Outdoor Activities

Located on Saint Paul's East Side, Phalen Regional Park is a popular destination for fishing, boating, swimming, biking, skating, cross country skiing, golf, picnics, and more.

A nationally accredited and gold medal award-winning organization that manages 182 parks and open spaces, AZA-accredited Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, 26 city-operated recreation centers, more than 120 miles of trails, an indoor and two outdoor aquatic facilities, a public beach, a variety of premium sports facilities, municipal golf courses, and Great River Passage.

Swede Hollow Park is a unique green space with a rich history located in the Dayton’s Bluff and Railroad Island neighborhoods. Swede Hollow Park is enjoyed by many residents and visitors looking for a green escape in an urban setting. The park's valleys create a distinct feeling of wilderness in conjunction with a bisecting stream that lightly fills the impressive silence and serenity afforded by the environment.

The Payne Phalen Pocket Park Project is a neighborhood beautification project focused on pocket parks. Project Created by the ESNDC CLI team 2012-13, DBCC Support, many resident volunteers & local businesses.

Our Manifesto: (written by Rebecca Welty)

Everywhere there are green spaces within a city. In Eastside St. Paul, they abound due to vacant lots and odd shape plots, so let’s turn this unforeseen situation into unparalleled beautification.

Let’s utilize Eastside’s unique mixture of talents, races and educations, and turn those empty bits and pieces of land into community gardens, sculpture gardens, dog parks, tiny playgrounds, gentle commons, and flower beds. Let’s dot our important watershed with “pocket parks.”

Imagine a future when you say, “I’m from Eastside” and the name evokes images of a rural, inner city lifestyle and all because once, when we had the opportunity, we developed and nurtured these small, verdant gems.

The Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary is located just east of downtown along the east side of the Mississippi River. The park features 450 million-year-old limestone and sandstone bluffs, spring-fed wetlands, excellent bird watching opportunities, rich Native American history, and beautiful views of the downtown skyline and Mississippi River. An outdoor classroom and interpretative markers provide added educational opportunities. There is no access to the Mississippi River from Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary due to the railroads still in use. 

The Gateway State Trail is an 18 mile multiple use trail that begins in the city of St. Paul, travels northeast through the cities of Maplewood, North St. Paul, and Oakdale, through Washington County, and ends at Pine Point Regional Park, just four miles northwest of the city of Stillwater. Located on a former Soo Line Railroad grade, the trail is generally level and wheelchair accessible. East of I-694, an adjacent unpaved trail provides ten miles of horseback riding and carriage driving.

CHS Field is conveniently located off of I-94 and HWY 52 at 360 Broadway, St. Paul, MN 55101. There are numerous parking options around CHS Field.

The City of Saint Paul has six off-leash dog parks: Arlington Arkwright Dog Park, High Bridge Dog Park, Lilydale Dog Park, Meeker Island Dog Park, Lowertown Dog Park, and Uŋčí Makhá Dog Park. Dogs are only allowed off-leash designated dog parks.