Today’s hiking adventure was at Minnehaha Falls Park.
Minnesota received a wonderful blanket of fluffy snow this week. The temperature has been staying pretty cold, too. With that said, I knew Minnehaha Falls would look amazing and it did!
We hiked across Highland Bridge taking in the view of the Mississippi River below.
Getting to the trails along the river is a bit tricky in the winter. The park closes off the staircases leading down to the trails. We jumped over their “suggested closure” and carried on with our hike.
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.
We began our evening adventure on the Minnehaha Parkway by the Minnehaha Falls. Beautiful homes, trees, and flowers lined the parkway.
There were many different bridges to cross to view the creek below.
We continued along the paved trail.
At Portland Avenue, there is a giant bunny statue. This bunny is decorated by the neighborhood residents throughout the year. We turned around and began to hike back. We chose to hike the unpaved trails close to the creek.
Being so close to the creek, the mosquitos began to swarm around us looking to make us their evening meal.
We rushed back to the paved trail trying to save ourselves from the mosquitos. It was a beautiful evening, so we decided to make a loop around Lake Nokomis before heading back to our starting point.
The lake was packed! Everyone was out enjoying the almost summer evening at Lake Nokomis. People were walking, biking, swimming, and sailboating.
The sun was beginning to set.
Lake Nokomis is near the airport and downtown Minneapolis. The smoke from the Canadian wildfires cast a haze over the sky.
The next few photos are my favorite of the evening.
We took the sidewalk through the neighborhood back towards Minnehaha Falls. We passed a mushroom that looked fake due to its size. After a closer look, we determined the mushroom was real!
We took a moment to view the Minnehaha Falls before calling it a night.
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.
We took the staircase back down to the trails closest to the river.
The water is close to the top of this bridge’s archway.
The trail crosses under the Steel Bridge also known as the Minnesota Veterans Home Bridge.
The closer we got to the Minnehaha Falls the louder the rushing water became.
Minnehaha Falls
As we looped back towards our starting point, more signs of spring began to appear.
We crossed over an old bridge and down an old staircase. The trail at the end of the stairs was flooded.
With the sun shinning brightly and the temperature a chilly four degrees, today was meant for a wintery hiking adventure. The cloudless sky was as blue as the ocean. Our adventure started at Fort Snelling State Park by the Thomas C. Savage Visitor Center. Several inches of fresh snow covered the trails. With the Mississippi River to our right, we hiked the trail heading towards the Minnehaha Falls which led us to several beautiful sites.
Coldwater Spring was the first site. The creek was lightly flowing with snow and ice surrounding the edges. The rising steam from the water shimmered through the rising sun. The old Coldwater Spring house and reservoir is a beautiful place to visit during the winter months.
We continued along the trail which offered views of the Ford Dam and an old incinerator.
Minnehaha Falls in the winter is breathtaking. The water appears frozen in time enabling it to capture different shades of blue. It was eerily quiet as we walked around the falls.
Our final site on this hiking adventure was the Historic Fort Snelling buildings. The old stone appeared as cold as the crisp whispering winds swirling past us. The hiking loop we traveled was 6.5 miles long, a beautiful winter sight seeing adventure.
Neaton Adventures 