Dakota Rail Trail Closure in Orono: Your Winter 2026-27 Guide

"Use of the trail decreases significantly during the winter months, and these projects were scheduled during fall and winter to minimize disruption to trail use." Three Rivers Park District posted that line to explain why two stretches of the Dakota Rail Regional Trail will close this season. The same logic shows up in nearly every public project touching Orono this year. The city schedules routine tree removals in winter because Public Works crews have more capacity then. Hennepin County has phased its North Arm launch rebuild to protect "the busiest portion of the fishing and boating season."

Each choice makes sense when you look at it alone. Put them together and the quiet months become the construction months, all at once, along the routes Orono uses most. For anyone who walks the trail in January or heads to the lake in March, the calendar below is the season ahead.

The two miles of trail that close on December 1

The Orono closure runs from North Shore Drive to Orono Orchard Road. The trail stays open between the closed sections, but Three Rivers says there will be no posted detour around them. Out west, the stretch between Shoreline Drive in Mound and Westonka Recreation Park closes on Oct. 15 so Xcel Energy can replace the high-voltage line that runs next to the trail. That leaves two gaps for most of the winter in a 13.5-mile paved route that links Orono to Wayzata, Spring Park, Mound and beyond.

The Orono gap comes from a project most residents will only see as orange barrels. Metropolitan Council Environmental Services is building what it calls the Orono Sewer Improvements, Project 802897. The existing forcemain was built in 1979 and serves Lift Station L59. The Met Council points to aging infrastructure, pipe condition and current flow volume as its reasons for a full-length second main, with meters on both lines. At its May 12, 2026 meeting, the Council's Environment Committee recommended awarding construction to Meyer Contracting for up to $25,657,165.46.

Why the trail is only the last leg

The trail closure is the end of a longer route. The new pipe starts at L59 on Lilac Lane, runs south on Old Crystal Bay Road, east on North Shore Drive, and north on Brown Road. Near Brown Road and Lakeview Avenue it picks up the Dakota Rail corridor and follows it to Orono Orchard Road.

The Met Council is deliberately working one street at a time, using both open trench and tunneling. It admits this makes the project longer and argues it spares neighborhoods long-term disruption. Construction is expected to start in late 2026 and finish in spring or summer 2028. So the four-month trail closure is the easy part to plan around. The street work comes in pieces over about a year and a half, and the Met Council lists what to expect: road closures, intersection restrictions, detours, dust, noise, and aboveground temporary pipes with generators to run pumps. Driveway access will be maintained. The project page has not published dates for each street. Its email and text sign-up is the most direct way to learn when work reaches a given block.

The trail gets something back. Three Rivers says trail sections disturbed by the sewer work will be repaved as part of the project. The closure that costs walkers a winter leaves them new pavement from North Shore Drive to Orono Orchard Road.

North Arm keeps its summer and gives up its off-season

The North Arm Public Access follows the same pattern. Orono's City Council approved Hennepin County's site plan on June 8 through Resolution 7688. Construction is scheduled in phases from winter 2026 through fall 2027, with public access protected during peak fishing and boating months. The county hasn't said whether the access will stay open for ice use this winter or for early launches next spring. Shoulder-season users should check the county's project page before heading out.

The finished site is meant to serve more kinds of users than it does today. Plans call for one of the only ADA-accessible ramps in the metro, a realigned launch for safer maneuvering, angled parking stalls, access for canoes, kayaks and paddleboards, and fishing "pods" with better lighting and sightlines for shoreline anglers. At the city's request, the launch stays at its current 36-foot, two-lane width. The county had proposed 45 feet.

Some rules have already changed. The dumpster is gone and the site runs on pack-in, pack-out for the 2026 season. Commercial staging isn't allowed, and ramp and dock use is capped at 20 minutes. The Lake Minnetonka Conservation District's 2025/26 winter map lists both North Arm and Lake Minnetonka Regional Park as public winter access points. The regional park is the obvious backup if North Arm's winter status stays unclear.

Winter is also when the ash trees come down

The city's winter schedule covers trees too. Orono's September/October newsletter says routine removals usually happen in winter, while emergency removals happen whenever a tree poses an immediate safety risk. This year there's grant money behind the work. On Aug. 17, 2026, the Minnesota DNR listed Orono among 33 communities receiving Community Tree Planting Grants, at $75,000. According to the city's April 27 council highlights, the money will remove hazardous ash and plant about 150 climate-resilient trees in parks and trail corridors over two years starting in 2026. Grantees have until June 2027 to use the funds.

The scale explains the urgency. In the city's last street-and-park inventory, built from field data collected in 2019, 2020 and 2022, green ash made up 26 percent of 4,602 public trees. The city's strategy sets a goal of planting two trees for every one removed and limiting green ash until it falls below 10 percent of public trees. The county's North Arm plan follows the same idea. The current privacy screen is mostly volunteer and ash trees, which will be replaced with more trees than are removed, and two turf areas will be restored to prairie.

Hackberry Park needs the winter to grow in

Hackberry Park, near Elm Lane and Willow Drive North, has already been through its heavy-equipment phase. The project rebuilds both Little League fields, adds a multi-use field and more parking, and fixes drainage, at a total cost under $900,000. Most of the trees removed were dead or declining ash, and the new plan plants nearly twice as many. "There were times in the outfield where it was too wet to play on it. At times, you couldn't even mow it," City Administrator and City Engineer Adam Edwards told the Laker & Pioneer.

Grass sets the timeline now. The fields probably won't be ready for play before late summer 2027. The project also lays groundwork for restrooms, and covered shelters may come in a later phase "in a year or two." Orono Youth Hockey is on a similar timeline. On Aug. 10, the city approved a 48,000-square-foot addition at Morrison Arena with an 800-seat rink, varsity locker rooms, training space and more parking. The Laker & Pioneer reported that the association hopes to break ground next year.

Where to walk before and during the closures

Several fall-color spots close or change before the trail does. Noerenberg Memorial Gardens on Crystal Bay, at 2865 Northshore Drive, is open from May to mid-October and then closes for winter. Three Rivers lists autumn color in its trees and shrubs for September and October. Hours are 8 a.m. to sunset, and pets aren't allowed. As of early October, that leaves about two weeks.

Saga Hill Nature Area is the walk that stays put. The city's newsletter calls it nearly 29 wooded acres on the highest point in western Hennepin County, with sugar maples, quaking aspens, native white pines and prairie fields. Parking is off Wildhurst Trail near North Shore Drive, and the lot is closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The paths are unimproved, so Saga Hill fits a short walk better than a long one. For a longer route once snow arrives, Lake Minnetonka Regional Park keeps nearly a mile of walking trail plowed in winter. Casco Point's seasonal skating rink is on the city's facility list. The city hasn't posted 2026-27 opening plans yet.

Both indoor stops along Shoreline Drive run on a winter schedule. The Lake Room at 3386 Shoreline Drive in Navarre takes reservations, and its website describes Jimmy's Lounge as a room that opens for the fall-through-spring season. Farther west, Back Channel Brewing Co. at 4787 Shoreline Drive in Spring Park lists taproom hours seven days a week.

The Orono stretch of the Dakota Rail reopens after March 31, repaved where the sewer line went in.

If construction on your street makes you wonder how this work could affect your home's value, Molly Cardinal is glad to talk it through, from Lilac Lane to Orono Orchard Road. Request a Home Valuation, and you'll get a clear read on your property along with what this winter's construction schedule means for it.