Blog · October 14, 2026 · Minnesota
Using the Cottage Grove Flood Zone Map
Flood zones are set by FEMA, and checking one near Newport takes a few minutes.
Main page: Washington County, MN GIS & Parcel Viewer (official map link, county facts and neighboring maps).
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Ahead of any purchase around Lake St. Croix Beach, check the Cottage Grove flood zone map: FEMA's zone label affects insurance, building rules and resale. This Cottage Grove guide covers: finding the address on FEMA's map, decoding A, AE and X, and matching it with the county parcel viewer.
Where the Cottage Grove flood zone map lives
Start with FEMA's Flood Map Service Center: search an address around Lake St. Croix Beach, and choose the dynamic map. A tract near Hastings without an address is still easy to locate: pan from the closest town then click the parcel area.
Getting to the right map
Begin with the Washington County ArcGIS parcel map; it includes every assessed parcel in the county, Lake St. Croix Beach included. Without an address in hand, follow Interstate 494 on the aerial and select the outline. For property near Hastings, the record panel typically gives the owner of record, acreage on the tax roll, a parcel ID and often a sale date.
Where Cottage Grove fits in
Cottage Grove sits in Washington County, Minnesota, so its parcels are on the county's map. For a parcel near Afton, city or town hall handles matters such as zoning, permits and utilities inside its limits, while the county keeps the tax map. Lots just outside the city limits out by Hastings often answers to county rules rather than the town's.
Getting your bearings
Stillwater is the county seat, which is where the courthouse records live. Other places on the map include Newport, Hastings, Woodbury, and Afton. Roughly 278,936 people live in Washington County (Census Bureau estimate, 2023) spread over about 385 square miles. Washington County was organized in 1849, and some chains of title near Afton are long. Features like Afton State Park help you orient on the aerial around Lake St. Croix Beach.
The paper trail behind a parcel
The map is an index, not the title: recorded deeds, plats and easements for land near Woodbury sit with the County Recorder. Older tracts in the county may trace back through many deeds, so a title company can sort it out before a purchase.
A short flood checklist
Request whether the home has flooded for the house near Hastings; an insurance quote early avoids surprises.
Zones on the Cottage Grove flood zone map
Zone AE comes with a base flood elevation, and an unnumbered A zone has none; that elevation drives building rules near Landfall. For a parcel near Hastings, shaded Zone X is moderate risk, between the 1% and 0.2% annual chance floods; plain X, or C on older maps, is minimal risk.
Matching the zone to the lot lines
FEMA's map shows zones but not ownership, so pair it with the Washington County ArcGIS parcel map to see exactly which lot near Hastings you're looking at.
Sections, lots and bearings
Minnesota follows the Public Land Survey System, so deeds around Hastings reference sections and townships. A standard section is about one square mile, roughly 640 acres, with 36 sections to a township, though sections near Landfall can be irregular. Write down the legal description for the tract near Lake St. Croix Beach before you request a deed or survey.
Beyond the mapped zones
Small streams around Hastings may not have detailed mapping, so look for water marks and debris lines. Wetlands near Lake St. Croix Beach can limit building even outside a flood zone; check the National Wetlands Inventory mapper for a first look.
Next door to Washington County
Washington County meets Anoka County, Chisago County, Dakota County, Ramsey County, and Pierce County, WI, all with their own assessor records. Acreage along the edge near Newport may be split in two county records, so check the adjacent map before you assume the acreage. If you're looking near Woodbury, the Platbookmapper state page links each neighboring county map for Minnesota.
A word on accuracy
Listed acreage is a tax-roll number; only a licensed surveyor establishes the real corners on land around Lake St. Croix Beach. For a tract near Landfall, owner names and values update on a schedule, so a deed recorded last month might lag behind.
Insurance, lenders and building
With a lot near Hastings, an Elevation Certificate from a surveyor helps: it compares the building to the BFE. New construction in a floodplain near Lake St. Croix Beach often needs a floodplain permit; check with the county or town building office before you plan.
Frequently asked
What does an AE label mean for a lot near Afton?
Short answer: an AE zone has a 1% annual chance of flooding and a base flood elevation, which shapes building rules near Newport.
When is flood insurance required near Landfall?
Short answer: for a building near Lake St. Croix Beach in an A or V zone with a federally backed or regulated mortgage, it's generally required; outside those zones it's your call.
Does the county parcel map show flood zones for land near Lake St. Croix Beach?
A flood layer may appear in the Washington County ArcGIS parcel map layer list, though it can lag behind FEMA's current panels.
Is Zone X safe from flooding for land near Hastings?
Short answer: X zones around Afton are lower risk, not no risk; FEMA notes that a large share of claims come from these areas.
What's the tax parcel number used for near Afton?
Every office uses it to pull the same file for land near Hastings, and it's on the record panel and tax bills.
Open the official Washington County, MN parcel map See it in the Platbookmapper directory
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey, especially for fences, setbacks, or boundary disputes.