Cedar Lake
Shoreline, beaches, fishing piers, and parkland on Minneapolis's Chain of Lakes
Cedar Lake sits on the west side of Minneapolis, connected to Bde Maka Ska and Lake of the Isles by channels and parkland that together form the city's Chain of Lakes. The lake is managed by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and remains one of the more natural-feeling bodies of water in the system, with wooded shorelines and a relatively uninterrupted edge compared to its neighbors.
The Chain of Lakes was developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as part of a broad park-building effort that reshaped the western neighborhoods of Minneapolis. Cedar Lake was incorporated into that system along with the others, but its south beach and the informal gathering spot known as Hidden Beach have long given it a character distinct from the more manicured lakefronts nearby. The bench sponsorship program along its shores, where families and individuals can dedicate a seat overlooking the water for a decade at a time, speaks to how personally residents claim the place.
The lake continues to draw anglers to its public pier, paddlers moving between it and Lake of the Isles through the connecting channel, and swimmers on days when the beach fills well past comfortable capacity. A new West Lake Street light rail station now sits between Cedar Lake and Bde Maka Ska, reshaping how people arrive at the water and placing both lakes within easier reach of the broader city.
