Lake Hiawatha

In winter the golf course has groomed cross country ski trails and the park has ice and hockey rinks.

[3] The lake contains black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, bowfin, carp, golden shiner, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, white sucker, yellow bullhead, and yellow perch.

[4] Some fish consumption guideline restrictions have been placed on the lake's bluegill and northern pike due to mercury and/or PCB contamination.

The lake is a stormwater outlet for the Corcoran, Central, Bryant, and Northrop neighborhoods, as well as the park's golf course.

[9] Following a 2014 flood that caused extensive damage to the course, and the subsequent discovery of unpermitted groundwater pumping,[10] the park board embarked on the development of a new master plan for the site.

" Shoreline Habitat Restoration Project. This project establishes a 'buffer zone' between land and water using native plants. Buffer zones benefit aquatic systems in many ways: provide food, shelter, and nesting sites for fish and wildlife; control shoreline erosion ; protect water quality by intercepting nutrients; stabilize lake bottom sediment. This project was partially funded by the Shoreline Habitat Program, Division of Fisheries, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources ."
Lake Hiawatha from the playground on its eastern shore.