Grand Rounds Scenic Byway in the context of Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

Horace William Shaler Cleveland (December 16, 1814 – December 5, 1900) was an American landscape architect. His approach to natural landscape design can be seen in projects such as the Grand Rounds in Minneapolis; Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts; the boulevard system in Omaha, Nebraska; Roger Williams Park in Providence, Rhode Island; and St. Anthony Park in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Minnehaha Park is a city park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, and home to Minnehaha Falls and the lower reaches of Minnehaha Creek. Officially named Minnehaha Regional Park, it is part of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board system and lies within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service. The park was designed by landscape architect Horace W.S. Cleveland in 1883 as part of the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway system, and was part of the popular steamboat Upper Mississippi River "Fashionable Tour" in the 1800s.

The park preserves historic sites that illustrate transportation, pioneering, and architectural themes. Preserved structures include the Minnehaha Princess Station, a Victorian train depot built in the 1870s; the John H. Stevens House, built in 1849 and moved to the park from its original location in 1896, utilizing horses and 10,000 school children; and the Longfellow House, a house built to resemble the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 as the Minnehaha Historic District in recognition of its state-level significance in architecture, commerce, conservation, literature, transportation, and urban planning.

Theodore Wirth (1863–1949) was instrumental in designing the Minneapolis system of parks. Swiss-born, he was widely regarded as the dean of the local parks movement in America. The various titles he was given included administrator of parks, horticulturalist, and park planner. Before emigrating to America in 1888, he worked as a florist and landscaper in Zurich, London, and Paris. He married Leonie Mense, the daughter of his employer in Glen Cove, Long Island, before taking a job as superintendent of parks in Hartford, Connecticut in 1896, where he developed the first municipal rose garden in the country.

In 1904 the city of Minneapolis offered him the position of Superintendent of Parks in that fast-growing Midwest city. Although he didn't act on it, his stated goal provided for a playground within a quarter-mile of every child and a complete recreation center within a half-mile of every family. During his 30-year tenure there, he managed the expansion the park system from 1,810 acres (7 km) to 5,241 acres (21 km), in a city of 37,387 acres (14%). Park land included parks, golf courses, flower gardens and boulevards. Unlike earlier park planners, he believed that parks ought to be used by the residents. His park development is enjoyed daily by residents and visitors on the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, at Minnehaha Falls, along the 12-mile (19 km) path following Minnehaha Creek, at Lake Harriet, Bde Maka Ska, Lyndale Park, Winchell Trail, and scores of other public open spaces in Minneapolis. The lakes, parks, and outdoor recreation areas that Minneapolis features are often cited by users as some of the most important factors in their quality of life.

Lyndale Park is a Minneapolis city park on the northeast side of Lake Harriet. It is next to Lakewood Cemetery, southeast of Bde Maka Ska. It is part of an enormous greenspace circling through Minneapolis called the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, and is one of the seven districts within, called the Chain of Lakes. The other six districts within Grand Rounds are the Downtown Riverfront, Mississippi River, Minnehaha, Theodore Wirth, Victory Memorial Parkway, and Northeast. Managed by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, the 53-mile (85 km) parkway system has numerous parks and parkways, lakes (22 within the city limits), streams and creeks, the Mississippi River, and the 53-foot (16 m) high Minnehaha Falls. The 6,400-acre (26 km) park system is designed so that every home in Minneapolis is within six blocks of green space.

Lyndale Park is 61 acres (250,000 m) and contains four gardens; the Peace Garden, the Rose Garden, the Perennial Garden, and the Perennial Trial Garden. Immediately adjacent to the Peace Garden is the Thomas Sadler Roberts Bird Sanctuary.