Minneapolis-St. Paul's Best Splash Pads
For many families in Minneapolis-St. Paul, it isn’t summer without a soaking run through a splash pad. These (mostly free) municipal and park-based attractions allow everyone to cool off without the fuss of swimming pools. It’s easy to while away a hot afternoon at one, and if an ice cream truck should roll up? All the better.
The best splash pads have a place for parents to relax nearby, though nothing is stopping them from joining in the happy chaos. Here are some of the unique metro and suburban splash pads that stand out for their eco-conscious designs, stunning park settings, and clever water play elements.
Andrews Park
Champlin
It’s a nautical fun time at this north metro splash pad. The park’s water zone has subtle ship-themed elements, including a replica boat with fountains coming out of the floor and a rotating water-shooting telescope. (Watch out, parents.)
Additional features like flower showers and raining mushrooms cater to the littlest splashers. Amenities include a changing area, a small concession stand with ice cream novelties, and ample benches and picnic tables under a sunshade.
Burnes Park
Hopkins
Small but mighty, this splash pad is particularly toddler friendly, though kids of any size will enjoy the button-activated water features here. Ground sprayers are the main attraction, and kids move seamlessly between the splash zone and multiple playground structures. A nice shaded picnic zone provides seating for the grown-ups who don’t want to be in the spray; for those who do, grab a seat on the benches surrounding the action.
Central Park
Maple Grove
Like our very own Bellagio, Maple Grove’s Central Park Interactive Fountain turns into a cascading light show when the sun goes down. But this fountain is an anytime draw, with 49 jets and 18 sprays that shoot water into colorful arcs just begging to be run through.
Bonus for the well-equipped park building on-site with restrooms inside. The fountain neighbors a sprawling playground with rock walls molded after real rock formations.
The Commons
Minneapolis
A cool oasis in downtown Minneapolis, the fountains at Commons Park are a convenient spot for a spontaneous splash. Ground-level jets invite kids to dash through or just linger in the mist while taking in the surrounding big buildings and Light Rail slinking by — a major attraction for transit-obsessed kids in and of itself. Parents can lounge nearby on open lawns or shaded seating areas in this 4.2-acre green space adjacent to U.S. Bank Stadium.
Curie Park
Minneapolis
Renovated in 2021, Currie Park’s former wading pool was transformed into a modern splash pad. These sprayers and sprinkling rings accommodate twice as many kids as the wading pool did, a boon for the public art-filled park in Cedar-Riverside, one of Minneapolis’ densest neighborhoods. Also new: a restroom building.
Huset Park West
Columbia Heights
When Columbia Heights needed to update Huset Park’s old wading pool, it brought in an ADA-compliant and sensory-stimulating wading pool with 40 sprayers all activated by a “central command center.” Kids can aim the jets with a variety of spray functions, and the water flows off from the splash pad to the city’s storm drains. There’s lots of shaded seating for parents, too.
Nicollet Commons Park
Burnsville
Nicollet Commons Park feels like the kind of fountain you’re usually told to stay out of, but here, you’re invited in. A shallow stream winds through this city plaza, weaving around rock formations, waterfalls, playful sculptures of frogs and fish that spray water, and shooting jets that offer endless combinations of ways to play and stay cool.
At night and during concerts and other park events, color-changing LED lights illuminate the design. It’s a spot you could easily lose track of time in.
Oak Hill Park
St. Louis Park
A popular west metro spot, Oak Hill mixes it up with varied playgrounds, freshly mowed lawns, and a splash pad that puts front lawn sprinklers to shame. This one has a variety of bubble hoses, water nozzles, tip buckets and sprinkle arches spread over 2,350 square feet. The clean public restroom building is a plus.
Orono Park
Elk River
This beach-adjacent playground gives you all the watery thrills with none of the sand. Raining trees and flowers send off light sprinkles, while a cluster of buckets drop bigger splashes at random. Ground sprayers do their job from below, and several features spit out sprays in adorable ways, like from the mouth of a giant frog.
The views of Lake Orono can’t be beat.
Rosemount Central
Burnsville
Rosemount Central Park’s 3,700-square-foot splash pad turns water play into a creative adventure. At its heart is the Water Journey, where kids become engineers, directing streams through channels and gates, making pinwheels spin and sending toy boats downriver.
Ground-level jets add more ways to cool off. Kids control the flow with hand and foot activators to conserve water, and runoff flows back into Erickson Pond. For parents, a covered picnic shelter provides a dry, shady retreat.
Whitetail Woods Regional Park
Farmington
This Dakota County park doesn’t have your typical splash pad. Instead, it’s a hands-on experience where kids use pumps and a rocky channel to send water under a bridge and create streams and muddy puddles for splashing. New friends work together like little engineers, some at the pumps and others digging paths in the sand for water to meander.
It’s all set within a breathtaking nature-inspired play area featuring climbing logs, slides, nets, and a tire swing tucked into the woods.
Woodbury Splash Pad
Woodbury
Kids will love the interactivity at this splash pad, where they can adjust and aim sprayers at one another — and, let’s face it, parents. (We warned you.) With a combination of ground-level fountains and towering spray features, there are plenty of play options for children of all sizes and ages.
Located on the south side of the HealthEast Sports Center, it’s right next to Madison’s Place, a fully inclusive playground designed for kids of all abilities.
