Your donation will go directly into programming, staffing, and managing the natural resources as we look to our next 50 years. We hope you will consider giving at one of levels presented. Every gift of any size helps. Click on the images below to view a pdf version of the poster and form (photo credits: Suyash Chopra)...

 

Other Activities at Wood Lake
Geocaching at Wood Lake
Did you know there are geocaches hidden inside of Wood Lake's 150 acres, waiting to be discovered? If you love being outdoors, exploring new places, or going on a nature hunt, this is the perfect activity for you!

Geocaching is a great outdoor recreation activity for all ages and experience levels (beginners welcome!). Geocaching uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) where points are located on a GPS receiver or mobile device to find hide-and-seek containers called "geocaches" or "caches” hidden at specific locations and marked by coordinates. A typical cache is a small, waterproof container with a logbook in which notes can be added by the finder.

Want to try geocaching at Wood Lake? Download the geocaching.com app on your mobile device and create an account for free. Don't own a mobile phone? Reserve one of our GPS receivers for free by calling Wood Lake at 612-861-9365.

Plan Your Visit
Wood Lake has over two miles of crushed limestone walking trails, floating boardwalk, and groomed cross-country ski trails (weather-permitting).  See Wood Lake's trail map for distances and more information.  Check out our Things To Do page to find out all the fun things there is to do during your visit at Wood Lake!

Environmental Education
Since 1971, the K-6 Richfield Public School students have visited Wood Lake three times a year as part of their regular science curriculum  This partnership is made possible by the annual Urban Wildland Half Marathon & 5K. To plan a guided field trip with a naturalist, visit our Field Trips and Education page for more information or call 612-861-9365 to book a field trip. 

Please keep our park healthy and welcoming to all wildlife and people by observing these guidelines:

• Service Dogs Happily Welcome- Check out the list of Richfield Parks that are dog friendly here and the new Richfield dog park at Roosevelt Park!
• No bikes inside the park
• Stay on the trails
• Observe park signs
• Dispose of trash and recycling properly
• No picking of plants