Parks, Trails & Recreation Master Plan

QUARRY LAKE Funded in part by a grant from the SMSC, this newly constructed trail connects Quarry Lake Park to Gateway Drive in the Valley Green Business Park. The half-mile trail follows a naturalized drainage way and connects Gateway Drive to Valley Fair Drive. The trail provides access to the new 111-acre Quarry Lake Park, the first phase of which was completed in 2016. DEAN LAKE TRAIL The Dean Lake Trail is a scenic trail that connects the Dean Lake area to the Southbridge area. The trail includes a loop that contains boardwalks over wetlands.

SHUTROP PARK TRAIL ALONG DEAN LAKE The trail concept plan on the following page illustrates trail opportunities around Dean Lake beginning in Shutrop Park. Some of the land that this proposed trail occupies is under the jurisdiction of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and would require a more carefully curated plan in tandem with them. A significant amount of development is occurring in the Dean Lake / Shutrop Park area, including over 100 new residential lots at Ridge Creek to the east, and potential future development to the south (indicated by an expanded road network). Most importantly, a cohesive trail system that connects fragmented pieces of the city’s system has great potential here. A series of trails either exist or are in development in the area are: » » Dean Lake Trail (exists and is well used), » » a trail system throughout the Ridge Creek development (in planning), » » a loop trail around Quarry Lake (proposed in the concept plan for Quarry Lake Park [see Chapter 4]), » » the 12th Ave trail (currently under development). Users of these trails would benefit by a trail addition in Shutrop Park on the south side of Dean Lake that would provide a crucial off-street connection as well as provide lakefront access where there is none. A potential trailhead could fit next to the proposed fire station parcel. The trail would lead users down the bluff and connect to the existing trail system to the east off of CR-21, or to the west along Dean Lake and eventually back up the bluff to connect to the new trail along McKenna Rd. This trail could potentially be expanded upon in the future as paved and boardwalk trail to connect to the northwest along and through the lake and wetlands to eventually loop and connect to Dean Lake Trail. Other greater trail connections are to the Ridge Creek system currently being planned, to Southbridge Community Park, as well as potentially connecting to Quarry Lake Park and the 12th Ave Trail over Hwy 169 if the pedestrian bridge over 169 is funded and built.

system vision

Trail users enjoying Dean Lake Trail, image courtesy of City of Shakopee.

106 SHAKOPEE PARKS, TRAILS, AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN | SYSTEM VISION