Parks & Recreation

Parks/Hiking/Camping
Barsness Park and Glacial Lakes State Park are detailed on our lodging/camping page.
Glenwood's City Park offers tennis and basketball courts, restrooms, a bandshell for outdoor concerts, Waterama events, and Sunday morning church services during the summer, as well as playground equipment and the Rotary's Food Stand. During the summer, a public fishing dock is also available, and is a popular spot from which to watch Waterama fireworks and the Midwest's only night time lighted pontoon parade.

Starbuck offers the Holly Skogen Park, filled with gardens and walkways, and a City Park with a swim beach and a walking/biking trail which follows Highway 104 south to Glacial Lakes State Park.

Biking

GLACIAL RIDGE BIKE TRAIL

The Glacial Ridge Bike Trail now has 19.7 dedicated miles of bike pathways beginning at Glacial Lakes State Park to Starbuck through Glenwood to Villard. This bike trail travels through miles of beautiful shoreline along Lake Minnewaska, Pelican Lake and winds in between Villard Lake and Lake Amelia. In addition, there are 12.8 mile of undedicated bikeway following the southern shores of Lake Minnewaska.

Funds are still needed to match the state grant! For more information, contact Wayne Martin at (320) 634-5471, or read the Pope County Tribune article. 

Fishing

Pope County has dozens of lakes with ample fishing opportunities, and sponsors several fishing tournaments year-round, including ice fishing. Many opportunities area available for fishing tournaments. Koep's Bait & Tackle website has most of them listed throughout the year! 

The group Pope County COLA (Coalition of Lakes Association) has created an award-winning DVD for lakeshore property owners about caring for the lake, and the Minnewaska Lake Association is also very active in protecting our natural resources in the county. The Chamber of Commerce also co-sponsors the annual Kids Day, which features the local Take A Kid Fishing event, which usually attracts 100 or so kids and their sponsors to the shores of Lake Minnewaska.

A new group, Let's Go Fishing, has started a chapter in Pope County, "with a goal to provide fishing and boating excursions as an activity for senior citizens". For more information, see their site, lgfws.com.

If you need bait, Koeps Corner, Minnewaska Bait & Tackle, Fish On, Cedar Inn Bait Shop, Hunt's Resort, Bobber's Marine & Sports Center, and Minnewaska Marine have bait, tackle, and other fishing gear for sale. Wagner Hardware, Glenwood Fleet Supply, and Shopke also carry fishing supplies.

Not sure where to catch the fish? See our Ice Thickness page for information on the latest update for Lake Minnewaska (seasonal).

Boating

Lake Minnewaska is about 13 miles long and nearly 8,000 acres, providing lots of open space to take you boating, waterskiing, wakeboarding, windsurfing, kayaking, or jet skiing. You can launch your boat in three places--by the Glenwood City Beach, the DNR landing, and in Starbuck's marina.

Pope County also has two boat dealers--Minnewaska Marine in Starbuck and Bobber's Marine in Glenwood; both also sell docks and accessories; Hunt's Resort also sells docks.

Hunting

Pope County offers hunting opportunities of all kinds, and several national conservation groups, including Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, National Wild Turkey Federation, and many more are very active locally. There are many opportunities for hunting challenges and tournaments. Koep's Bait &Tackle website lists many of the local tourneys. 

Golfing

Glenwood offers two 18-hole golf courses, Pezhekee National at Peters' Resort and the Minnewaska Golf Club.

Resorts

Pope County offers several resorts to choose from for your next camping or fishing trip or vacation. For more information and links, see our lodging/camping page.