Table of Contents

There are four implementation status categories described in the system plan. Together, these categories make up the 2050 Regional Parks and Trails System:

• Open to the Public Regional Parks and Trails System units  
• Planned Regional Parks and Trails System units that are not yet open to the public
• Regional Parks and Trails System boundary adjustments
• Regional Park search areas and Regional Trail search corridors 

Open to the Public Regional Parks and Trails System facilities  

The Regional Parks and Trails System, as of 2025, includes 46 regional parks, 12 park reserves, 56 regional trails, and 8 special features that are open for public use. The system includes 65,339 acres of land in a protected status.  

Open to the Public Regional Parks, Park Reserves, and Special Features  

As of 2025, there are 66 regional parks, park reserves, and special features developed and open to the public. These units are listed in Tables 2.1, 2.2, and 2.3 and shown in Figures 2.1 and 2.3. 

Table 2.1: Regional parks open to the public

Table 2.2: Park reserves open to the public

Table 2.3: Special features open to the public - table

Figure 2.1: Regional parks, park reserves, and special features open to the public 

Open to the Public Regional Trails

As of 2025, there are 56 regional trail corridors with a total of 487 miles open to the public, listed in Table 2.4 and Figures 2.2 and 2.3. Many trails are constructed in phases, with some as part of roadway improvement projects or local developments. Therefore, although a trail is listed as being open, some portions of the trail corridor may be developed in the future and are not yet open to the public.  

Table 2.4.: Regional trails open to the public

Figure 2.2: Regional trails open to the public 

Figure 2.3: Regional Parks and Trails System facilities open to the public 

Planned Regional Parks and Trails System facilities  

In addition to the facilities that are open to the public, there is one regional park and one park reserve that have Met Council-approved long-range plans but have not yet been developed. These facilities are listed in Tables 2.5 and 2.6 and shown in Figure 2.4.  

Table 2.5: Planned regional parks and park reserves not open to the public 

Table 2.6: Planned regional trail not open to the public

Figure 2.4: Planned regional parks and trails not yet open to the public 

Boundary adjustments  

The 2050 Regional Parks and Trails Policy Area recommends a long-range plan boundary adjustment for Carver County’s Baylor Regional Park to protect high-quality natural features and provide recreational opportunities.  

The proposed boundary adjustment is included in the 2050 System Plan and described in Table 2.7 and Figure 2.5.  

Table 2.7: Long-range plan boundary adjustments 

Regional park search areas  

Six regional park search areas, totaling approximately 3,586 acres, are described in Table 2.8. Figure 2.5 shows a map of the boundary adjustments, regional park search areas, and special feature bridging facility search areas. Regardless of estimated acreages, regional park search areas are depicted with the same size symbols in Figure 2.5. Regional park search areas are meant to denote general areas and do not specify exact locations at this scale. Future long-range planning work by regional park implementing agencies will determine specific boundaries for these regional park search areas. 

Table 2.8: Regional park search areas 

Special feature search area  

One special feature bridging facility search area, spanning 11 cities, is described in Table 2.9. Figure 2.5 shows a map of the boundary adjustments, regional park search areas, and special feature bridging facility search areas. 

Table 2.9: Special feature search area 

Figure 2.5: Boundary adjustments and regional park and special feature search areas 

Regional trail search corridors  

There are 48 proposed regional trails without Met Council-approved long-range plans that identify the trail alignments. Many of these trails have been considered part of the Regional Parks and Trails System for several years and were mapped in previous Regional Parks Policy Plans as proposed trails showing a tentative alignment. Since alignments for these trails have not yet been approved by the Met Council as part of a long-range plan and are therefore not eligible for Regional Parks and Trails System funding for acquisition and development, they are being shown as regional trail search corridors. The regional trail search corridors are listed in Table 2.10 and shown in Figure 2.6. 

Table 2.10: Regional trail search corridors* 

Figure 2.6: Regional trail search corridors 

2050 Regional Parks and Trails System Plan Summary  

As Figure 2.7 illustrates, the updated 2050 System Plan includes:

• Regional Parks System facilities open to the public (2025) 
  • 46 regional parks 
  • 12 park reserves 
  • 8 special features 
  • 56 regional trails

• Planned Regional Parks System units that are not yet open to the public 
  • 1 regional park 
  • 1 park reserve 
  • 16 regional trails
• Regional Parks System boundary adjustments 
  • 1 regional park
• Regional park search areas 
  • 6 regional park search areas
• Special recreation feature search area 
  • 1 location siting multiple unique bridging facilities 
• Regional trail search corridors 
  • 48 regional trail search corridors

The total park acreage and trail mileage for each implementation phase is listed below:

• Open to the Public
  • Regional parks, park reserves, and special features: over 60,000 acres
  • Regional trails: 487 miles
• Planned
  • Regional parks, park reserves, and special features: 8,170 acres
  • Regional trails (includes planned segments that are part of trails open to the public): 331.9 miles
• Search
  • Regional parks, park reserves, and special features: 3,586 acres
  • Regional trails: 518 miles

System-level changes

The 2025 system-level changes reflect implementing agency proposed modifications to existing units within the Regional Parks and Trails System, as well as future 2028/2029 system addition candidates. These 12 changes to the Regional Parks and Trails System include seven name changes, two trail refinements, and three 2028/2029 system addition candidates. The changes are listed below in further detail. 

• Unit name changes (seven):
  • Anoka County:
    • “Northwest Search Area” changed to “Sugar Hills Search Area”
  • Dakota County:
    • “Lebanon Hills-Big Rivers Greenway Regional Trail Search Corridor” changed to “Lebanon Hills-Minnesota River Greenway Regional Trail Search Corridor”
    • “Lebanon Hills-Mendota Greenway Regional Trail, Highway 62 segment” changed to “Lebanon Hills Greenway Regional Trail”
  • Scott County:
    • “Scott West Regional Trail” changed to “Big Woods Regional Trail”
    • “Minnesota River Bluffs Extension and Scott County Connection Regional Trail” changed to “Merriam Junction Regional Trail”
    • “Louisville Trail Search Corridor” changed to “Merriam Junction Regional Trail”
    • Portion of “Southern Scott Trail Search Corridor” changed to “Shallow Waters Regional Trail”
• Trail refinements (two):
  • Three Rivers Park District’s Dakota Rail Regional Trail Search Corridor Extension moving the trail terminus from Highway 494 to Minnetonka City Hall
  • Three Rivers Park District is transferring a portion of the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail to Carver County
• Future 2028/2029 System Additions Process candidates (three): 
  • Ramsey County’s Rice Creek North Regional Trail Boundary Adjustment adding 2,407 acres to the current 792 acres at former Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant
  • Three Rivers Park District’s 5.5-mile West Minnehaha Creek Trail Corridor Study Area
  • Dakota County’s 58-acre Thompson County Park Study Area in West St. Paul serving the outdoor recreational needs of the more than 50,000 residents who live in the northern portion of Dakota County 

Figure 2.7: 2050 Regional Parks and Trails System Plan Includes

Figure 2.8: 2050 Regional Parks and Trails System Plan Map* 

Estimated cost to implement the system plan

State law requires that the regional parks policy plan estimate the cost of the recommended acquisitions and development of the park system, including an analysis of what portion of the funding is proposed to come from the state and Met Council levies, and other local government units (Minn. Stat. 473.147, subd. 1). The following analysis is an estimate of funding required to complete the system.

The estimated cost to complete the existing Regional Parks and Trails System is $2.99 billion, including $1.08 billion in acquisition costs and $1.91 billion in development costs (Table 2.11).  

Purpose and use

This estimate is intended to fulfill the state requirement for a metro-wide cost to complete the Regional Parks and Trails System. This is a high-level estimate that demonstrates the scope of the future development and acquisition plans for the system.  

The estimate is not intended to indicate costs for any single project or implementing agency.

Methodology

The Met Council refined the approach from the 2020 update to use the most recent and available data related to cost estimates within the Regional Parks and Trails System. The Met Council worked with implementing agency staff to identify and confirm the cost components, data sources, assumptions and results.  

The Regional Parks and Trails System Plan includes regional parks, park reserves, special features, and regional trails in various degrees of completion:  

• Already in use (which may include additional unbuilt or unacquired elements)
• Planned or acquired but not yet open to the public
• Yet to be acquired and developed search areas

Acquisition costs

Land acquisition costs were calculated by summarizing the county assessor’s total estimated market value for properties that are identified as inholding parcels. Where individual parcel data was not available, such as parks search areas and trail search corridors, average per-acre costs were used for parcels inside the Metropolitan Urban Services Area (MUSA) and outside the MUSA. The provision of wastewater service is not the only factor contributing to higher land values in the region’s core. Other locational attributes that matter for land values are spatial situation (centrally located or remote), accessibility to employment centers and other destinations, proximity to lakes and rivers, neighborhood amenities, and other urban services (for example, high frequency transit service).  

Development costs

Development costs for parks and trails already in use or planned but not yet open to the public were derived from cost estimates included in long-range plans. The cost estimates included in long-range plans define the development needs specific to each unit. Cost estimates were updated to current dollars using the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Implementing agencies provided an estimated percentage of completion for each park or trail unit. The inverse percentage needed to complete the unit was applied to the long-range plan estimate to calculate future development cost.

Development costs for search areas and corridors were estimated by respective implementing agencies.

Limitations

The estimate is intended for use only at a regionwide level. Application to an individual project or single implementing agency is inappropriate. Actual costs for individual projects will vary depending on the location and complexity of each project. Refer to long-range plans, project funding applications, and recent construction for more information on project costs. Lastly, this calculation is completed with current cost estimates and market values. Factors such as changing long-range plan timelines, inflation, and market drivers affect the actual cost of future development and acquisition.  

Analysis

Total acquisition and development costs to complete the Regional Parks and Trails System are nearly $3 billion, including $1.76 billion for the unbuilt portions of the existing parks and trails, $234 million for planned units, and $988 million for search areas and corridors (Figure 2.8). Table 2-12 shows acreage, mileage and costs associated with each category.  

Figure 2.9: Unbuilt portions of the regional parks and trails system including existing, planned, and search areas 

Capital improvement plan

As directed by Minn. Stat. 473.147, subd. 1, the regional parks policy plan must include a five-year capital improvement plan (Table 2.13). These figures are subject to change based upon legislative action. The projections are provided by the park agencies and are based on their current estimate of funding levels. 

Table 2.13: Regional Parks and Trails System Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan, 2025-2029 (in millions)