by Dennis Dalman
A huge development project dubbed “Phase I” is about to get underway this coming spring at Kraemer Lake-Wildwood County Park near St. Joseph.
The amenities to be added to the park include an entrance road, an entry gate, parking spaces, a vegetative buffer on the property line, soft-surface trails, picnic shelters, a canoe launch, a fishing pier, a vaulted restroom, an activity site for Scouting troops, a children’s play area and a restored prairie area hospitable to species of pollinators, such as bees.
The park is located within 265 acres and contains a half mile of lakefront footage. Fully half of the park has been identified in the Minnesota County Biological Survey as a “significant remnant natural community” where trees – some of them up to 300 years old – are still growing.
Stearns County acquired that land in 2007 and turned it into Kraemer Lake-Wildwood County Park. That transformation was completed in 2016. And then, in 2023, the county was given a Parks and Trails Legacy Grant in the amount of $1,175,846. That money, combined with a match of local funding ($391,948) brought the current total to $1,567,794. At the start of this year, 2025, the county hired SRF Consulting Group to help with the design process and the engineering of the Phase I project.
Currently, the park boasts trails for walking, bicycling and dog walking with leashed dogs only.
There are also multi-use trails, such as for winter walking and snowshoeing and even a trail to accommodate fat-tire bicycles. In the winter there are cross-country ski trails and trails for beginners and expert skiers. A state ski pass is required to use those trails. To buy a “Great Minnesota Ski Pass,” visit the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website.
Another feature of the park is the maple-syrup-making “shack” operated in syrup season by Shelly Carlson, whose award-winning syrup is made there using sap from the many maple trees in the park. At the maple-syrup operation, visitors are always welcome every maple-syrup season in spring. Bottles of the prized syrup are sold at farmers’ markets throughout the area, including the one in St. Joseph.
This trail with park bench is just one of many recreational trails in Kraemer Lake-Wildwood County Park near St. Joseph.
