Whaletail Lake Seaplane Base

Change in land use. The primary reason for the closure was the transfer of the land from private ownership to the Three Rivers Park District. The property was donated by the Gale family to be developed into a public park and educational farm. A private seaplane base was incompatible with the new mission and public use of the land as Gale Woods Farm.

The site of the former seaplane base is now an integral part of Gale Woods Farm, a 410-acre public park and working educational farm operated by the Three Rivers Park District. The shoreline on Whaletail Lake where the base was located is now used for park-related recreational and educational activities, including canoeing and fishing. The surrounding area consists of pastures, crop fields, gardens, and public facilities dedicated to agricultural education and conservation.

The Whaletail Lake Seaplane Base was a small, private-use facility with local significance only. It was not a commercial or military airport. Its function was to provide convenient, private access to Whaletail Lake for seaplane owners, likely the landowners or their associates. Operations would have been minimal, consisting of small, single-engine floatplanes or amphibious aircraft (e.g., Cessna 185 on floats, Piper Super Cub on floats) used for recreational flying. Its history is typical of many private airstrips and seaplane landing areas on Minnesota's lakes, which have diminished over the decades due to shoreline development, liability concerns, and changes in property ownership.

There are no plans or prospects for reopening the seaplane base. The land's current designation and use as a public park and educational farm under the management of the Three Rivers Park District effectively precludes any future aviation activities. Re-establishing a seaplane base would be fundamentally incompatible with the site's established public and educational mission.