Big Island Nature Park: The Boat-Only 56-Acre Park With Amusement-Park History

You reach Big Island Nature Park only by private boat — there is no bridge, no ferry, and no road. The park sits on the eastern end of Lake Minnetonka in Orono, and the water is the only way in.

There are two docks. One serves the steamboat Minnehaha, and the second is a public dock for visitors arriving in their own boats.

Plan your day around the hours: the park is open for day use only, from early morning until night. If you do not own a boat, the simplest way onto the island is a ride on the Steamboat Minnehaha, which docks right at the park.

Big Island is a day-use nature preserve, and the City of Orono keeps the rules simple. Know these before you push off from the launch:

- No overnight camping — the island closes at night and is for daytime visits only.

- No fires anywhere in the park.

- No alcohol.

Because roughly 75 percent of the park sits under a conservation easement, this is a preserve first and a picnic spot second. Pack out what you bring in, stay on the trails, and treat it like the protected land it is.

This is the part most people never hear. In the early 1900s, Big Island was home to the Big Island Amusement Park, built and run by the Twin City Rapid Transit company — the same streetcar operation that moved people across Minneapolis and St. Paul.

For six seasons the island had a roller coaster, a carousel, a music casino, and a 186-foot lighted water tower that boaters could see from across the lake. It was a full amusement park in the middle of Lake Minnetonka, reached by streetcar boats.

After the amusement park closed, the island took on a second life. From 1923 until 2003, it served as the Big Island Veterans Camp — eight decades as a retreat before the land became the public nature preserve it is today.

The modern Big Island Nature Park reopened after a restoration project of roughly $740,000 that turned the old veterans-camp land into an accessible public preserve.

That funding came from several sources: $300,000 from the state bonding bill, $200,000 from the Minnesota DNR, $130,000 from the city, and $82,000 in private donations.

The money paid for the visitor-facing pieces you will actually use — new ADA-accessible trails winding through the woods, a grassy area, a beach, a picnic shelter, and restrooms. It is one of the few genuinely accessible natural spaces you can only reach by water.

Launch from any public access on the eastern end of Lake Minnetonka and steer for the two docks — one reserved for the Steamboat Minnehaha, one open for public tie-up.

If you do not have a boat, book a seat on the Steamboat Minnehaha, a restored streetcar boat that docks at the park. It is the easiest car-free way onto the island and a nod to the streetcar-boat era that built the place.

Keep the day short and simple: it is day-use only, there are no fires or overnight stays, and about three-quarters of the island is protected easement. Bring water, walk the accessible trails, use the beach and shelter, and leave it the way you found it.