Plymouth Skate Park

Classic Ramp at the Plymouth Skatepark.

The New Plymouth skatepark is awesome. For many years the skaters of plymouth have suffering at the old plymouth skatepark which was stuffed in the back corner of the industrial part of town and it was all made of lame portable metal ramps. In 2012 they tore up an old hockey rink at Plymouth Creek Park and put in a really nice skatepark. Its all concrete pour and really well made. They call it the skate plaza, and mostly everything there is 3 feet or less. The one thing about it that really blew my mind was the ramp they put in which is in the shape of the city of Plymouth logo.  I’ve skated here a few times and the vibe is pretty good, not too many crazies. Its a great thing to do in plymouth.

There’s a great website here of the company who made the park packed with photos of the park under construction all the way to completion. http://actionsportdesign.com/project/plymouth-mn-wheel-plaza/

The park is totally free and open to the public 24/4 its located just south of Rockford Road(aka county road 9) on Fernbrook.

All in all I give a major thumbs up to Plymouth parks and rec for getting this park put in a family friendly park/playground in the neighborhoods, easy access and a well-made and creative skate park, perfect for a summers afternoon.

Sweet front boardslide at plymouth skate park. Photo Credit to ASD

Elm Creek Park



After tying the knot, getting to elm creek park has got to be first priority! (Photo Credit John Sharpe)

 Elm Creek Park is a lot of fun for all seasons. It’s just about 5 miles north of us in Plymouth, and it’s on James Deane parkway (I’m assuming not named after the rebel without a cause).

 In summertime there is a lot of great space for playing with kids and running around.  They have a stellar Frisbee Golf (Disc Golf) Course. They have camping areas, swimming areas, mountain biking trails, the whole nine yards! I actually helped make one of the trails myself.  Last summer a good friend of mine had his wedding reception at the park, it was a beautiful Minnesota night and they got some great pics.

One of the most absurd things about Elm creek park is that they have a man-made, chlorinated, filtered swimming hole with a nice sandy beach. This strikes me as hilarious but hey if you hate lake weeds, fish, and other lake monsters this is your place. We’ve got 10,000 lakes, we might as well chlorinate a few of ‘em.

But I think my favorite activities at elm creek park are the winter activities. They have a great snowboarding hill. Its small, only a rope tow to take you from top to bottom, but its PACKED with ramps and rails. Check out the video to see what it’s all about.

They also have top notch cross-country skiing, with several miles of trails.  And you can’t leave out the classic snow tubing hill! If you like to sled but don’t like to walk back up the hill this is the place for you. Ride down on their groomed trails and ride back up on the conveyer belt. Pretty awesome.

Ride around Medicine Lake

A great picture of Medicine Lake from the path. Photo Credit goes to TwinCitiesRealEstateBlog.com

  

With the weather changing and summer finally coming biking season is on. Plymouth has no shortage of bike paths, but my favorite in Plymouth is the medicine lake loop. The ride is perfect for a summer afternoon. Its about 8 miles long and there are good sidewalks for most of the way.  The course is slightly hilly but not terrible.  It’s a highly populated path and you see people running, biking, skateboarding, rollerblading, and even doing those crazy cross country skis on wheels.

Plymouth Locals enjoying a ride around the lake on bikes and blades.

A few highlights on the course:

You pass by 3 great parks: East Medicine lake Park, West Medicine Lake Park, and French Park all of which have beaches for swimming playgrounds for the youngsters.

You can travel up into the “City of Medicine Lake” if you want to take a quick detour. This is a fun area that is a peninsula completely surrounded entirely by the lake. There is a park and some interesting homes.

You get to go over 2 really long bridges through the wetlands and swamps. They are really fun to ride over but tough on rollerblades and skateboards. Also the gnats are pretty thick on this part of the trail.

The famous turtles of East Medicine Lake Park

The portion of the trail that conincides with East Medicine Lake Boulevard is super nice. There are no homes in between the road and the lake and you really get a nice scenic view of the lake from here, especially at sunset.

The trail is easy to find. It’s a loop so it doesn’t really have a start or finish but I always kind of think of the starting point as 36^th ave and Zachary Lane. From there I usually head in a clockwise direction following east Med Lake BLVD to South Shore Drive and then to West Med Lake Road. Then you head around the horn to Northwest Blvd and either around or through French Park. If you get confused just follow the shoreline.