Wayzata Big Woods celebrates 10 years of preservation

A public park in Wayzata is the Twin Cities' last piece of a sprawling dense forest that once blanketed much of central Minnesota.

Last week, the community celebrated the Wayzata Big Woods' 10th year as a preserved 14-acre park — the only urban remnant of the once 3,000-square-mile Big Woods.

"Since it's been 10 years, we've never been here," Nancy Caswell of Orono said as she walked the half-mile trail. "It's just amazing — these woods in the midst of all this commercial [development]."

As she craned her neck to see the towering century-old basswood and sugar maple trees, the only clue that Caswell was in the metro area was the hum of cars rushing by on Hwy. 12, which backs up against the park. Elsewhere, birds called out as a raccoon scurried up a tree and sunshine streamed through the thick forest canopy.

"It's scary we almost lost this," said her friend Jacque Frazzini of Plymouth. "It feels like you're Up North."

More than 10 years ago, private developers proposed clearing pieces of the forest for a school, apartments or a high-rise building. But city officials like then-City Council member Bob Ambrose said they didn't want to lose what they saw as a rare treasure.

"It was like a trademark or the logo of the town," he said. "It's what you'd see coming from the east."

Of the 22 acres, the city got 14 acres while The Retreat, an addictiontreatment center, purchased 7.5 acres for $2 million, moving into the buildings on the land that once housed a family estate and then a retreat for nuns. The entire land is now permanently protected by a conservation easement, preventing any development.

"We want to save the woods and protect the integrity of the woods," said John Curtiss, president of The Retreat.

The thousands of acres of the Big Woods once covered as much as 6,500 square miles of eastern and central Minnesota in 1850. In the 1800s, Native Americans showed settlers how to gather sap for syrup when sugar grew scarce. Then over the years, the land was farmed by settlers or developed, leaving an estimated 0.01 percent of the original forest today.

"It's wonderful we were able to keep this," said Merrily Borg Babcock, who helped preserve the park and is now on Wayzata's parks and trails board. "We're trying to introduce more people to it."

There are other pieces of the Big Woods still saved in public parks throughout Minnesota such as the 2,884 acres in Nerstrand Big Woods State Park near Faribault, Townsend Woods in Rice County and Wolsfeld Woods northwest of Wayzata, according to the Department of Natural Resources. Wayzata's piece is the only one in the metro area, giving residents a glimpse of what used to be there.

The public park, now owned by the city of Wayzata, is open year-round with a rustic, woodchip-covered trail and a few benches.

But most people may not know it's even there. There's no sign indicating the park entrance and the parking lot is shared with The Retreat.

Now, nearby residents like Caswell who have "discovered" it are already planning to return.

"I think it's not well-known," Caswell said, adding she's returning to see the fall colors in two weeks. "It's just a gem."

Kelly Smith • 612-673-4141