Hyland Lake Park Reserve

Description: This trail has been recently widened and resurfaced and will test your skills with its numerous hills, turns, and 2 road crossings. About 10 miles of trails if you use both loops.

Getting there:

There are two ways to enter the park: you can use the main park entrance, or use a skate in entrance on the east side of the park

Main park entrance: Take the Bush Lake Road exit from eastbound or westbound 494, go south and turn right at the railroad crossing and follow for 2-3 miles to park entrance.

Access from the east side: on 494 in Bloomington take Normandale Blvd (Highway 100) exit going south, follow Normandale Blvd, turn right on Poplar Bridge Rd (94th Street), head west until you cross Nesbitt Ave. Park entrance is directly ahead, park car in grade school parking lot on south side of road, skate into park. This used to be the free entrance, but now that there are no parking fees in Three Rivers Park District facilities, the other entrance is probably more convenient.

Length: 5.6 miles of loops, though you can repeat loops and make it as long as you want.

Other nearby trails: Normandale Lake has a trail around it (the south and east side is nice, the west and north rough, kind of like Nokomis.) Staring Lake Park in Eden Prairie is worth a try. There is also a trail in the works that will run along East Bush Lake Road north from the park reserve to 84th Street and Normandale Lake, but the hill will probably be too steep to skate comfortably.

Official Web site: Three Rivers Park District - Hyland Lake Park Reserve