The Council is responsible for preparing a system plan for the Regional Parks and Trails System. The system is made up of the current regional parks and trails that are open to the public, planned components of the system, and search areas and search corridors for new components to the system. The Regional Parks and Trails System primarily consists of lands located in high-quality natural settings that are contiguous to lakes, rivers, or other water bodies. Restoration and protection of natural areas is a key objective in the Regional Parks and Trails System. Regional parks and park reserves include large areas of land or water that often extend into multiple political jurisdictions. Regional trails may traverse several communities and provide connections between regional parks, park reserves, and the greater trail network in the region. Regional parks and trails draw visitors from across the region and beyond.

The Regional Parks and Trails System is part of the overarching outdoor recreation system in the region consisting of lands owned or managed by federal, state, and local governments, as well as lands privately owned by nonprofit conservancies or for-profit organizations. All play an important role in supporting and protecting the outdoor recreation system. The system is designed to meet the recreational needs and the natural resources protection goals of the region. The outdoor recreation system consists of a wide range of facilities, from state parks to regional trails to neighborhood playgrounds to private nature centers. The Regional Parks and Trails System is a critical part of this well-rounded system of outdoor recreation.

As a part of Minnesota's outdoor recreation system, the Twin Cities Regional Parks and Trails System fulfills a special niche that distinguishes it from local and state recreation opportunities. Criteria outlined in the 25-Year Parks and Trails Legacy Plan help determine what makes a unit "regionally significant."[1] The following criteria provide the key considerations for regional significance for the Regional Parks and Trails System:

• A nature-based setting and substantial acreage (i.e.,100-acre minimum, but usually significantly larger)

• Offers a range of high-quality activities and experiences
• Serves multiple communities
• Is consistent with the Regional Parks and Trails Policy Plan, a chapter of Imagine 2050
• Provides recreational opportunities in areas that currently lack these amenities.

Publicly owned lands and open space areas administered by the federal and state government play an important and complementary role to the Regional Parks and Trails System. In general, local recreational open space facilities provide active recreation, such as athletic fields, courts, and aquatic centers. Private operations also make substantial contributions to the development of facilities and the provision of services and include golf courses, riding facilities, marinas, day camps, and downhill ski areas, as well as privately owned public spaces.

The desired outcomes for maintaining the System Plan are to:

• Meet the recreational needs and the natural systems protection goals of the region
• Support and protect the regional outdoor recreation system in coordination with federal, state, and local governments, as well as with lands privately owned by nonprofit or for-profit agencies Refer to the Regional Parks and Trails Planning Handbook for more information about Minnesota’s outdoor recreation system.

• Provide timely and accurate decision making related to comprehensive planning, regional park and trail long-range plans and amendments, and other system protection activities
• Determine eligibility for regional funding through the Met Council for planned and existing regional parks and trails.

Maintaining the System Plan is critical to a number of Met Council responsibilities including system protection, planning for the future, and funding eligibility.

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[1] Parks and Trails Legacy Plan, Parks and Trails of State and Regional Significance, A 25-year long-range plan for Minnesota, State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources, 2011, www.legacy.mn.gov/minnesota-state-and-regional-par...

The Met Council reviews the System Plan portion of the Regional Parks and Trails Policy Chapter in partnership with the regional park implementing agencies every four years as part of the policy plan revision process and may add, modify, or delete planned elements to the system. Additions, including major boundary adjustments, or deletions to the system proposed outside the regular plan review process are substantial revisions to the policy plan, and as such require an amendment to the policy plan. Identification of specific boundaries and detailed planning for individual units of the system are addressed in long-range plans for each unit. The long-range plans are prepared by the regional parks and trails implementing agencies.

Elements of the Regional Parks and Trails System are categorized into four major types: regional parks, park reserves, regional trails, and special features. As part of the Imagine 2050 process, three additional sub-classifications are being considered for the special features classification:

• Cultural Landscape sub-classification
• Historical Landscape sub-classification
• Open Space/Natural Systems sub-classification.

The Historical Landscape and Open Space/Natural Systems sub-classifications need further discussion before moving them into active use and implementation. See Section 9, Workplan. Only the Cultural Landscape sub-classification is proposed for inclusion in the system plan at this time.

Regional Parks at a glance Existing: 46 regional parks Planned: 1 regional parks; 1 regional park boundary adjustment Search: 6 regional park search areas

Regional parks, typically 200-500+ acres in size, are areas of natural or ornamental quality for nature-based outdoor recreation such as picnicking, boating, fishing, swimming, camping, and trail uses. Access to water bodies suitable for recreation – such as swimming, boating, and fishing – is particularly important. Most regional parks are adjacent to lakes, rivers, or streams.

Regional park attributes

Use: Regional parks accommodate a variety of outdoor recreation activities. The recreational quality of a regional park is measured by the presence or absence of outstanding natural areas and the ability to provide for a wide range of natural area-related recreational opportunities. Regional parks and park reserves offer important amenities and services to regional trails, including providing places for trailheads, picnicking, parking, restrooms, and drinking water.

Service area: 3 - 5 communities

Site attributes: Regional parks are located in natural settings contiguous to water bodies or watercourses whenever possible. They contain significant regional natural habitats including lakeshore, rivers, streams, wetlands, uplands, forests, prairies, and groundwater recharging areas; as well as lands which could be restored to provide critical habitat and access to nature.

Size: Typically, 200-500 acres. A regional park should be large enough to accommodate a variety of activities, preserve a pleasant natural aspect, and buffer activity areas from each other and from surrounding areas. Regional parks typically need to have 200 to 1000 acres of land. Acreage for regional parks is likely higher in rural/suburban areas than urban areas but may be as small as 100 acres.

Site location: Regional parks are located where high-quality natural systems occur or have potential to occur. For example, land with restoration potential, areas where there is a demonstrated regional recreation need, particularly next to lakes and rivers, and/or where growth is expected to occur.

Park Reserves at a glance Existing: 12 park reserves open to the public Planned: 1 park reserve Search: 0 park reserve search areas

Park reserves

Park reserves, like regional parks, include large areas of land or water and provide for a diversity of outdoor recreation activities such as viewing and studying nature, conservation, swimming, picnicking, hiking, boating, camping and trail uses. What distinguishes park reserves from regional parks is the larger size, and the emphasis on preservation and ecological integrity.

Park reserves are substantially larger than regional parks because they require adequate space to protect and manage diverse natural systems and provide for compatible outdoor activities. The minimum size for a park reserve is 1,000 acres, but larger park reserves are desirable. To establish and maintain an uncompromised sense of nature and protect high-quality natural resources, at least 80% of each park reserve should be managed as wild lands that protect the ecological functions of the native landscape. Up to 20% of a park reserve may be developed for compatible recreational activities.

Park reserve attributes

Use: Park reserves are typically used for a variety of nature-based outdoor recreation activities. They provide, protect, and manage the many natural landscapes and systems of the region. Park reserves often provide important services for trail use and access including trailheads, parking, restrooms, drinking water, and space for picnicking, along with other activities.

Service area: The entire metropolitan region.

Site attributes: Park reserves are large areas of land or water that extend into multiple jurisdictions and offer a diversity of unique resources, such as topography, lakes, streams, marshes, and flora or fauna.

Size: At least 1,000 acres or a sufficient area to encompass the resource envisioned for preservation. While park reserves have a minimum required size of 1,000 acres, larger reserves are preferred.

Site location: Park reserves are located where high-quality natural areas occur. Due to their large acreage requirement, these are usually in places outside of the Metropolitan Urban Service Area. Park reserves aim to protect significant portions of one or more eight regional landscape types including:

• Anoka Sand Plains: Located in the northern metropolitan area and along the Mississippi River, this area consists of flat, sandy lake plains, defined by small dunes, sandy soils, kettle lakes, and tunnel valleys. Pre-settlement vegetation was mostly oak barrens, floodplain forests, and brushland. Significant portions of Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Park Reserve are representative of the Anoka Sand Plain.
• St. Croix Ground Moraine: These landscapes have a rolling countryside and are located on sandy, well-drained soils. Other features of the St. Croix Ground Moraine include deciduous forests, marshes, and conifer bogs.
• Des Moines Ground Moraine: Defined by gently rolling countryside on stony or clay soils, small shallow lakes, potholes, and lowlands with hummocks and knobs. Prominent vegetation includes big woods forests, wetlands, marshes, and shrubby swamps. Significant portions of Carver and Hyland-Bush-Anderson park reserves are representative of the Des Moines Ground Moraine.
• Terminal Moraine: The terminal moraine contains some of the roughest topography in the metropolitan area, with rocky glacial deposits forming steep cone-shaped hills and deep lakes. Common vegetation in this landscape is oak savannas, aspen-oak lands, marshes and shrubby swamps. Significant portions of Murphy-Hanrehan and Big Marine park reserves are representative of Terminal Moraine.
• Lightly Glaciated Areas: Mainly flat uplands with deep soils formed by decomposed bedrock and ancient glacial deposits; deeply dissected stream and river valleys and a few lakes or wetlands. Predominantly vegetated by tall grass prairies, oak-savannas, deciduous forests, cedar glades and floodplain forest clumps. Parks with these features include Lake Byllesby Regional Park and Miesville Ravine Park Reserve.
• Mississippi River Valley: The Mississippi River Valley has multiple distinct areas with differing landscapes:
  • Upstream of St. Anthony Falls: Upstream of St. Anthony Falls, the surrounding area has narrow floodplains, low banks, and a flat valley top. Common vegetation includes floodplain forests, marshes and shrubby swamps, prairies, oak-savannas and aspen-oak.
  • St. Anthony Falls to the mouth of the Minnesota River: Defined by deep gorges and steep-sided bluffs, vegetation is similar to the upstream segments of the river.
  • Below the mouth of the Minnesota River: This area is defined with wide floodplain wetlands with lakes and marshes, floodplain terraces, and steep slopes. Vegetation is primarily floodplain forests, shrubby swamps, big woods forests, cedar glades, and oak-savannas. Spring Lake Park Reserve is a good example of this landscape type.
• Minnesota River Valley: Known for steep-sided bluffs and a wide meandering river, other features of this landscape include floodplains with extensive lakes, wetlands, and some dry lands. Floodplain forests, fens, bogs, and prairies are common in this area. Significant portions of Blakeley Bluffs Park Reserve are representative of the Minnesota River Valley landscape type.
• St. Croix River Valley: The St. Croix River Valley features a deep valley with steep bluff walls, sandy shorelines, and small floodplains with islands. Predominant vegetation includes floodplain forests, shrubby swamps, prairies, big woods forests, and deciduous forests.

Regional Trails at a glance Existing: 56 trails, with over 457 miles open to the public Planned: 17 trails Search: 49 trail search corridors

Regional trail corridors provide recreational opportunities along linear pathways throughout the metropolitan area. Generally regional trails connect units of the Regional Parks System and draw visitors from across the seven-county area and beyond. Regional trails play a prominent role alongside the Regional Bicycle Transportation Network (RBTN), providing recreation and transportation services.

The Council has defined two types of regional trails: destination (or greenway) trails and linking trails.

Destination trails typically follow routes with high-quality natural systems that make the trail itself a destination. These routes may also include important cultural resources. Additionally, destination trails are often closely aligned with the RBTN. They provide a scenic setting, a compelling sense of place, and they often support bicycle commuting options. Usually, they follow natural or linear features that traverse areas of scenic appeal and/or historical, architectural, and developmental points of interest. They typically include wider corridors that improve wildlife habitat, protect natural features, and provide recreational opportunities beyond the trail itself.

Linking trails provide vital connections between Regional Parks and Trails System units, the RBTN, state and federal lands, significant natural areas, schools, shopping, and other regional destinations. Regional parks and park reserves along the trail route offer important services to trail visitors, including places for picnicking and other desirable activities, parking, restrooms, and drinking water.

Regional Trail attributes

The use, service area, and site attributes for both destination and linking trails are the same. Size and site location have minor differences.

Use: Trails may be developed for one or more varying modes of nonmotorized recreational travel including hiking, biking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, and canoeing. In general, e-bikes are allowed on regional trails. Trail use must be consistent with individual implementing agency rules and ordinances.

With respect to bicycling, regional trails serve:

Pre-teen bicyclists who are often accompanied by a parent and need access to local schools, libraries, recreation facilities, shopping, and neighborhoods. These bicyclists have a strong preference for separation from motor vehicles on protected bikeways and trails.

Adult and teenage bicyclists who may ride regularly for transportation but prefer comfortable access by a direct route on lower-speed or low-traffic streets. These bicyclists are more comfortable on designated bikeways such as roadway-adjacent or independent trails.

Bicyclists who are willing to travel along most roadways but prefer the more natural surroundings that regional trails can offer. They value direct access to destinations and can ride at higher speeds than average cyclists. This group will often rely on roads for transportation but will use trails when they are direct and enjoyable.

Experienced bicyclists who want direct access to destinations with minimum delays. These bicyclists primarily rely on the road system for routes and value using roads for commuting, but occasionally enjoy independent trails if they are relatively direct and continuous and/or create a time advantage over parallel on-road routes by avoiding traffic lights.

Service area: 3-5 communities for both Destination and Linking Trails.

Site attributes: When feasible, off-road trails should utilize natural linear and/or human-made corridors such as stream or river valleys, along the edges of forests or prairies, utility corridors, railroad corridors, and highway rights of way. On-road bikeways should only be allowed for short segments where no other off-road solutions are reasonable/viable. Trails may still be within the road right-of-way but need to be physically separated from vehicle traffic by raised curbs, large planters, or other permanent vertical barriers.

Regional trails primarily consist of these types of facilities:

• Roadway-separated, independent trails include trails that run along abandoned railroad corridors, or utility or private easements, and exist in their own independent rights-of-way. These trails are categorized as destination trails.

Road-adjacent, multiple-use trails that run along and are adjacent to public roadways, but not on the roadway itself. In urban areas these would be above the street curb. These trails are categorized as linking trails.

Occasional on-road protected bikeways designed exclusively for bicycles along streets, below the curb and separated by a barrier from vehicle traffic. These trails are categorized as linking trails.

When an implementing agency receives state or federal transportation funding to develop a regional trail, Minnesota Rules Chapter 8820 applies. This rule requires that specific design standards be used, including variables such as design speed and expected users. When regional trails pass through a regional park, recreational standards should be given higher priority due to the natural and recreational context. Implementing agencies should examine each situation carefully, identify potential conflicts between recreational and transportation needs, and engage interested stakeholders including transportation planners and the larger community to come to a common solution.

Size: Regional trails should provide sufficient corridor width to protect and/or connect with natural and/or cultural resources and safely accommodate trail use. It should also be of sufficient length to be a destination itself or it may link between Regional Parks System units and/or link where people live to regional parks or trails.

Site location: The trail treadway should be placed where it minimizes impacts to natural systems. For destination trails, the site location is preferably adjacent to high quality natural areas or areas of public interest. Linking trails should connect where people live with the units of the Regional Parks System. Linking trails should be at least 1.5 miles apart and not overlap the localized service area or other regional trails, unless significant barriers exist such as highways, rivers, or other natural or human-made features that restrict access. Linking trails often connect people to population centers, schools, shopping areas, or other parks and trails along the route.

Additional site qualities for linking and destination trails may:

• Serve as a backbone to the local trail network
• Fill a gap in the regional recreation system
• Pass through local parks and trails, utilizing service amenities along the route
• Not duplicate an existing trail.

Special Features and Bridging Facilities at a glance Existing: 8 Special Features Search: 1 Bridging Facility

Special features are named in state legislation (Minnesota Statutes, 473.121, subd. 14) and provide specialized or single-purpose recreational activities generally not found in regional parks, park reserves, or trail corridors. Some special features require unique management approaches and include specific programming efforts. Special features may include zoos, conservatories, arboretums, unique ecological areas, display gardens, bridging facilities, or cultural landscapes.

Use: Special features provide a unique high-quality outdoor recreation and/or nature-based experience and may require special programming or management. Special features complement the Regional Parks and Trails System and do not duplicate or compete with recreational facilities adequately provided by the public or private sector.

Service area: The entire metropolitan region.

Site attributes: Special features provide unique natural and/or cultural services within a natural area-based scenic setting that offers a compelling sense of place.

Size: The size of a special feature or bridging facility is dependent on the feature itself.

Site location: Special features are located where unique natural and/or cultural conditions exist offering a compelling sense of place.

Funding: Special features require a long-range plan that is approved by the Met Council to qualify for regional funding.

Bridging facilities sub-classification

Bridging facilities are a sub-classification within the special feature category. They may be nested within a regional park, park reserve, or trail. They seek to attract and introduce new outdoor recreation users to the Regional Parks and Trails System. Their purpose is to help address inequities that contribute to lower participation rates among prioritized communities.

Bridging facilities have a clear and unique purpose. Bridging facilities are not designed as a one-size-fits-all approach. They introduce new visitors to the Regional Parks and Trails System across race, ethnicity, national origin, income, ability, and age; as well as encourage greater participation by the future stewards of our region’s natural and recreation resources -- young adults, teenagers, and children.

Use: Bridging facilities are designed to prototype new ideas that advance equitable usage, focusing on underserved groups in the Regional Parks and Trails System. These facilities engage people with the wide array of opportunities that exist across the system through interests, innovative strategies, and collaboration. Bridging facilities seek to build on community strengths, establishing partnerships with the communities they intend to better serve.

Service Area: Bridging Facilities serve a specific community or communities. For example, a city or a specific group. When planning for bridging facilities, implementing agencies will identify the population(s) to be better served and the inequity(ies) that will be addressed, working directly with the community to create, design, and develop them.

Site Attributes: Bridging facilities may:

• Be a stand-alone facility or network of facilities, located in an area not currently well-served by existing regional parks, park reserves, and trails. “Stand-alone” bridging facilities that exist outside of a regional park, park reserve, special feature, or trail, are eligible for Regional Parks System funding, as permitted through the appropriate state laws and statutes.
• Be nested within an existing regional park, park reserve, special feature, or trail, welcoming new users to the unit and then connecting them with the opportunities that the broader facility provides.
• Have a mobile element to allow outreach to extend beyond the existing boundaries of the Regional Parks and Trails System, going into communities that have been historically underserved. Mobile bridging programming must be connected to a base regional park or trail system facility and will need to articulate, track, and report their results.
• Include a programmatic element embedded in a partner facility, such as a school or non-profit organization, allowing the implementing agency to access and build on the organization’s existing relationships with communities.

Size: The size of a bridging facility is dependent on the feature itself.

Site location: Bridging facilities are located close to their target audience, which includes historically underserved communities.

Funding: Bridging facilities must have a long-range plan that is approved by the Met Council to request funding. Implementing agencies proposing a bridging facility will:

• Provide a clear statement of purpose for what it is intended to accomplish, consistent with the above defined purpose, recognizing that these facilities will differ within and across agencies, and must evolve and change over time, in order to stay relevant and effective
• Include a plan for an awareness-building, programming, or marketing component, to promote regional parks and trails to users facing obstacles to access the Regional Parks and Trails System
• Provide a programming plan through park agency staff or through a partnership arrangement.
• Not to be included in the annual Regional Parks and Trails System use estimate. If designed to meet their purpose of attracting new users and connecting them to regional parks and trails, a facility’s success will be reflected in increased visitation in future annual regional park and trail use estimates.

Cultural Landscapes recognize lands with significant cultural value to American Indian Tribes, organizations, and communities. Cultural landscapes of significance:

• Recognize and protect culturally significant landscapes including American Indian burial grounds
• Help interpret and educate visitors on the significance of the cultural landscape
• Do not require that recreation be part of the unit.
• May be designed to protect areas of significant cultural or sacred meaning to groups. This includes protecting these spaces and designing them to limit public access and foot traffic.

Research provides evidence to guide high quality decisions through statutory efforts such as the Annual Use Estimates and the twice-per-decade Park and Trail Visitor Survey. Additionally, research findings are valuable information to guide decisions around parks policy (including systems additions), funding, and supporting agency partners in their operations, programming, and natural systems care. Emerging issues identified by park agency and Council staff as well as external trends can be more effectively addressed through spatial data, quantitative analysis, and qualitative research.

Purpose: Evidence-based decision making is central to the Regional Park and Trail System. The following research activities between 2024 to 2030:

Annual Use Estimates. This annual study is mandated by state statute and completed in partnership with the regional park implementing agencies. This product estimates the number of visits to parks and trails in each implementing agency based on a methodology relying on sample counts. The results are used in formulas to calculate each agency’s share of Met Council-awarded grant program dollars. The estimates also allow monitoring of trends over time.

Park and Trail Visitor Surveys. Mandated by state statute and completed every five years. A sample of visitors answer survey questions as they visit a park or trail during the summer of the study. The results provide information about visitor satisfaction, preferred activities, suggestions for improvement, barriers to visit, information seeking, new visitor experiences and visitor demographics. The study identifies the proportion of local vs nonlocal visitors, the mean number of people per vehicle, and the ratio of summer visits to other seasons. These three findings are used in the annual use estimates. The next Visitor Study will be done in 2025. The Met Council will continue to explore the possibility of data collection across four seasons as well as at the park and trail level within funding constraints.

Climate and Natural Systems. The Met Council will provide research in response to needs identified by Implementing Agencies regarding identification of regionally significant ecological areas and data regarding climate resilience and risk mitigation. Implementing agencies identified the following priorities: (1) analysis of return on investment (ROI) of natural systems inventories, (2) climate resiliency mapping and strategy planning, (3) demonstration of system-wide linkages of species/habitat (e.g. wildlife corridors), (4) calculation of total regional numbers for prairie and oak savanna restoration, (5) comparison of our regional park system with other systems nationwide, and (6) estimation of carbon footprint from park operations. Additionally, qualitative and survey research could be planned to identify how communities of color, youth, and other key populations frame climate change for better inclusion of perspectives and activities.

Use of relevant Met Council and external research. Met Council staff will respond to requests to support their work. This includes technical assistance in applying existing research findings to policy, funding, and other key topics. The Council has completed research projects dedicated to building a more equitable system in response to the goals articulated in Thrive 2040 and Imagine 2050. The 2021 Youth and Parks study identified obstacles to visitation, developed a model for welcoming new users, showed the most desired areas of skills-learning, and explored the activities young people, predominantly youth of color, want to do in the parks. The Young Leaders Collaboration (2023-2024) brought recommendations from young people across the region regarding the ways parks and trails mattered in their lives and their recommendations for protecting natural systems. Analysis of engagement with agency staff around climate actions and visitor study results provide in-depth understanding of how implementing agencies approach these topics and what they need from the Council. This research continues to have vital importance in creating evidence-based policy and funding decisions.

New research in response to emerging topics. Research is needed to support the needs of implementing agency partners and the goals outlined in Imagine 2050. Implementing agencies continue to need additional quantitative data about non-users in the general regional population and more extensive visitor data valid at the park and trail level. The Council will continue to explore options within funding constraints. The Met Council will identify emerging issues requiring additional research.

Regional Parks and Trails System geographic information systems (GIS) data is housed within the Met Council for implementing agency and Met Council processes. The Implementing Agencies and Met Council have been working in partnership to establish an annual update process for regional parks and trails GIS data for timely and accurate information. The Met Council initiates a data request that is updated when needs arise collaboratively with the regional park implementing agencies. The desired outcomes are:

• Accurate GIS data that is consistent with Met Council’s Regional Parks and Trails system plan and regional parks and trails long-range plans from implementing agencies
• Use of the GIS data for Operations and Maintenance funding requests. Use of the GIS data as the ‘document of record’ for regional park and trails with old or no long-range plans on file. These regional parks and trails existed within the system at its inception in 1974, making them eligible for investment in their current state and use.