Horseshoe Lake Park is the City of Woodland's largest developed park, about 6.5 acres of lawn, shade trees and picnic shelters on the north bank of Horseshoe Lake, maintained by the city's Public Works department. The lake is a roughly 80-acre oxbow that used to be a bend of the Lewis River. It was cut off from the river when work began in 1940 on the dike and the bridges that now carry Interstate 5 across the Lewis. Today it sits right against Woodland's old downtown in Cowlitz County, so the swim beach is a short walk from Davidson Avenue's shops and cafes.

From Interstate 5, take exit 21 into Woodland and head toward the old town center. The park runs along Park Road and Goerig Street on the lake's north side. There is parking near the concrete boat ramp at the west end and more along the park, and every lot is a short walk across the grass to the water. No hiking is involved, and the paved path that loops through the park makes the beach reachable with a stroller or wagon.

The city states that Horseshoe Lake is open for swimming, with no lifeguard on duty. Two small patches of sand line the north shore inside the park. The larger one is at the east end, below the Rolling Freedom Skate Park and close to a restroom building, and that is where this listing's pin sits. A shorter strip of sand lies west of the boat ramp near the picnic tables. The whole lake is a no-wake zone, there is no river current, and the water is sheltered from wind by houses and trees, so it warms up well by midsummer. Swimmers share it with anglers, canoes, kayaks and paddleboards, and a small floating dock sits off the middle of the park shoreline. The city does not publish depths for the swim area, so check the bottom before jumping in.

The city does not list any entry or parking fee for the park, so swimming here is free. A posted sign at the park says it is closed to the public from 10 PM to 6 AM daily, and the city notes that restroom hours are restricted. Two hazards are specific to this lake. First, there is no lifeguard, swimmers have drowned here, and Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue urges everyone to wear a life jacket, even on inner tubes and floats. Second, the lake has a long history of heavy summer algae. Woodland samples the water near buoy 2, beside the swim area, for E. coli, phosphorus and chlorophyll from May through September and posts the numbers on its Horseshoe Lake Test Results page. Look at the latest results before a late-summer swim, and stay out of water that looks green, scummy or smells bad.

The park has covered picnic shelters, a gazebo, playgrounds, a horseshoe pit, open lawn for games and the skate park, with Hoffmann Memorial Plaza next door. It is busiest during Planter's Days, Woodland's four-day festival that dates to 1922, when amusement rides set up on the lawn, and during the city's annual fish derby. Anglers work the long park shoreline for rainbow and brown trout, some of them large holdovers, and for largemouth bass.