More People Using Local Parks, Trails During Pandemic

(KNSI) – The Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission is making more than $10 million in grants available to fund improvement projects around the state. Stearns County Parks Director Ben Anderson says the county plans to apply for that funding this year and put it toward a Beaver Island Trail extension project.

“There’s about a four-mile stretch there that we’ll be looking to hopefully apply for grants to build and develop here in the near future,” Anderson said.

Within the next few years, Anderson said the county would also look at building infrastructure like a park entrance, fishing pier, picnic area and public restrooms at Kraemer Lake Park.

The grant opportunity comes as more people visit area parks and trails during the pandemic. Anderson says parking permits at Quarry Park brought in 20 percent more revenue in 2020 than in 2019.

“Because of the executive orders, we were limiting parking through our busiest time of the year: Memorial Day through Labor Day,” Anderson said. “So, if we would have been wide open then, our park usage would have been crazy.”

While fuller parking lots at other parks and trailheads signal an increase in use, during the winter off-season, Quarry Park parking permit sales are now double what they were in previous years, Anderson says. (He added that there was a dip in sales during February’s subzero cold snap.)

State and national health leaders have encouraged outdoor activities and gatherings versus indoor events because of the lower risk of COVID-19 transmission. Anderson says parks and trails can provide that space and distance for those who want to socialize in a safer way.

“It really provides that kind of getaway from everyday life, the stresses and things of that nature,” Anderson said, “to restore some of the physical well-being, that mental well-being and work on creating a healthier you.”

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