Theodore Wirth Park

I’ve hiked on the trails in Theodore Wirth Park and wish I’d have taken more advantage of this gorgeous park while I was still living in the metro. There’s so much to explore here, not to mention the beautiful beach and unique kiddie playground.
The Surly half marathon is held in Theodore Wirth Park and after being there as a spectator this year, it’s clear why this is such a sought-​after trail race — those hills! Seriously quad strengthening trails in this park. I’d love to return in the winter to explore the trails and peaceful woods by snowshoe.

Rica and I take Margot here on the weekends. It is her favorite park. We take walks and then Margot runs around on the little clearing areas. Her favorite thing to do at Theodore Wirth Park is to find dead squirrels and roll on their partially decayed bodies. She doesn’t like cross country skiers, however, and she barks at them.

Cross country skiing here in the winter is fantastic. Season passes are inexpensive, and the trails are meticulously maintained. They have trails for every experience level, and connect to tons of trails around the area. Do yourself a favor and give it a try!
In the warmer months, they also have a ton to offer, though I much prefer winter.

This is a beautiful park with great trails, a golf course, lake with a nice beach, and sand volleyball courts. It is extremely close to downtown and to where we live which is an added bonus.
It only gets 4 stars because of all of the issues I have had when I played volleyball there. Numerous people had gotten cell phones stolen, cars broken into etc.
Tip for you all… don’t leave valuables in your car or unattended if you are at the beach or playing volleyball

My absolute favorite place to run. I never get sick of the trails. I can just get *lost here, it’s so gorgeous.
*Not for-​real lost.

Great park, great drive, great golf. Can’t beat it for being so close to the city.

This place is the BOMB!
I mean fake beach front. Check.
Shade trees everywhere. Check
Benches. Check
Parking. Check
Community Pavilion for rental. Check
Fishing. Check
Bike trails. Check
Safety checks every so many minutes, making the kids and everyone else get out of the water — BEAU-​TI-​FUL. This is a selling point. I LOVE IT! :*
The only drawback about this entire place: The pedestrian crosswalk is soooooo dangerous. Limited views when cars park alongside the road and little kids love to run without thinking.
They need a little bridge overpass or something.
Scout your spot as early as 6:30am if there’s a major holiday in the works.

I’ve done a series of trail runs in Theodore Wirth Park as part of Surly Brewing’s sponsored race series.
The trails are just a blast to run, and very challenging. But you will not get lost! You are bounded by several roads that you can always find to get your bearings.
There are sand volleyball courts, paved and unpaved bike trails, a lake and a golf course to explore as well. I’ve not golfed or done the tubing activities, however.

This is an absolutely beautiful park… the drive there is scenic and there are a ton of trails to walk on. The lakes are full with fishes and turtles, the trees are lively with birds, and the park is super lush. I am totally in love with this area! Great for midday walks and nature-​enjoy-​ing. A++++

Beautiful park on the outer edge of the city limits. If it weren’t for the great view of the skyline looming behind the park, it would be easy to forget you are anywhere near a big city. Boasting a lush forest, Wirth is unlike its more urban counterparts (i.e. Loring Park).
While I prefer to enjoy the park in the warm weather when you can take a stroll on the boardwalk around the lake or take a hike through the woods, this place remains popular for winter recreation. Despite the playground and sand volleyball courts, this park is not too over-​developed but instead offers much natural beauty (I definitely need to check out the wildflower/​butterfly garden at some point).

We went to the park for snow tubing and took snowboarding classes. It was a really busy Saturday so I’d say call ahead to see just how busy it is because they had a waiting list when we got there.

Great place to just go with friends and chill. Beautiful area, lots of trails and forest areas, makes great for pow wows haha. I frequent the area quite often just walking around, biking, skating, or cruising. Truly one of my favorite areas in The Minneapolis/​Golden Valley Area. Many parks and clearings for family time too, If thats your thing I guess.

Being that I live just a few blocks away from this park, I frequently walk my dogs here… well, through part of it anyhow. This park is HUGE… and it spreads itself between Golden Valley and Minneapolis. It is miles upon miles of walking & biking trails with some pretty amazing scenery along the way. It isn’t uncommon to see a bald eagle, various species of hawks, a mob of deer, or a gang of wild turkeys whilst traveling through Theo Wirth Park.
There is a beach, a pond, a creek, picnic area, golf course, quaking bog (I know, cool! Right?), a wildflower & bird sanctuary, a place to practice archery (if you are into that), and plenty of picturesque places to just walk and commune with nature. I often forget that I am still within city limits at times…
I would rate Theo Wirth 5 stars — but since the occasional dead body turns up in this park… I had to knock it down a star…

Great beach located in Theodore Wirth Park. The beach is on the smaller scale, but not overcrowded like other beaches in the Twin Cities. I enjoyed the beach because it was clean and well-​groomed for a change. There is a beach house that blares out some hit music, not exactly what I like to hear, but it isn’t a deal breaker for me. The volleyball court seemed pretty nice and particularly popular. What might be appealing to a lot more people is the gargantuous playground located right next to the beach. Children can run from slides to the water and back in a split second. Seems like a great beach to take a family.

I found myself with an unexpectedly free Sunday and decided to go checkout TWP. I went «hiking» on the trail by the Quaking Bog. It felt like I was way out in the wilderness but I only had to drive about 10 minutes to get there. The traffic sounds cut into my John Denver-​esque reverie, but it still felt very serene.
Warning: even though you feel like you’re all alone out there on the trail, you’re not. So don’t panic when you think you’re lost and don’t decide it’s safe to pee behind that tree; someone will come along shortly.

Great urban park. Miles of running/​biking paths.

A 759 acre abundance of recreation, fun, and great adventures. x-​country skiing, tubing in the winter. Golf, hiking trails, archery, and a quaking bog to check out.
overall a great place to lose yourself, and remember why being out in nature is a great place to be.

We came on Valentine’s Day to snow tube — a nice mix of families and adults looking to be silly. $ 12 per adult for a lift ticket/​tube rental, and the amusement provided was definitely worth every penny. I love that they have a lift up to the top of the hill; even though the walk isn’t THAT bad, it was nice to chill out and roll out. There are definitely big crowds on the weekend, but it didn’t impede on our enjoyment at all — the line moves fast, and there’s plenty of room on the hill for everyone. Really fun way to spend an afternoon!

I had an itch to learn to cross country ski, and saw that rentals here were only $ 10. Seriously, that’s it?! That plus a day pass for $ 7 and you have some pretty reasonable entertainment. Sign me up.
Wellllll, then I read further on the website, and they offer a 90 minute lesson for $ 20. Add in the $ 10 for ski rentals, and the day cost us $ 30 apiece. We thought it was a deal!
The lesson was really informative. Our guide taught us the basics about literally everything, from what wear to map definitions to techniques — even teaching us how to get up and down hills and fall safely. For someone that hasn’t cross country skiied for at least 20 years and has 500 questions about everything, it was priceless.
One other cool thing about the sport is that you don’t really need to invest in anything to cross country ski. If you have basic winter and athletic gear, you’re pretty set as a beginner. Just stay away from cotton and layer on the workout gear, then be prepared to sweat.
Call ahead and take the class. Season passes to cross country ski on any of the trails in the city are only $ 40, and at this point in the year have dropped to $ 25. We ended up keeping our skis after the lesson and putting our new skillz to the test on one of the short loops adjacent to the park. Awesome way to enjoy a beautiful winter day. Awesome. I’ll be back, probably next weekend, if the weather cooperates.

Whoa, Theodore Wirth is one sweet park. It’s huge! (Biggest in Minneap) And has a bog — a quaking bog is the technical name (seriously, check out the bog sometime, it’s got tamarack trees). For more day-​to-​day activity, it has a public golf course (the 10^th fairway is an illin’ sledding hill in fair winter), a pretty sweet frisbee golf (frolf — stupidest ellision ever) course, a lake, and a peaceful and pretty bird/​wildflower sanctuary (Eloise Butler).
The bicycling here is epic too — part of the «grand round» loop that goes around the city runs through the park, but there’s a long and well-​maintained off-​road bike trail too.
This might be the best park I’ve ever been too (check out the zip line at the playground — it’s an iffy ride if you’re over 100 lbs, but try it anyway), so it’s only right that it’s named after the guy who started the whole Minneapolis park system back in the early nineteen hundreds. Thanks, Teddy!