New Brighton Long Lake Regional Park — Beach, Trails, Fishing and Complete Guide 2026

New Brighton Long Lake Regional Park Overview

Long Lake Regional Park sits at 1500 Old Highway 8 in New Brighton, Minnesota, covering 217 acres of lakefront, wetlands, oak woods, restored prairie, and developed recreational space in the northwestern corner of Ramsey County. The park runs along 1.5 miles of shoreline on Long Lake and wraps around the natural area surrounding Rush Lake, a smaller, non-recreational lake that anchors the park’s quieter northern section. Together, the two water bodies and the varied terrain between them create a park that works for a serious morning run, a full family beach day, a fishing trip, a birthday picnic for three hundred people, or a slow walk through restored Minnesota prairie, without any of those activities getting in the way of the others. The park connects northward into the Rice Creek Trail system, which extends the paved trail network considerably beyond what the park itself offers. Good Times Park is another top park in the state to visit with family and friends.

Quick Facts

Long Lake Regional Park Location and Directions

Address and How to Get There

Long Lake Regional Park is located at 1500 Old Highway 8 NW, New Brighton, MN 55112. The park has two separate entrances, which is worth knowing before you arrive because they lead to different sections of the park, and parking at the wrong one for your intended activity means backtracking.

Distances from Key Locations

Parking

Parking at Long Lake Regional Park is free. The main lot near the beach and pavilion is large and fills on warm summer weekends, so arriving before 10 AM on a Saturday or Sunday in July gives you the best chance of easy parking. The boat launch lot is smaller but serves a more specific visitor type and is rarely at capacity outside of major fishing weekends. Overflow parking is available, and the walk from the far end of the lot to the beach is not significant.

Long Lake Regional Park Beach and Swimming

Guarded Beach

The swimming beach at Long Lake Regional Park is the park’s most popular feature during summer and one of the better public beaches in the northern Twin Cities metro. The beach is open from Memorial Day through Labor Day with lifeguard supervision during monitored hours, which makes it one of the safer public swimming options in Ramsey County for families with young children. The sandy shoreline is well maintained, and the water quality at Long Lake is tested regularly by Ramsey County.

Beach Building and Concessions

The full-service beach building provides indoor restrooms with changing rooms and showers, a concession stand serving snacks and drinks, and shelter from the weather when afternoon storms roll through. The concession operation runs during the swimming season and covers the basics without trying to be a restaurant. The building also functions as the operational base for the lifeguard staff and park attendants during peak hours.

Long Lake Regional Park Trails

Paved Trail System

The paved trail network at Long Lake Regional Park runs north to south through the park, starting from the boat launch at the southern end of Long Lake and covering more than four miles of asphalt surface that accommodates walkers, runners, cyclists, and rollerbladers. The trail passes through the park’s varied terrain, which means you move between open shoreline sections, wooded areas, wetland edges, and the restored prairie without the scenery staying the same for too long.

Rice Creek Trail Connection

Long Lake Regional Park Rice Creek Trail

At the northern end of Long Lake Regional Park, the paved trail connects directly into the Rice Creek Trail system, extending your ride or run considerably beyond the park boundary. The Rice Creek Trail runs westward from the park exit point toward Stinson Boulevard, covering additional miles of paved surface through the Rice Creek watershed area.

Winter Trail Use

The park’s trails are used year-round, and winter brings a different visitor type than summer. Cross-country skiers use the trail system when snow conditions allow, and the park’s 5 AM opening means morning commuters who run year-round have access well before dawn. Ice fishing on Long Lake draws a specific seasonal crowd to the boat launch area from December through February when the ice is safe. The park’s winter character is genuinely quieter than summer but far from dormant, and the trail through the wooded sections in fresh snow is one of the better free outdoor experiences in New Brighton on a calm winter morning.

Fishing at Long Lake Regional Park

What Fish Live in Long Lake

Long Lake holds a productive mix of species that makes it a worthwhile fishing destination for both casual and serious anglers. The Minnesota DNR records show Walleye, Northern Pike, Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Crappie, Yellow Perch, and Bullhead species all present in the lake. Walleye and Northern Pike are the primary targets for anglers using the fishing pier, while Bluegill and Crappie are consistent catches from the shore areas and make Long Lake a practical option for introducing kids to fishing without requiring a boat.

Fishing Pier and Boat Launch

Ramsey County has installed a dedicated fishing pier at the park’s second entrance off 694, which gives anglers a stable platform extending over deeper water without requiring a boat. The pier is accessible without a fishing license fee beyond the standard Minnesota angling license, and the location near the boat launch means that pier fishers and boaters share the same parking area without the congestion that sometimes affects beach-area parking.

Long Lake Regional Park Picnic Areas and Pavilion

Family Picnic Areas

Long Lake Regional Park has over thirty individual picnic tables distributed throughout the park grounds in addition to the designated picnic areas near the beach and playground. The variety of picnic locations means that on a moderately busy weekend, finding a table with a reasonable amount of space around it is achievable even without a reservation. The tables near the beach are the most sought-after during summer, while the tables in the wooded sections of the park offer shade and quiet that the lakeside locations do not.

Large Group Pavilion

The park’s large group picnic pavilion is the biggest reservation asset in the facility, designed to accommodate gatherings of up to 300 people. The pavilion includes a full kitchen and restrooms, which makes it functional for catered events, large family reunions, corporate outings, and community gatherings that go beyond a standard picnic setup. The Ramsey County Parks reservation system handles pavilion bookings and current pricing, and reservations for peak summer weekends fill weeks in advance, so planning well ahead is essential for large group events.

Playgrounds and Family Activities

Main Playground

The main playground at Long Lake Regional Park is built primarily of metal with a wood chip floor, and the equipment spans a range of age groups from toddler to preteen. The tot equipment sits close to the older equipment, which is worth knowing if you have young children who will be tempted toward the taller slides intended for older kids. Parents who have visited with mixed-age groups consistently note that the playground held everyone from toddler to preteen entertained for the full duration of their visit, which is the outcome a good playground should produce.

Sports Fields and Courts

Beyond the playground, the park includes baseball and softball fields that host both organized league play and informal games throughout the warmer months. A volleyball court is available near the beach area and sees regular use on summer afternoons when beach visitors extend their stay into games. The park also features a disc golf course that appeals to a specific visitor type and is well designed within the park’s terrain, using the varied landscape to create an interesting routing through wooded and open sections.

Hockey Rinks

In winter, outdoor hockey rinks at Long Lake Regional Park serve the local skating community during the cold months. The rinks are maintained by Ramsey County during the skating season and are lit for evening use, extending the accessible hours for skaters who cannot get there during daylight on weekdays. Bring your own skates as rental is not available on site.

New Brighton History Center

The New Brighton History Center sits within Long Lake Regional Park and represents the local historical dimension of the park that most visitors pass without noticing. The center covers the history of New Brighton and the surrounding area, including the development of the community, the significance of Long Lake to the region’s original residents, and the evolution of the park itself over time. The historical markers placed along the park’s trail system complement the history center by putting specific points of the landscape into historical context as you walk past them.

Wildlife and Nature at Long Lake Regional Park

What You Can Expect to See

The combination of Long Lake’s shoreline, Rush Lake’s undeveloped natural area, the cattail marshes, the oak woods, and the nine-acre restored prairie creates a habitat mix that supports a genuinely diverse range of wildlife for a park in an urban county. Turtles and frogs are common in the wetland areas along the trail, and the marshes attract herons, egrets, and a rotating cast of shorebirds throughout the migration seasons. The restored prairie section in the northwest corner of the park brings pollinators, including butterflies and native bees, during the summer blooming period. Smash Park is another top park nearby to look at on vacation.

Rush Lake Natural Area

Rush Lake, the smaller of the park’s two lakes, is designated as non-recreational, meaning that swimming, boating, and fishing there are not permitted. In practice, that designation means Rush Lake functions as a wildlife refuge within the park, undisturbed by recreational activity and supporting a different quality of habitat than the more managed Long Lake shoreline. The natural area around Rush Lake includes the cattail marsh, oak woods, and the restored prairie, and the trail through this section of the park has a quieter character than the beach-adjacent paths.

My Personal Experience at Long Lake Regional Park

I arrived at Long Lake Regional Park on a Tuesday morning in late September, which turned out to be the perfect time to understand what the park actually is rather than what it becomes when it fills on summer weekends. The parking lot near the beach was essentially empty. The trail along the lake’s eastern shore was mine for the first hour, and the morning light on the water was doing that specific autumn thing where everything looks about twenty percent more beautiful than it has any right to. The spring-fed section near the eastern shore is real and worth finding. I crouched at the water’s edge and watched the sand moving at the bottom from the fresh water pushing up through it. It is a small thing, but it is the kind of specific detail that makes a place feel like it has a character rather than just coordinates. Long Lake is genuinely clear, noticeably so compared to other public lakes I have swum in around the metro area.

Seasonal Guide to Long Lake Regional Park

Nearby Parks and Attractions from Long Lake Regional Park

Essential Tips for Visiting Long Lake Regional Park

1. Use the first entrance off 35W past 694 for the beach, playground, pavilion, and history center
2. Use the second entrance off 694 west of 35W, specifically for the fishing pier and boat launch
3. Arrive before 10 AM on summer weekends for easy parking near the beach
4. Bring a Minnesota fishing license if you plan to fish — required for adults 16 and over
5. Reserve the large pavilion through Ramsey County Parks well in advance for summer weekends
6. Bring your own food for picnics, as the concession stand keeps limited hours outside peak season
7. Download the Ramsey County Parks trail map before following the Rice Creek Trail connection northward
8. Visit the New Brighton History Center for the trail marker context that makes the landscape more interesting

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