Biking in Carver Park Reserve • Twin Cities Outdoors

Victoria, Carver County • No park pass needed

biker on a paved trail in carver park reserve — *There are 9 miles of beautifully-maintained trails throughout Carver Park Reserve’s diverse terrain*

The Lay of the Land

Carver Park Reserve offers beautiful and varied terrain for bikers. Plenty of forest, plenty of restored prairie, plenty of rolling hills, and plenty of lake and wetland views.

You can access the nine miles of paved multi-use trails from several different roads and parking areas. You can even bike over on the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail on the east side of the Reserve. (Here’s the map)

So far there aren’t any fat bike trails maintained during the snowy months. If this becomes a favorite biking destination of yours, let the Three Rivers Park District know you’d like to have some fat biking developed here!

paved bike trail among trees — *Take care around blind corners like this—there may be hikers and dog walkers sharing the trail!*

Sharing the Trails

As I mentioned, the trails are multi-use. Since Carver Park Reserve also offers 5 miles of great natural-surface trails for foot traffic only, you may not have to compete with many hikers. But dog walkers are a different story.

Dogs aren’t allowed on the natural surface trails by Lowry Nature Center. So don’t be surprised if you encounter them on the paved trails—and for that reason, be cautious rounding corners and hills.

You’ll also be crossing a few horse trails on the west side of the Reserve, so just be aware. Riders appreciate it if you slow down at these trail crossings.

Other Activities at Carver Park Reserve

Carver Park Reserve hosts Lake Auburn Campground with a swimming beach. Bring your bike(s) along on your camping trip and you can access the trails right from the campground.

Lake Auburn also offers nice kayaking and canoeing, with rentals right there at the swimming beach. If you have your own boat you can head over to Zumbra or Steiger Lake, too.

You can even make a bike camping trip out of it by taking advantage of the bike-in-only campsite. It’s quite private, surrounded by lots of shade trees.

biker only campsite at auburn lake campground carver park reserve — *The bicylers-only campsite at Lake Auburn Campground. Nice!*

Historic Grimm Farm is also on the property. You may want to include that as a destination, too.

As already mentioned, there’s plenty of hiking at Carver, both on paved and unpaved trails. And in the winter months the park grooms 11 miles of cross country ski trails and has 4 miles of snowshoe trails.

How to Get There

Carver Park Reserve is sandwiched between Highway 7 and Highway 5 in Victoria. Highway 11 bisects the Reserve and gives you access to all the parking areas and other features.

Get our free download: “17 Best Biking Trails in the Twin Cities”

Sharon Brodin

Founder & Publisher of Twin Cities Outdoors at Brodin Press LLC

Sharon loves to hike, paddle, camp, snowshoe and cross country ski. Besides maintaining TCO and her other blog, Active Outdoor Women, Sharon helps business clients attract and keep more customers through content marketing strategies.