Cedar Lake Park Association

Our Mission: Create and nurture a park at Cedar Lake with a thriving nature preserve and connecting trails and greenways

The Cedar Lake Park Association (CLPA) is a volunteer citizen group originally founded in 1988 to save a 48-acre parcel of railroad land on the north and east side of Cedar Lake from development. The collective vision that evolved was a nature park.  The land was then donated to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to become the heart of Cedar Lake Park. Committed to nurture nature and citizen activism where all are welcome, CLPA is a volunteer organization.

We spearheaded the funding and construction of the Cedar Lake Regional Trail and the surrounding prairie restorations, completed in 1995. The first phase was  4.5 miles from Hwy 100 to the edge of downtown. The second phase, which many said could not be done, was completed in 2011, including going under the Twins stadium to the Mississippi River.  

Over its 30 year history, CLPA volunteers have stewarded the park and trails in partnership with MPRB, along with engagement with other public and private entities. We have leveraged private money to bring millions of public dollars to the park and trails.  The photos below show some of the breath and variety of our continuing engagement. We have planted  thousands of native trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses.  We established the Memorial Cedar Grove. We have funded the drilling of water wells. The Mound is being restored to oak savanna  with your money.  We fund nature education opportunities and materials for the nearby Kenwood School kids in the newly established DNR School Forest(aerial map below). We provide tools for individual and group activities in removing buckthorn and other invasives.  We fund prairie and woodland surveys. We create wildlife habitat, including in 2018 the installation of purple martin colony houses for them to nest upon returning from Brazil. We support our volunteers of all ages and abilities in their efforts to nurture nature. We fund good ideas. We create community.

   Tour the Cedar Lake Park Memorial Grove, a project of the Cedar Lake Park Association.