Welcome to Audio Staff on Demand™

Welcome to Lake St. Croix Beach. We’re a small town bedroom community of roughly 1100 residents residing on the banks of the St. Croix River. The city takes its name from Lake St. Croix which is the name of the widest section of river just off its expansive public beach. The city has three parks and approximately a mile-long stretch of sandy shoreline along the river’s bank.

The most popular section of beach is the swimming beach attracting residents and visitors seeking sun and water activities all summer long. Swimmers should be aware the beach does not post a life guard so caution should always be exercised while enjoying the river.

If you’re enjoying the beach or perhaps a backyard BBQ with family and friends, don’t be surprised if you hear the roar of a hot air balloon drifting overhead, or the crack of a bat and cheering crowd from a ball game at Pettitt Park. And the Riverfront Park is the central gathering place for families near and far who enjoy the pavilion’s picnic areas, charcoal BBQ stands and proximity to the beach, all providing the perfect backdrop for memorable festivities all summer long.  

Lake St. Croix Beach. A little slice of paradise along the St. Croix River.

Lake St. Croix Beach and the surrounding area offers a wide variety of seasonal recreation, excellent school system, upscale national brand stores, and quaint small town locally-owned shops and dining establishments, all within a 10 mile radius.

In addition to enjoying the summertime at our public beach or local parks, wintertime enthusiast can ski and snowboard at the groomed slopes of Afton Alps’ just 2 miles down the road. Afton also offers several dining options, including historic Afton House Inn, Current restaurant, to the Swirl Wine Bar and Lumberyard pub. No summertime visit is complete without stopping by the 100-year old Selma’s Ice Cream Parlor for ice cold treat. The Beach Bar is Lake St. Croix Beach’s local establishment for neighborly meet-ups and summer night volleyball leagues. And just up the road is the long established Bungalow Inn in neighboring Lakeland.

While we enjoy our quiet riverside community, a short 10 minute drive to Woodbury offers a wide assortment of contemporary local and national brand shopping, big box stores and restaurants. If you prefer to step back in time, just take a short drive to historic Stillwater or Hudson and breathe in all the ambiance and charm of these turn-of-the-century brownstone downtowns along the St. Croix River. And Lakeland’s Village Plaza is a must stop convenience destination for area residents.

If you like nature you’ll surely enjoy a stroll through anyone of the Belwin Conservatory’s numerous hiking paths or stop in their nature center to learn all about birds and animals that populate the area. Further south on County Road 21 is Afton State Park with camping, picnicking and limited boat docking. Further on down the road is the St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park with sandy beach, trails, tennis and camping. Yet further down the road is the Carpenter Nature Center with its walking paths and live Raptors and animals.     

If you’re raising school aged kids, the Stillwater school system offers grades 1-6 at Afton-Lakeland Elementary School and grades 7-12 at the Stillwater Campus. Go Ponies!

Yes, Lake St. Croix Beach offers a little bit of everything … quiet small town living, historic destinations, access to big-city amenities, and the beautiful sprawling rural farms and fields of the St. Croix Valley.

Lake St. Croix Beach’s history dates back to 1925 when a developer from New York set out on an ambitious riverside development of over 100 blocks. The plan was to attract well to do Twin City residents who desired a seasonal cottage by the river to escape the summer heat. This seemed like a logical plan as the automobile was growing in popularity making a river get-away more accessible even with the dirt roads that existed at the time.

Actually, interest in Lake St. Croix Beach began much earlier. In 1908, a Stillwater lumber baron sold his 30 acre estate, complete with large home set along the beach front, to the St. Paul Automobile Club. The club in turn remodeled the home into a beachfront clubhouse with a long dock extending into the river. Residents and visitors alike enjoyed the hot summer months swimming, boating, sailing, canoeing and fishing just like they do today. This attracted attention from investors interested in building cottages to cater to the expected tourist boom.

As small summer cottages began springing up around Lake St. Croix Beach, the automobile club fell on hard times and sold the clubhouse to the Lake St. Croix Beach Property Owner’s Association which in turn used the remodeled home for dances, river activities, and a wide variety of social events. It even served as the Village’s town hall.

By the late twenties, the expected tourist boom never fully materialized and many would be developers went bust. As local folklore has it, one investor owed a large amount of money to the St. Paul Daily News newspaper for advertisements promoting the development and cottages. As times neared the Great Depression and interest in the river waned, he eventually turned over the property to the newspaper who in turned offered small lots for just $67.50 as an incentive to new newspaper subscribers. Over time, a variety of modest cottages were built on these small lots. As the interest in the river increased over the decades, many of the original cottages were converted to larger year-around homes. However, a number of these original cottages are still standing.

Over the years Lake St. Croix Beach’s population steadily increased to the point where it went from a small village to an incorporated city by 1951.

Source: City of Lake St. Croix Beach and Washington County Historical Society

If you’ve just purchased a new home in Lake St. Croix Beach we want to welcome you to our wonderful community on the shores of the St. Croix River. As you begin to plan your move, we know it can be a bit daunting so we have prepared some of helpful information to make the move a bit easier for you.

If you click on the button below, you’ll find all the essential utility contact information to get your home hooked up with the services you’ll need before moving in and into the future.

If you need more information about our city, just view other Audio Staff on Demand topics and the answers to your questions may be waiting for you.

If you can’t find the information you need, just leave us a note on the form provided and one of our staff members will follow-up with you shortly.

Welcome! And good luck with your move and we look forward to meeting you in the near future. 

Lake St. Croix Beach city operations are typical for a small community of over 1100 residents. The city employs one full-time clerk-administrator, two part-time deputy clerks and treasure, and seasonal full-time parks manager. The city also relies on resident volunteers to serve on several city commissions. 

City hall is open on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday between the hours of 9 am to 1:30 pm. If you cannot visit on these days or during these times, please call city hall and other arrangements can be made for an appointment. There will be a number of national holidays throughout the year when city hall will be closed. Please click on the button below for a complete listing of city holiday closures.

City council and commission meetings may be attended in person or may be viewed via the internet through Zoom. Upcoming council and commission meeting dates and times are posted on the city website homepage. Meeting Zoom links are located on the meeting agendas as well as the city website homepage.

The city also produces a monthly newsletter that is mailed to city residents. The newsletter contains summaries of recent council meetings and important updates and announcements. Be sure to read the newsletter to stay informed about city and community activities.

Click on the button to download this information and contacts of all city staff and elected officials as well as other county, state and federal representatives.

Lake St. Croix Beach and our surrounding communities contract with a number of local and county service providers including the Washington County Sherriff’s Department for public safety. The Lower St. Croix Valley Fire Department provides fire and emergency response services to our five cities through a joint powers arrangement among our cities.

If you would like to receive CodeRED emergency notifications from Washington County, you can learn more about CodeRED or sign-up by clicking on the button below and then clicking on the CodeRED links.

Water for our five cities is provided by the Lakeland Water Utility located in Lakeland. The valley’s water supply is routinely tested by Washington County. Recent test results may be accessed through the attached information.

The city offers a number of contracted trash removal services which are available for residents to choose from. Residents are encouraged to contact the city’s free curbside recycling provider as well. Please deposit only permitted recyclable items in a yellow lid recycling receptacle.

The city also contracts out its building inspection services. If you are considering a home improvement, please contact city hall to learn what permits or potential construction inspections may be required.   

It is important to keep your septic system in proper working condition and Washington County has helpful information on their website. Click on the button below to access their website and septic information. Septic holding tanks should be pumped every two years with several local septic pumping companies available to conduct this service.

Xcel Energy and CenterPoint provide our residents with electricity and gas respectively. If you smell gas in your home, you should leave it immediately and call 911. Click on the button below to access their emergency numbers in case of gas issues or electricity outages.  

Mail service is provided by the US Postal Service located in the Lakeland Plaza. Also located in the plaza is Washington County’s Lakeland Library offering books, movies, Wi-Fi, and document printing.

For contact information on these services and others, just click on the button below and download the information to keep on hand.

Living in Lake St. Croix Beach offers unique access to the river, our wonderful parks, and a wide variety of regional attractions. Click on the permit button below to gain more information about mooring of watercraft, usage of ATVs and golf carts on city streets, and other permitted activities that may require, yep you guessed it, a permit.

If you live within the city’s floodplain or along the riverway, please be aware there are a number of ordinances and regulations pertaining to the building, property and vegetation maintenance of these properties. See Floodplain and Riverway Properties topic for more information.

If you are considering a home or property improvement, or perhaps thinking of offering your home as a short-term rental, please inquire with city staff to review any applicable ordinances that may apply to a given situation. This initial review may offer important insights on how best to proceed.

If there is a potential safety situation or property condition that may appear to not conform to a city ordinance, a complaint form may be submitted to the city. Click on the button below to complete and submit the complaint form. The name of the person submitting the form remains private. Please be aware the nature of a complaint may not be in violation of a city ordinance. If a complaint is confirmed by staff to violate an ordinance the subject of the complaint will be notified of such ordinance violation. 

If a resident seeks more information about a particular matter, a public data request may be made to the city. Please click on the button below to learn more about the city’s data request policy and how to submit a request.

Don’t forget to view the information buttons below as new resources may be added from time to time.

The City of Lake St. Croix Beach, along with our neighboring communities, contract with the Washington County Sheriff’s Department to provide law enforcement for our area. The Lower St Croix Valley Fire Department located within our city provides fire and emergency services to our neighboring communities through a joint powers agreement in which all five cities share the costs of having emergency services available for our cities.

A wide variety of firefighting equipment, trucks, and vehicles, all service the needs of our area including a fire, search and rescue boat moored along the river to respond to any situation that may arise during the boating season.  

The department is staffed with a fulltime fire chief and corps of dedicated volunteers ready to respond to any emergency day or night and we appreciate and thank them for their commitment to our communities.

As a community located along the St. Croix River, the city is dedicated to seeking opportunities to ensure our area functions in an ecologically sustainable effort. These efforts included offering waste recycling and free use of buckthorn removal equipment to native plant restoration and water capturing gardens and swales.

Many of the city’s sustainability efforts are orchestrated through organizations such as the Washington County Conservation District and Watershed Management Organization. The city’s association with these and other organizations provide valuable expertise and ecological policies that protect our area’s natural resources and keep our riverway clean. 

The Lower St. Croix Valley honors the men and women who have served in the United States armed services at the Veteran’s Memorial located at 1919 Quebec Avenue South.

The memorial is a collaborative effort by the five Lower St. Croix Valley Cities of Afton, Lakeland, Lakeland Shores, Lake St. Croix Beach and St. Mary’s Point.

The memorial is available for Lower St. Croix Valley residents who wish to honor their loved ones who have served or sacrificed their lives in the service of our country with an engraved paver marker. For more information, please contact city hall for more information.

The city encourages all homeowners to keep their properties in a safe and well maintained condition. The city has a housing maintenance ordinance that supports this objective.

Any resident considering a home improvement, remolding or new construction will need to review the city’s home improvement requirements. Click on the button below for more housing maintenance ordinance information and applicable building and mechanical permits and fees.

If you are doing any property improvements that include digging, it is required that you call at least two working days before you plan to dig so your underground utility lines can be marked. To arrange for utility markings, just call 811. It’s the law and it’s free!

If you currently own a home or are considering purchasing a home in the city’s floodplain or along the riverway adjacent to or in close proximity to the St. Croix River, please be aware there are a number of important regulations that are imposed by the city and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

It is very important that floodplain and riverway property owners learn and understand these unique rules and regulations as they may impact cost of homeownership, the nature and scope of home and property improvements, as well as flood damage recovery due to a flood event.

When you click on the information button below, you will earn more about the floodplain, FEMA regulations, the city’s floodplain management ordinance, and the 50 improvement percent rule. You can also click on floodplain maps showing the city’s flooding zones.   

You will also get answers to commonly asked questions such as; what is a floodway? What is the flood fringe? What is the flood protection elevation? What is flood proofing? What is flood insurance, when is it required, and where can it be purchased? And how is a flood damage claim be processed?

These are all important questions that need to be understood by those living or contemplating living in the floodplain or along the city’s riverway.

The city is enrolled in the National Flood Community Rating System that assigns a floodplain rating for the approximately 40 homes within the FEMA designated floodplain area. The city’s rating value is used by FEMA to calculate the corresponding flood insurance rates that homeowners pay as part of their homeowners home insurance policies.

The city has achieved one of the lowest community flood insurance ratings primarily through a variety of flood protection and management efforts. This rate keeps flood insurance rates as low as possible within the floodplain. The city submits a detailed report annually of all the flood protection efforts and mitigation activities that include; two earthen levees, regular levee vegetation removal and maintenance, existing and additional rip rap along the river levee and shoreline areas, flood management equipment such as pumps and Jersey barriers, establishment of the Floodplain Advisory Committee and its flood planning and management activities, manual and protocols.      

The city staff, council, and Floodplain Advisory Committee’s volunteers collaborate to minimize flood related damage and associated costs along the shoreline and within the floodplain area. 

Pettitt Park Ball Field is a throwback to yesteryear when kids dream of someday hitting the last inning homerun to win the World Series and those dreams have their roots in small town neighborhood ball fields such as Pettitt Park. Located along County Road 18 and 21st Street South, Pettitt Park offers a full size little league baseball field with covered team dugouts for friendly neighborhood pickup games or a full schedule of baseball games organized through the Valley Athletic Association.

The park also features a full complement of playground equipment, covered picnic table, ample parking and seasonal toilets.

If you’re looking to hit a home run with Lower St. Croix Valley residents, consider sponsoring your business through the Park’s billboard signage opportunities. Just contact city hall for more details.

When the long awaited summer arrives, there is no more popular place for residents and visitors alike than to enjoy Riverfront park and the expansive beach, hot afternoon sun, and the cool clean refreshing water of the St. Croix River. The park also includes a variety of captivating kid-friendly playground equipment. 

If you’re thinking of spending your day at the beach with family and friends, perhaps celebrating a birthday or graduation, or any special occasion, you may want to consider renting the beach side pavilion to host your gathering, complete with picnic tables, BBQ grills, changing kiosk, and seasonal toilets.   

When visiting Riverfront Park, please keep in mind there is no life guard on duty so you’ll want to be extra careful swimming within one’s capabilities in the river that as a current. Young children and teenagers must always swim under adult supervision.

Please keep in mind the park closes at 9 pm. and does not permit consumption of alcohol, personal BBQ grills, campfires, loud music, and fishing or dogs in the public beach area. If you wish to grill food, please use the charcoal grills and hot coal safe depository box provided by the pavilion. Please view the full park rules below.

We want your visit to Riverfront Park to be safe and enjoyable so please take necessary swimming precautions and review the orientation map, park rules, parking area information, and pavilion rental arrangements that follow.   

Riverfront Park can be accessed by heading east on 20th Street South from County Road 18. Please be aware the speed limit is 20 mph on city streets. Proceed down 20th Street South to Ramada Avenue South, turn left and enter the parking lot just left of the covered parking payment gazebo. Upon parking, please visit the payment gazebo to pay the required parking fee. The automated payment kiosk takes cash, credit and debit cards. Don’t forget to place the parking receipt on your vehicle dashboard as cars may be ticketed for nonpayment of the parking fee.

Please keep in mind there is no parking on city streets from May to September. Parking tickets will be issued during these months.

During summer holidays and hot summer days, we may experience more parking demand than normal and we will open additional parking areas for parking under these circumstances only. Please view the parking map for overflow parking locations during peak times. Regardless of parking availability during peak times, a paid parking ticket must be placed on your vehicle dash board.

If you’re a resident of Lake St. Croix Beach, you’re eligible for a seasonal parking pass for a nominal fee. Visit city hall to make arrangements.

If you’re wishing to host a gathering of friends and family at the beach, you may want to reserve a portion of the Riverfront Pavilion. The pavilion provides a covered area with picnic tables near the provided BBQ grills. You’ll need to furnish your own charcoal.

There is a rental fee and refundable deposit required for reserving the pavilion for non-residents. Lake St. Croix Beach residents may reserve the pavilion free of charge but a refundable deposit fee is required to hold your date. 

Review the Pavilion Reservation reservation information below for more details and online reservation form.

Enjoying the outdoors by walking or biking can be done from the long winding County walking and bike trail that runs along the east side of County Road 18 from Interstate 94 winding south approximately two miles to historic Afton. The development and maintenance of the trail is a collaborative arrangement between Washington County and the cities along the Lower St. Croix Valley.

If you’d like to bike or walk along the St. Croix River during your trail excursion, you’ll want to go east on 13th Street South and then go down Riviera Avenue South to the city’s river levee that begins at 17th Street South. Bikers and walkers can enjoy the river by going along the levee to the Riverfront Park area. To rejoin the County Road 18 trail, proceed to 20th Street South and go west to County Road 18 and reconnect to the trail near city hall.  

With approximately a mile of sandy shoreline along the St. Croix River, it isn’t a surprise that high water events and severe flooding along the river poses a significant concern for our city and the city’s floodplain area. However, there are many factors that contribute to a potential flood event and its severity.

When we think of flooding, we often typically think of rising river levels due to springtime snowmelt from the northern areas of the St. Croix River and its tributaries which travel down the St. Croix River into our Valley area, only to eventually drain into the Mississippi River and onward from there.

While this is certainly true, there are many other factors that determine if it will flood, when and how high. For example, did you know the St. Croix River may actually flow upstream?   

Perhaps we should start at the beginning. Yes, excessive snowfall in northern MN and Western WI can pose a flooding threat to all points south along the river. However, the type of snowfall is just as important. Dry winter weather conditions may produce snow, but it may be light like sugar without much moisture content. However, lots of snow with high moisture content will shed a lot more water downstream than lighter dry snow. In the spring state officials probe northern areas of MN to determine the moisture content of snow to help predict the potential of springtime flooding.

With knowledge of the amount of winter and spring snowfall and its relative moisture content, the next factor is the thawing process. What we want is a long slow thawing process that ideally lets the water trickle downstream without having an opportunity to build up too much volume. For this to happen, we want above freezing days and below freezing nights extending throughout the spring thaw. What we don’t want is a sudden stretch of extensive above freezing temperatures over a wide region that create a rush of melted snow inundating northern streams and rivers only to end up collecting and filling the St. Croix River.    

The next factor we watch out for is springtime precipitation. If we have significant snow that is steadily melting and causing the St. Croix River to rise, the last thing we want is excessive spring rains to directly add to the volume of water already trying to find its way to the Gulf of Mexico. For example, in the spring of 2001, we had a higher than average snowfall but we had record rain all spring long which combined to make it the second worse flood experienced in our area’s history. Conversely, in the spring of 2023, we had 92 inches of snow, nearly twice the amount of normal winter snowfall and we did experience flooding and took the necessary protective measures, but since we had very little rain that spring, we didn’t have a far more complicated flood event to manage. While rain is great for spring flowers, we don’t want it to contribute as flood showers.

We’re not quite done yet. Remember when I said the river sometimes flows upstream? Yes, it can actually happen. This typically occurs when the St. Croix River is draining from northern snowmelt but snowfall and moisture in areas around the Twin Cities and Central MN was quite severe which cause local streams and rivers to take on excess water that eventually flows into the Mississippi River before it arrives into the Twin Cities and points south.

As the Mississippi river continues to rise, it is very possible the river’s elevation level will actually be higher than the St. Croix River. When this occurs, the Mississippi River, being higher than the St. Croix River where they meet at Prescott, WI will begin to flow into the St. Croix River. This causes the excess volume to flow upstream into areas of the river valley. This situation in turn causes the St. Croix River to rise from the south with the added water. This could turn a moderate flood into a more severe flood event lasting significantly longer than anticipated as we wait for the Mississippi River’s elevation to drop to the point where the St. Croix River stops rising and begins to flow south once again and drain back into the Mississippi. 

Flooding events don’t just pertain to springtime. We have experienced numerous floods in the summer and fall all due in part to excessive rain over an extended period of time. City response to a summer or fall high water or flood event is similar to measures taken during a spring event.

To learn more about the nature of our flooding and past flood events, click on the button below.

To learn more about flooding in the floodplain area, click on the Flood Planning & Management topic. 

If you listened to the previous flood overview topic, you have a pretty good idea of all the various factors that cause flooding along the St. Croix River, but how does our city actually flood when such an event arises?

Fortunately, the city’s main levee along the St. Croix River prevents river water from flowing directly into the low-laying areas of the floodplain that exist about a block west of the river bank. A second smaller levee along 20th Street prevents water accumulating along our border with St. Mary’s Point from flowing into the floodplain from the south. These two levees and higher elevations around the floodplain area create in affect a fishbowl that prevents free-flowing water from collecting in the floodplain.

So you ask, how does the floodplain flood if it’s not from the river? The answer is found in the fish bowl.

As the river swells with water, it causes the water table that is under the surface to expend upward in concert with the rising river elevation. Eventually the water begins to rise above the ground in low-laying areas such as the public beach parking lot. As the river continues to rise, so does the inland water seeping through the ground, eventually spreading throughout lower areas in the floodplain.

During anticipated flooding events, the city and the Flood Advisory Committee carefully monitor the early spring flood predictions and projected river level and eventual crest date leading up to and throughout a flood event. 

When inland flooding rises to the level where it poses a threat to the city’s infrastructure and safe access of emergency services for residents from critical streets, the city initiates pumping activities to lower or maintain an acceptable water level until such time the river begins to recede and the inland water begins to lower back into the ground.

Preparing for and managing a flood event became much easier with the discovery of an important correlation between the river’s crest date and the day the inland water begins to stop rising and begins to fall back. In 2010, we had a significant spring high water period in which measurements were taken to calculate the inland water rise and its rate throughout the high water event. It was discovered that once the river crested, the inland water stopped rising four days later. Fortunately later that same fall we had another significant high water event and the same measurements were taken as before. And just as it happened in the spring, the inland water stopped rising four days after the fall crest, thus confirming this all important correlation.

Knowing the anticipated cresting of the inland water as projected by the river crest on any given high water or flood event allows the city and Flood Advisory Committee to take only the necessary actions required, thus saving the city considerable costs associated with managing a flood.

To more flood planning and management operations, click on the button below.  

The city and its Flood Advisory Committee rely on two National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (or NOAA) and their related graphics for the St. Croix River.

The River’s water level is measured at Stillwater and at Prescott. In the spring, the predictions graphic helps the city anticipate the projected probability of a spring flood event. The river level projections graphic shows the current river level and projections for the next seven to ten days. During a flood event, it is important floodplain residents pay close attention to these graphics and their implications on the city’s flood planning and management efforts. 

Click on the two graphs below for flooding predictability and one for the current river level and seven day outlook.

We encourage floodplain residents to check the city’s flood management website regularly during a flood event to be current on all flood preparations and management activities. Periodic Flood Advisory Committee status reports are posted giving residents important flood management information.

Click the button below to go to the flood management website.