Coldwater Spring – Neaton Adventures

Today’s hiking adventure began at Minnehaha Falls.

Spring is officially here! The tulips and crabapple trees are blooming all throughout the park.

All the rain Minnesota has received lately was definitely noticed as we passed the fast flowing Minnehaha Creek.

The Minnehaha Falls

We took the steps down to hike the trails below. But first, we had to take in all the different views of the falls.

The trail followed along the Minnehaha Creek.

I find it amazing how many times I can hike an area and still find something new. The following map was located on a large rock. It has been there since 1969. Well, today was the first time I noticed it.

Nature’s colors were so vivid today.

We found lots of names carved into the sandstone.

The trail led us to a wooden bridge. We watched as the Minnehaha Creek emptied into the Mississippi River.

The Mississippi River

We decided to hike a new path up the side of the bluff. The Veterans Home was at the top. They have a beautiful campus. We crossed over the Veterans Home bridge.

The Ford Dam on the Mississippi River

We hiked the paved trail towards Coldwater Spring which is located between Fort Snelling State Park and Minnehaha Falls Park.

We made our way back to Minnehaha Falls Park.

Down the long staircase we went to hike the trail along the other side of the Minnehaha Creek.

A different view of the Veterans Home Bridge we crossed earlier.

The trail led us back to the Minnehaha Falls.

Today’s hiking adventure was 5 miles.

Today’s hiking adventure began at Fort Snelling State Park.

We parked by the Thomas C. Savage Visitor Center and began our hike towards Pike Island. Let me backup a bit, this past winter Minnesota experienced its 3rd snowiest winter. This past week, the weather was in the high 80’s which meant the snow melted fast! As we neared the bridge to cross over to Pike Island we noticed…well…as you will see in the picture below, the bridge was surrounded by water. Since we didn’t have a canoe, we needed to change our hiking plans.

We decided to hike the paved trail towards Coldwater Spring. The weather was cool and rainy. It sure was nice to see little bits of spring beginning to pop out.

In the distance, we could hear running water. We exited the paved trail and began to explore the unpaved trails. A mini waterfall surrounded by colorful graffiti appeared.

As we entered Coldwater Spring, more signs of spring began to appear.

We continued to hike the unpaved trails towards Minnehaha Falls.

The Mississippi River was flowing fast. Areas that were normally dry were now flooded.

The trails led us up and down the cliffs. The heavy snow storm we had a week ago did lots of damage. Many trees were down, thick branches were snapped, and even the cliffs weren’t immune to the damage.

The trail close to the river was underwater, so back to the paved trail we went. The Ford Parkway Bridge can be seen in the distance. There is an island in the middle of the river. Currently it is under water, however, you can still see the tops of the trees.