Lebanon Hills Regional Park
STATUS: COMPROMISED
Map to Lebanon Hills
Lebanon Hills Regional Park is a nearly 2,000 acre park with rolling hills, majestic oaks, and several lakes. The park borders extend from the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley nearly to Highway 3 in Rosemount.
HOW TO GET THERE
Lebanon Hills Regional Park is located in Eagan and Apple Valley. From St. Paul, take 35E south to Cliff Road. From Minneapolis, take Cedar Avenue south to Cliff Road. Take Cliff Road east. Trailheads are available on Cliff Road, Johnny Cake Ridge Road, Pilot Knob Road, and on 120th Street.
Winter scene of Lebanon Hills
WHAT YOU CAN DO THERE
The park features extensive hiking, skiing, biking, and horseback riding trails. Snowshoes and skis can be rented in the winter while canoes and kayaks are available for rent in the summer. A visitor center, which opened in 2003, features play and learning areas for children, a large fireplace, and a conference room available for rent. Open seven days a week, Lebanon Hills Regional Park is considered to be one of the best places in the Twin Cities for bird watching. Coyotes and a Canada lynx have also been sighted in the park.
DESCRIPTION
Lebanon Hills Regional Park is situated on a large expanse of naturally preserved park land. Forty percent of the park's land area is grassland. The remainder is wetland and forest dominated by red oak with some American elm. Surface water resources consist of widely dispersed small lakes and ponds, the largest of which are 55-acre Jensen Lake and 35-acre Holland Lake.
THREAT AND RESPONSE
As a regional park, not a regional preserve, Lebanon Hills Regional Park can be developed for recreational uses. In 1999, several park users became concerned when trees were removed to expand RV camping. The park users formed a group called Friends of Lebanon Hills Regional Park and they became active in the park's master planning process. The strong input from citizens made the resulting master plan more environmentally sensitive. A new Master Plan was adopted in 2001.
Rolling hills and deep ravines characterize
the landscape of Lebanon Hills
Trails for skiing, mountain biking, and hiking were realigned to reduce erosion problems. Water management issues in the park were addressed in ecologically appropriate manners, including the removal of an asphalt roadway built on wetlands. Dakota County opened a visitor center for the park in 2003 that many consider one of the "greenest buildings" in the Twin Cities. The building features a roof of grasses and plants that naturally filter storm water.
The new nature center "demonstrates how sustainability can be incorporated in building design and construction." The construction of the new facility highlights a variety of sustainable and recycled features that can be used in building construction and a design that includes wood from sustainable forests, wallboard made out of wheat, countertops and partitions made out of recycled plastic, a roof topped with soil and plants, and lights that dim according to the amount of natural light. www.co.dakota.mn.us/parks/visitor_center.htm.
CURRENT SITUATION
Lebanon Hills Regional Park is one of the largest, most centrally located, and highly used parks in the Dakota County Parks System. Recreational developments, however, will likely continue to impose development pressure. The vision for the future of the park is one of landscape restoration, resource protection, and sustainability. New developments, such as the new visitor center, can be designed to be as unobtrusive as possible. The Master Plan also calls for millions of dollars of landscape restoration, including buckthorn removal, in the park. Recent budget problems with the state of Minnesota have put those plans on hold. Until funding is secured that will fully implement the park's Master Plan, Lebanon Hills remains compromised, especially as it represents one of the region's greatest natural resources.IF YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED
Friends of Lebanon Hills
This group is coordinating a volunteer effort to help with the
buckthorn problem. For information, call Mike Fedde at 651-308-7286.
Friends of the Eagan Core Greenway
This citizens group is seeking to preserve land that would connect
Patrick Eagan Park in Eagan to Lebanon Hills Regional Park.
Their website is
www.friendsofeagancoregreenway.org.
TO LEARN MORE
Lebanon Hills Master Plan
Visit the website at
www.co.dakota.mn.us/parks/LH%20Masterplan.htm.
A peaceful lake view at Lebanon Hills Regional Park
photo: Courtesy of Dakota County Parks Department