Hiking in Pine Point Regional Park • Twin Cities Outdoors

Stillwater/Washington County • Daily or annual park pass needed

natural surface trail through the woods — *A wooded trail section in Pine Point*

Pine Point Regional Park has 5 miles of multi-use trails, most of which are dirt or mowed grass. This peaceful park is also home to the east end of the paved Gateway State Trail, which is open to foot traffic as well as bikes.

Highlights of Hiking in Pine Point

Pine Point is home to some high school cross country ski races, which tells us a couple things:

There will be some good hills
The trails will wind around

hiking and horse trail sign at pine point regional park — *Multi-use trails for hiking and horses in three seasons, and for skiers in the snowy months*

While this may be a bit intimidating for some skiers (me, for example), this means really nice hiking conditions! We want a bit of a workout, so having hills is great. The trails do wind around, head up and down, and across varied terrain including forest and prairie, and along a lake and some small ponds.

blazing start wildflower — *Blazing star is a native prairie wildflower*

What to Know about Hiking in Pine Point

You’ll share the trails with others, especially on weekends. All the trails open to hikers are also open to either bikes (east of Norell Avenue) or horses (west of Norell Avenue). Look at the summer map to see what I mean.

louise lake, pine point regional park — *Louise Lake in the Park—scenic, but no swimming beach*

Alongside the Gateway Trail is a dirt trail open to horses, too.

If there’s been rain, you’re likely to run across some mud, especially along the lake and ponds. If you stay on the paved trail, of course you won’t have that to deal with.

What Else is at Pine Point?

As already mentioned, Pine Point is the east end of the Gateway State Trail. Bike 18 miles into Saint Paul from here! You can ride horses here. There are groomed cross country ski trails during the winter months.

tall prairie grasses at pine point — *Some impressive prairie grasses—these were well over my head*

You’ll need a Washington County parks pass for your vehicle, which is also good at all Anoka and Carver County parks. (Or use your Anoka or Carver County park pass.)

How to Get There

The entrance to Pine Point Regional Park is at 11900 Norell Avenue North, just a few minutes north of Stillwater.

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.