WEEKEND: DAY THREE - SECTION THREE
Updated: Aug 18
MINNEHAHA FALLS
RECOMMENDED TIME WINDOW: 1:00pm - 3:30pm WALKING DISTANCE: ~2 MILES
Personal car users: Pick up your car from the garage just south of the Children’s Theatre. Search Minnehaha Regional Park on your Map App. The lots closest to the falls are pay lots. If you don’t mind just a smidge more of a walk, put in:
4222 Nawadaha Blvd.
Park somewhere nearby. This way you can park for free in the neighborhood just north of the park!
Order an Uber/Lyft from Mia to be dropped off at Minnehaha Falls.
This will be another short 15 minutes-ish ride. Feel free to forego any reading until we get to the park.
MINNEHAHA REGIONAL PARK 1:30pm - 3:30pm
We should be getting dropped off in the roundabout to the west of a building called Sea Salt. Stop out of the way of the paths and read the following:
Welcome to Minnehaha 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 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.
A quick reminder of the significance of this place regarding the divide and hopeful unification of the Cities: Minnehaha 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.
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!
(We’re about to start a 50 minute nature walk down to the Mississippi and back. If you’re tuckered out, feel free to skip this part and just go to Sea Salt, or do a shorter version where you go down, cross a bridge, follow the creek to a second bridge on your left, cross it, climb the stairs and come back to this spot.)
A to B
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.
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. Go past it, continue down the right bank.
We’ll turn to the right, and come to a bridge over the creek. Turn left and go over the bridge to reach the other side, the left bank, and destination B.
B to C
Why are we on this side of the creek? I feel like the right bank is prettier coming back (I suppose that would be the left bank in that perspective). So, something to look forward to!
We’ll go under a really high bridge. This leads to the Veterans Home.
Keep going, past another bridge across the creek.
Eventually, we’ll reach a sandy beach area along the Mississippi. Let’s go down to it! This is destination C.
Off to the left is the massive Ford Dam (referred to earlier in Day One - Section One at the Upper Dam at St. Anthony Falls). This dam allowed for boats to travel past St. Paul up to Minneapolis. We can really get a sense what traveling on the river is like by the lock on the left side. Where the boats have to wait depending on the water levels in the confined space, get granted access, have the door close behind, the water either goes up or down, and then the door in front of you opens to send you on your way. It’s such a cool feat of engineering to control water levels in that way, I never tire of Mississippi River Tours that travel through these locks!!
To our right is the dog park on our side of the river and Hidden Falls Regional Park on the opposite. Around the bend is Fort Snelling, aforementioned spark, origin, bringer of everything Minnesota!!!! For real, Fort Snelling is 100% worth a visit on your next trip to the Twin Cities. In fact, it's the beginning of our Itinerary series, "History of the Twin Cities". The Fort holds so much in the spectrum of history and our origin story. And, with current politics (ICE detention center at the Whipple Building, for example). Mandatory Material when it comes to Minnesota.
C to D
Time to head back up creek!
We’ll hug the limestone, Glenwood Shale and sandstone cliffs up the (now) left bank. This side of the creek seems just a bit more adventuresome that the other side. Traverse back under the high Veterans Home bridge, and come back to the spot where we took the bridge over to B. This is destination D.
D to E
Keep going up the left bank back to the bridge presiding o’er ye ol’ waterin’ hole, fer lan’ sakes! This is a fun wading area for kids and adults alike.
Take the bridge over and we’ll find ourselves at destination E.
E to F
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, no worries! Take a break if need be. I promise that we'll have a long sitting break in just a few minutes from this point!
Once up top, check out the Song of Hiawatha garden. I really get a sense of how important Longfellow's 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 and we will have reached destination F!!!
Keep going back to the falls lookout for one last look. Take it in.
Now . . . time for a late lunch break!
SEA SALT (Open April to October)
2:20pm - 3:30pm
From the falls, locate the large building close by. Walk on the right side and around the back to see the line. It looks longer than it actually is, don’t worry. Inside the middle of the building, there’s a place to order drinks and a place to order ice cream on the patio. I like ordering a drink and waiting in line, personally.
This place specializes in cheaper quick-service sea food and craft beer, perfect for a late lunch!!! Oysters, fried calamari, fish and chips, walleye mixed with a local beer (Surly, Summit, etc.) sounds perfect!
If the weather is nice, after we order, let’s take our order number and 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.
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 cold brew, waiting on your snack to come, is the coup de gras. Enjoy!
Once 3:30pm rolls around, it’ll be time to head on out of this awesome park. Bus your food/drinks, take one last look at the falls, if you’d like. We’re about to be MOA bound!!!
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