1
Cottage Grove Ravine Park
Park
545 acres4.1 mi of trail
One hiking loopBoat Launch
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Cottage Grove
Cottage Grove, MN parks, trails & bike paths
About 8.3% of Cottage Grove is conserved land, roughly 1,974 acres. There are about 17 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Cottage Grove Ravine Park (4.1 mi), Grey Cloud Dunes SNA (2.8 mi), and Shepard Farm (1.7 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Cottage Grove, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Cottage Grove outdoors
Conserved land
8.3%
1,974 of 23,861 acres
Trails
17 mi
0.5 mi per sq mi · 10 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
32
48 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
68.7 mi
3.2 mi lanes · 61.7 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Grey Cloud Dunes SNA
Nature preserve
278 acres2.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Shepard Farm
Managed by Thomas Irvine Dodge Nature Center
137 acres1.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Kingston Park
Park
31 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
Pine Glen Park
Park
8 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 32 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 32 parks & preserves
Cottage Grove Ravine Park545 acres · 4.1 mi of trail
Grey Cloud Dunes SNA278 acres · 2.8 mi of trail
Shepard Farm137 acres · 1.7 mi of trail · Thomas Irvine Dodge Nature Center
Kingston Park31 acres · 0.8 mi of trail
Pine Glen Park8 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Hamlet Park142 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Highlands Park60 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Camel's Hump Park75 acres
Still Ponds Park41 acres
Oakwood Park37 acres
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Playgrounds in Cottage Grove
Showing 1–10 of 40 playgrounds
Ravine Park PlaygroundIn Cottage Grove Ravine Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in Granada Park
Unnamed playground in Belden Park
Unnamed playground in Meadowgrass Park
Unnamed playground in West Draw Park
Unnamed playground
Unnamed playground in Pine Glen Park
Unnamed playground in Hamlet Park
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 3.0 miUnpaved 5.1 mi
- One hiking loop0.6 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
1,974 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 3 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 2 of 62 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes3.2 mi
- Off-road bike paths61.7 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes3.7 mi
- United States Bicycle Route 45A (bike route)0.6 mi
- Mississippi River Trail (Minnesota-Alternate) (bike route)0.6 mi
Courts & fields
- Baseball52
- Soccer20
- Tennis16
- Basketball15
- Pickleball6
- Football2
- Volleyball1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Cottage Grove
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Local Park 1,068 acLocal Conservation Area 586 acState Conservation Area 290 acUnknown Easement 73 acLocal Recreation Area 25 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cg Ravine Regional ParkLocal Park | County | 501 | Open |
| Grey Cloud Dunes State Scientific and Natural AreaState Conservation Area | State natural resources | 290 | Restricted |
| Hamlet ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 151 | Open |
| SwwdLocal Conservation Area | Regional agency | 106 | Open |
| Cottage Grove Trailway CorridoLocal Conservation Area | Town or city | 97 | Open |
| Gateway North Open Space/Camel'S HumpLocal Conservation Area | Town or city | 75 | Open |
| Highlands ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 61 | Open |
| Kingston ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 59 | Open |
| Woodridge ParkLocal Park | Town or city | 55 | Open |
| Pinetree Pond ParkLocal Conservation Area | Town or city | 44 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Cottage Grove Armory - Minnesota National GuardFort
Grey Cloud Lime KilnRuins
Atkinson CemeteryCemetery
Nearby
Cottage Grove and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cottage Grove | 8.3% | 17.3 mi | 32 |
| Nininger | 0.1% | 4.8 mi | 2 |
| St. Paul Park | 2.2% | 0.6 mi | 8 |
| Denmark | 5.8% | 22.0 mi | 5 |
| Rosemount | 3.5% | 17.4 mi | 32 |
| Woodbury | 12.9% | 9.7 mi | 58 |
| Inver Grove Heights | 6.4% | 17.2 mi | 19 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Cottage Grove's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 22.6-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.