ONE DAY: MINNEAPOLIS + MOA - SECTION SIX

SECTION SIX:

MINNEHAHA FALLS

RECOMMENDED TIME WINDOW: 3:30pm - 5:00pm Disregard Time Window if doing A La Carte or going at own pace

WALKING DISTANCE: .5 mile

Personal car users: feel free to park in the pay lots at Minnehaha Falls Regional Park. However, here’s a little protip: if you search for 4222 Nawadaha Blvd on your Map App, the parking on this street, just a few more steps further than the main pay lot, is free.

Once our Uber/Lyft picks us up, hopefully with everyone’s tongues unscathed from the Lucy's, we’ll take a short ride up to the roundabout next to Sea Salt at Minnehaha Falls by 4:00pm. Once there, get out of the car, get out of the middle of any pathways and read the following before seeing the falls:

MINNEHAHA FALLS REGIONAL PARK

Welcome to Minnehaha Falls Regional Park, one of the best parks in the Metro! The turn-of-the-century feel of this recreational space is so charming. Yes, the main event is the falls themselves, but it is a jumping off point for one of the coolest hikes in the area, numerous picnic spots, a water splash pad, playgrounds, a huge dog park, historically important natural springs, and a restaurant in the middle of everything that invites people to sit, visit, converse and just BE outside in nature. Everyone in this park, or at least a majority, is in good spirits.

The name of the falls is derived from Dakota people, meaning mni (water) and haha (curling). It is one of the final features along Minnehaha Creek, which starts at Lake Minnetonka, 21 miles to the west, and ends 3/4 mile to the southeast at the Mississippi.

Minnehaha Falls was made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in “The Song of Hiawatha”. The poem tells of Hiawatha, a Native American hero who falls in love with Minnehaha, a Native American woman who later dies during a severe winter (Minnehaha Falls Wikipedia). A statue of these two fictional characters is back by the bridge just above the falls. Though adapted into many forms of inspired media, the most famous was Walt Disney’s use of this poem, changing Hiawatha into a small boy whose pants keep falling down in his short Silly Symphonies film “Little Hiawatha” (1937). Comics based on this character were in newspapers in the early 1940s.

The falls are 53 feet tall. 10,000 years ago, the falls was actually Saint Anthony Falls (!), which emptied on the Mississippi where it met the glacial River Warren, where present day Fort Snelling is. As Saint Anthony Falls eroded 4 feet per year, it passed Minnehaha Creek, where it split into two waterfalls, which also eroded to its current position.

The creek is unique, too, as 95% of its entirety can be traversed via kayak or canoe from its start at Lake Minnetonka to just above the falls (and save for a small portage halfway in between due to a dam/waterfall). The rest can be hiked alongside to its end at the Mississippi. Minnehaha Falls Regional Park is also a locale symbolizing the unification of the Twin Cities. Whereas Saint Anthony Falls was sought after by Major Joseph Plympton of Fort Snelling, separating the settlers at the confluence into two main camps and thus creating the growth of Twin Cities, Horace Cleveland in the 1880’s attempted to unite the Cities by a series of parks and parkways connected by trains and boulevards. He is the main reason we have the most amount of parkland in any US city. He tried to maintain the original beauty of the area, and convinced both Cities to agree with him. ("Becoming the Twin Cities: Swindles, Schemes and Enduring Rivalries" by Drew M. Ross)

Minnehaha Falls was the center from which all of the parks would be connected via the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, connecting the Cities over the Mississippi River gorge with a few bridges and parkways that spanned the gorge’s edge.

Now, locate the aforementioned bridge just to our south. Look to the left and we’ll see a ton of people standing at a stone wall looking down. That’s the falls.

Head over there and let’s take our time looking at it.

Once we’ve had our fill of this upper view of the falls, let’s head down to the bottom!

Now, the following little hike has been shortened in comparison to other Intro to the Twin Cities Loreway versions for the sheer fact that we’ve done more walking that those other versions. If you’d like to complete the full walk down the creek to the Mississippi, feel free! It’s easy to follow the path. I recommend walking on the left side of the creek going to the Mississippi and the left side (our new left) coming back. The left side coming back is a bit more adventuresome, a little reward for doing this extra credit assignment.

However, if you’re like me, your dogs are probably barking. Let’s keep this walk short and to the point.

From the stone wall, head to the left. Take the path that branches off to the right down a steep stairwell into the gorge.

If you come during the cold season, there will be a gate barring your way. You most likely will see people down in the gorge anyway. Should you climb over the stone fence and traverse the path anyway? Again, since this is a public business and tour, I must say “Maybe, look for another way down there.” But if you do climb over, do so at your own risk.

Once in the gorge, take the little spur off to the right that gets close to the falls. It’s a great picture spot, usually with a line of people waiting to do just that.

This is such a great spot to view the falls. Now, I know what’s probably going through your head. “Could I kayak that?” Well, a kayaker once went down it in 2014 with nothing but a scrape to their upper lip. The Park Board seriously warns against doing so. All those pesky boulders at the bottom. If it wasn’t for those . . . I mean, would you . . . ???

If that thought didn’t cross your mind, thank God for you! You are the types of people that bring stability to the world!!!! Talks the rest of us off the proverbial ledge.

Turn back and take the bridge off to the right across the creek. People will most likely be taking a non-official dirt path up to the falls on the far side of this bridge . . . Again, there are two kinds of people, in this instance . . .

In winter, people definitely utilize this path to get up to the frozen falls, which is absolutely magnificent to behold. Lots of people climb up into the alcove behind the falls and snap really gnarly pics of the frozen backside. Having kneeled in the shadow of the awe-inspiring behemoth of ice myself, I must say the constant breaking and falling of ice sheets really decided me on whether or not to climb up into the alcove. Meaning: hell no. I’ve seen that action/adventure movie death scene before. Actually, no I haven’t. That HAS to be in a movie somewhere, right???

Continue down the main path, which skirts the right bank of Minnehaha Creek, which is rushing past in a quaint rapids. This wooded path eventually comes to another bridge with an ol’ swimmin’ hole on the other side. This is a fun wading area for kids and adults alike.

Turn left and go over the bridge over the ol’ swimming hole.

Now, we’ve got a climb ahead of us.

Head up the steep stairway to the top of the gorge. If you’re having trouble or fatigue, there's no shame in taking a break. We’ve got a reward up top in a few minutes. I promise.

Once on top, check out the Song of Hiawatha garden. I really get a sense of how important that story was for this region, here.

Join the path skirting the stone wall and edge of the cliff to the gorge. Follow it around the curve to the left back to the upper view of the falls.

Take another view if you’d like.

Ready for another break?

Thought so.

SEA SALT (Open April to October)

4:30pm - 5:00pm

Locate the large building north of the falls.

This is Sea Salt.

This place specializes in cheaper quick-service sea food and craft beer. Oysters, fried calamari, fish and chips, walleye.

Now I’m thinking that we’re probably not too hungry at the moment, still full on molten lava cheese core fare, but a brewski or ice cream cone sounds mighty ripe for a hankerin’! And, good news!, we don’t have to wait in the huge line to get those things. That’s for ordering the main meal.

Off to the left side of the patio is a place to get ice cream and a place to get drinks.

Once our provisions are in hand, I recommend we sit out on the patio near the southeast corner of the building (the blue Sea Salt sign is painted on the building), nearest the falls. If there isn't any space available, no worries. Just find a place to laze on the patio in general.

This is my personal favorite spot in the entire park. There’s something calming yet exciting seeing the joining of nature with the machinations of an old-timey park vision. The excited visitors going by, marveling at the falls, one of the main attractions that drew visitors since the 1820s to the area. Hearing the roar of the falls crashing below in the narrow gorge. The high trees presiding over all in rustic splendor. Sitting back enjoying a craft beer is the coup de grace!

Enjoy!

Once 5:00pm rolls around, I’ll see you in Section Seven.

CLICK HERE FOR SECTION SEVEN: MOA BOUND!