Hiking in Como Regional Park • Twin Cities Outdoors

Como Regional Park is one of the most popular parks in the Twin Cities metro area. While hiking distance is limited, what’s there is super scenic.

A calm Como Lake, the Pavillion across the lake, at sunset — *Como’s Lakeside Pavillion from across the lake on a lovely summer evening*

In total, there are just 2.3 miles of hiking trails in Como Park—all paved. Most of that is around Como Lake, a loop of just over 1.5 miles.

This is the trail I took recently with my sister and friend.

What a beautiful night it was for us!

Hike the Como Lake Loop

There are officially 1.67 miles of trails around Como Lake. The evening we were there it was being well-used by walkers, runners and bikers of all ages.

hikers on the loop trail around Como Lake — *The loop trail around Como Lake is super popular*

There are continuous views of Como Lake along the entire path even with plenty of mature trees (some huge cottonwood, willow and oak) and a very pretty naturalized shoreline. The late summer wildflowers were in full bloom. It’s also fun to see kayakers and paddle boaters (the iconic Swans) on the lake.

"Shoreline Habitat Restoration Project" sign along Como Lake with lots of blooming wildflowers — *It’s great to see all the wildflowers along the shore*

For most of the loop, there’s a separate lane for bikes. That’s a nice feature for both hikers and bikers.

It’s completely flat the whole way around, so you won’t get a hardcore workout unless you’re running, but the scenery is hard to beat.

There are concerts several nights a week at the Lakeside Pavillion during the summer months. Depending on the time of day you hike the trail, you may be treated to live music along the way. If the wind is light, you’ll be able to hear it just fine even from the other side.

As you can see from the map, the paved trails lead away from the lake toward the west and loop around other parts of the park if you’d like to go for the entire 2.3 miles or more.

two hikers on Como Lake's foot path — *The loop trail splits foot and bike traffic most of the way*

Take Some Time to Enjoy

My sister, friend and I met early enough so we could get in an hour of kayaking, then dinner at the Dock & Paddle (located inside the Pavillion), then the hike around the lake. We allowed three hours for everything which was plenty.

Since I do most of my outdoor and indoor workouts in the mornings, it was a nice change of pace to be out on such a beautiful evening. The sunset over the calm lake was especially pretty that night.

two women hug a giant cottonwood tree trunk next to Como Lake — *As usual, I made my hiking-mates hug a local giant tree 🙂*

What Else is at Como Regional Park

Probably the most popular attraction at Como is the wonderful little zoo and conservatory. Our kids loved the zoo when they were young and I’m looking forward to going there with my grandkids soon.

Of course, paddling on the lake is popular, as I already mentioned. The paved trails welcome biking as well as foot traffic.

In the winter the City grooms cross country ski trails on the golf course there.

How to Get There

The most parking with the best access to the lake loop is at the Pavillion. Enter “Como Lakeside Pavillion” in your phone’s GPS and it should find it for you.

You can park in either the north or south parking lot at the Pavillion. They both offer easy access to the trail loop.

There are restrooms inside the Pavillion at the Dock & Paddle entrance (go up the stairs). There are also some on ground level on the north end of the building.

Sharon Brodin

Founder & Publisher of Twin Cities Outdoors at Brodin Press LLC

Sharon loves to hike, paddle, camp, snowshoe and cross country ski...and she bikes sometimes, too! Besides maintaining Twin Cities Outdoors and her other blog, Heaven and Nature, Sharon works on client writing and design projects.