For years, we were keeping the lake level too high. We just didn’t know. Now we’ve shot the elevations and have the original plans, so we know what we’re supposed to be doing.”

Chris Jenkins, Director of the Hastings Parks Department

Lake Rebecca Park
415 Lock & Dam Road
Hastings, MN 55033
View larger map

After months of construction, Lake Rebecca Park in Hastings has officially reopened with a slate of improvements aimed at both recreational access and ecological health.
The $1 million project, funded by a grant from the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), included a wide range of upgrades, from newly reconstructed parking lots and trails to habitat restoration and shoreline stabilization.
“This was a grant-funded project,” said Chris Jenkins, Director of the Hastings Parks Department. “We’re approaching that $1 million mark at this point, with about $500,000 for the developed recreation area and $150,000 for the natural resources component.”
The revamped park now features two upgraded parking lots: one at the boat launch and another at the former swim beach area. Alongside these are improved trail connections and accessible fishing spots. A third, more remote lot will remain untouched and continue serving as a snow dump for the city’s public works department. The improvements are part of the Lake Rebecca Park Master Plan, with the goal of balancing public access and environmental stewardship at the 415 Lock and Dam Road location. One of the more visible changes is the overhaul of the boat launch and adjacent parking areas. Old asphalt was removed and replaced, with accessible parking spots added. A new concrete walkway now stretches along the lakeside of the second parking lot, and another path connects the two primary lots via the road. The existing trail through the woods remains in place, and both trails are now resurfaced.
“We just milled and overlaid the trails,” Jenkins said. “We couldn’t build them up because we had to stay within the existing footprint and elevations. It’s a floodplain with delineated wetlands, and that limits what we can do.”
The fishing pier hasn’t gone untouched, either. A new abutment was installed, and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will be donating an additional 20-foot section of pier, which the city will install to extend the current structure further into the lake. Alongside that, the city added several stone step fishing access points on both the lakeside and the berm near the boat launch, offering safer, designated spots for anglers.
“They’ve got something flat to stand on, and the lower step is set at the designed water level,” Jenkins explained. “For years, we were keeping the lake level too high. We just didn’t know. Now we’ve shot the elevations and have the original plans, so we know what we’re supposed to be doing.”
While the infrastructure work is significant, the shift toward a more natural landscape is a major part of the park’s transformation. Much of the turf along the lakefront has been removed and will be replaced with native prairie grasses and wetland vegetation this fall.
“We don’t have the need to mow that area weekly like we have in years past,” Jenkins said. “We’ll keep picnic tables and mow paths to them, but we’re trying to create more of a habitat.”
That new vegetation serves a purpose beyond aesthetics. Jenkins said the taller grasses help deter resident geese and ducks, whose droppings have negatively affected the lake’s water quality.
“Predators hide in that tall vegetation, so they don’t like it,” he said. “Their excrement provides a lot of nutrient loading to the lake, so it impacts water quality.”
Luckily, the lake’s natural inflow from the Mississippi and a spring on the hillside help maintain oxygen levels, and aeration systems are turned on during winter. “It doesn’t have a major negative impact on the fishery at all,” Jenkins added.
Also new is an accessible paddle launch installed near the old swim beach area, designed for easier use by people with mobility challenges. “If you’ve got mobility issues, you can get out of that and launch a kayak or canoe or something,” Jenkins said. Other upgrades include solar-powered lighting in the parking lots, which was needed because electrical service was never restored after a power line was severed during road work on Lock and Dam Road. Old guardrails and bollards were also removed and replaced with natural stone barriers, which help with runoff and fit better with the park’s overall aesthetic.
“The rocks just look better,” Jenkins said. “It’s a more natural type of area now.” Behind the scenes, there’s also been attention to the lake’s hydrology. The city uses removable “stop logs” to manage the water level in Lake Rebecca, allowing staff to raise or lower it depending on conditions in the Mississippi River.
“There’s a channel built into the berm where we can slide them in or out,” Jenkins explained. “If the Mississippi comes up, we raise the lake level to keep it above the river. When it goes down, we drop the lake level again.”
According to Jenkins, the process is simple enough to do from above ground, with two people lifting the logs using handles and rings. “It’s fairly easy to open and get to,” he said. “Although if there’s a giant pike in there, it’ll scare the bejesus out of you.”
While most of the work is finished, there are still a few items left on the checklist. Native planting, delayed by wet summer conditions, is scheduled for this fall. Some funding from the original grant remains unused, and the city is evaluating options for how best to apply it.
Jenkins also noted that future work in the natural resources area, located west and northwest of the developed park, may involve continued collaboration with the nonprofit Friends of the Mississippi River. That partnership has historically helped Hastings stretch its budget further.
“If we put up $20,000, they turn that into a couple hundred thousand dollars,” Jenkins said. “They’re great partners.”
For now, though, the dust is settling, both literally and figuratively, as residents return to enjoy the fishing, paddling, and quiet green spaces at a park that now feels both more accessible and more in tune with nature.
“It’s a very popular place,” Jenkins said. “A lot of people are down there. It’s great to see.”