Парк-Рапидс, Миннесота: Обзор города и окрестностей

City in Minnesota, United States

Park Rapids is a city in and the county seat of Hubbard County, Minnesota, United States. It is near Itasca State Park, the source of the Mississippi River, as well as the beginning of the Heartland State Trail. The city was founded in 1890 near the Fish Hook River rapids and is along U. S. Highway 71 and Minnesota State Highway 34. The population was 4,142 at the 2020 census.

Park Rapids became a city in 1882, and was named by Frank C. Rice after the park groves and prairies beside the Fish Hook River rapids. These rapids have since been dammed. According to the FAA, the airfield is publicly owned by the City of Park Rapids. Also serving the Park Rapids and Hubbard County area for ground transportation is the Hubbard County Heartland Express bus service and a local taxi service. The closest commercial airport is Bemidji Regional Airport, which is served only by Delta Connection flights to Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, which itself is about 200 miles by car from Park Rapids.

U. S. Highway 71 and Minnesota State Highway 34 are two of the main routes through Park Rapids. Highway 34 was expanded in 2008 into a five lane route through the city. Downtown Main Avenue has street "center parking". Highway 71 and Main Street were reconstructed during the summer of 2009.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 6.81 square miles (18 km2), of which 6.59 square miles (17 km2) is land and 0.22 square miles (1 km2) is water. The Fish Hook River flows through the city, which is surrounded by three lakes: Fish Hook, Long, and Potato.

Park Rapids has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dwb), with warm summers and long, cold snowy winters.

There are over 70 lakes in the Park Rapids area, which all offer distinct fishing opportunities. Some notable nearby lakes include Lake Itasca (headwaters of the Mississippi River) as well as some of the numerous Crow Wing Lakes. Some of the most common fish caught in the area include largemouth, smallmouth and rock bass, bullhead, crappie, northern pike, perch, sunfish and walleye. The Heartland Trail, one of the oldest rail to trail projects in the United States,

Park Rapids Area High School, at 401 Huntsinger Avenue, serves grades 9–12. Century School, at 501 Helten Avenue, houses grades K–8. Park Rapids had two separate buildings for primary school that split up K–4 and 9–12 from grades 5–8. Frank White Elementary and Park Rapids High School were part of the same building. The Century School was built in 2001 to accommodate grades K–8. The Frank White Elementary School was remodeled and pieces of it became part of the Park Rapids Area High School, while several of the Frank White classrooms became preschool classrooms. The old Park Rapids Middle School was sold several times and part of it is now apartments.