🪿 wood lake nature center!
up in the twin cities the first weekend of october for a “they might be giants” concert, we sought out a few urban hiking opportunities for fresh air & exercise. first up: wood lake nature center in richfield!
it was surprisingly easy to forget we were surrounded by the metro area’s 3.8 million people, despite a constant background hum of traffic and humanity. the flora and fauna were impressive, particularly the plentiful waterfowl — ducks, geese, egrets, and more — flourishing throughout the 150-acre greenspace.
the only downside to our visit was that renovation of the visitor center was in progress, preventing access to both it and some surrounding trails. the building is scheduled to re-open in november.
wood lake is located in hennepin county, minnesota — home to indigenous speakers of the Dakȟóta (Western Dakota), Dakhóta (Eastern Dakota), and Lakȟótiyapi (Lakota) languages.
hike visualization credits — music: L'etoile Du Nord by Shared Fable, used with express written consent of the artist; route data: onx backcountry + gpx.studio; animation: mapdirector / support independent artists & developers!
my trail name’s mythic and in 2026 i continued my multi-year thru-hike (m.y.t.h.) of the pacific crest trail. as i plan my 2027 return to the pct, i'm going on day hikes & bikes to help keep in trail shape!
visit my “follow along” page to make sure you don’t miss any updates!
references:
Location on Google Maps
on-trail apps:
