Lower Purgatory Creek Hiking Trail in Eden Prairie
As a child, we’d walk down to this area and play at the creek. We’d bring fishing gear and catch a few fish, and explore the water. We even carved a small hiking trail along it just to see how far we could go.
The City of Eden Prairie it seems thought that was a good idea because they created an official Hiking Trail in Lower Purgatory Creek. It doesn’t follow our original path, but what they created was even better!
Welcome to hike 3 of 5 of my Hiking in Eden Prairie Series. Each day this week, I’ll be adding in another great hike that’s included in Eden Prairie’s Conservation Areas.
The Lower Purgatory Creek Hiking Trail
The Lower Purgatory Creek Hiking Trail takes hikers through the wooded banks of Purgatory Creek. It is some of the coolest hiking I’ve done recently.
One of the most striking things was how big the trees have gotten around the creek. As a child we could throw our lines in and fish right off the paved sidewalk. Now you need to bushwhack through to get close.
The trail is well used by the locals. Most everyone on the trail was from the neighborhoods. I saw a few families hiking, some with younger kids, and even some adults running along with it.
There are slight hills along the way. The ground is primarily dirt, with some exposed tree roots. There are 7 bridges crossing over the creek. There are also some boardwalks when needed, but only a few.
The trail was extremely easy to follow. The only branch offs are from residents that have carved their own trail to the conservation trail.
The end of the trail stops at two incredible staircases that lead to different neighborhoods. Unless you are looking for more of a challenge, you can skip these. The city has proposed extending the trail, so who knows it could be longer someday.
Tips
Make sure to download the official map before you go. GPS can be hard to access on this trail. I tried to check my position at the end of the trail, and it took a while to load anything.
The best place to park is at Homeward Hills Park near the baseball field, off of Homeward Hills.
The hiking trail is on the Flying Cloud Airplane flight path. Smaller aircraft can often be heard flying above you.
Would I go back?
Yes, I’m actually really excited to head back to Lower Purgatory Creek Hiking Trail with the kids and show them the woods I played in as a kid. The trail was beautiful. The creek was rushing. It was beautiful! While you are in Eden Prairie, check out some other great things to do there.
