Epic Travel → North America → The Midwest → Minnesota → St. Anthony Falls

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Time Required: 1-3 hours

Red Tape/Notes: Entry is free to the park and the visitor center (although if you’re driving, you’ll likely have to pay to park); the park is open 24 hours a day, but the visitor center is only open from 9:30am – 5pm daily, during the summer (roughly early to mid June through early September), and offers tours at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm. Tours are free and no reservations are required, but they’re limited to the first 20 people who show up. For more information on hours, tours, and other park details, visit the nps website.

What’s Nearby?: Mill Ruins Park, Sculpture Garden, Minnehaha Park

St. Anthony Falls is actually a part of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, which is a 72 mile long river park with loads of different sections and parks within it. This small section is focused around what was once the only natural major waterfall on the upper Mississippi River – this is the waterfall that powered the region’s industry (lumber and flour mills). Unfortunately, we didn’t really know what we were doing at the time, and due to a combination of overuse and bad engineering, the falls suffered a lot of damage between 1860 and 1887, including a partial collapse. The falls were replaced by an apron (a concrete overflow spillway) after the collapse, and the US Army Corps of Engineers made various improvements to help stabilize the falls in 1937. A series of locks and dams were also designed, and construction finished in 1963. You’ll get great views of the apron, lock, and dam by walking across the bridge (with an added bonus of walking across the Mississippi River); it’s not a waterfall like nearby Minnehaha Falls, but it is interesting to see. If you have time and inclination, you can take a tour of the lock and dam.

Epic Travel → North America → The Midwest → Minnesota → St. Anthony Falls