GLOBETROTTERS
Looking for Falling Water
In Minnesota
Why that’s exactly what I have done.
Minnesota is known for its abundance of lakes. Depending on what counts and how you count them I’ve heard anywhere from 11,000–14,000. But lakes are tough and there’s a lot of them. It’s just hard to show them all in a single image.
So I sought the romance of the waterfall.
“…waterfalls continue to appeal to the Romantic traveler….” — Brian J. Hudson
With our abundance of water, nature has found an abundant way of moving it around. Our watersheds move water to the Hudson Bay, Lake Superior, and the Mississippi River. With all this water flowing, there are bound to be a few places where it will fall.
According to my friend Lisa who literally wrote the book on them, there are at least 117 of them worth photographing.
While I haven’t seen them all (yet), here are a few of my favorite falls so far.
Minnehaha Falls
When I first moved to Minneapolis, this was one of the first spots I visited. Minnehaha had first become notable in 1855 when Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published, “The Song of Hiawatha,” a poem that became very popular.
If you ever come to visit, it is one of the places I will bring you.
This is one of the few waterfalls I’ve visited that looks extremely epic in winter and if you break the rules, you can go behind them while frozen!
While I can’t recommend it, one time while behind the falls I found a bunch of photography students taking pictures. I grabbed one or two of the crowd. Years later, going through those old photos I realized I knew one of them. Turns out we met later in life! Think about how many people you see every day…and how many of them you might just meet down the road.
Jay Cooke State Park
This one came from my friend’s book, as it is not an advertised waterfall and you have to go find it. Without the book by my side I cannot even name it myself, nor can I find any information about it online.
I took a steep, steep slope down to the water, grasping at trees and banging my tripod constantly. At the falls I found another group. We chatted, I complimented them on their cool vehicles in the parking lot, they left and I took my photos.
I took that steep, steep path back to my car. One step at a time, losing ground with each step. At the top, a sweaty mess, I went back to my car for a dinner of pouch meat and tortillas. I looked around, and their cars were still there.
That had me worried. They had left before me, and after eating they had still not returned from the dark. There was no way I could have passed them.
I grabbed flashlights and headed down the path. Right about where my steep steep slope started…they showed up. From another direction. Completely fine. They had taken the actual path and turns out I had gone off trail the entire way. Whoops!
Hidden Falls
As far as grandiose natural features, the southern portion of the state can be quite dull. This is why finding Hidden Falls was so special.
While journeying the state to visit every state park in 2020, I also had to complete every major hike in the parks. Here at Nerstrand Big Woods, the old growth held a secret.
The Hidden Falls falls over limestone for twenty feet. Tucked away in the woods I had it all to myself the day I arrived. It lived up to its namesake that day.
Bonus, Grand Portage
Also, I should mention the tallest falls in Minnesota. I wrote more about it here, so check out why you should return to these falls over and over again.
Double Bonus: Extinct Waterfalls
In researching this article I found one person’s research on the waterfalls that used to be. Along the Mississippi River through the Twin Cities, there used to be many beautiful waterfalls. Skim this article to see what natural wonderments were replaced by progress.
https://racketmn.com/the-lost-and-forgotten-waterfalls-of-the-twin-cities
Every spring, if we receive enough precipitation throughout the winter, our backyard swells up to the size of a small lake with water. Armed with rubber boots, I made small dams and crafted waterways through the snow. At times it would rush over the edge and wear away the tough snow dam I thought I had made.
To know waterfalls is to know simplicity. Photography helped me to slow down and see their character, their individuality. By seeking out the falls only locals knew by name and tourists had never heard of, I have come to know my home state of Minnesota much more deeply.
If you ever swing through Minnesota, take a moment to stop by and soak up a waterfall. You’ll be glad you did.
This waterfall story was inspired by the Globetrotter’s current monthly challenge which Anne Bonfert wrote about here.
A Minnesota local Melissa Rock wrote this one specifically about North Shore falls:
Here’s another one from Claire Elizabeth Levesque who found waterfalls becoming too commercialized and full of snakes:
Understanding the complexities of our world is no easy task. Discovering my backyard waterfalls, from home to the corners of Minnesota, has changed how I see. I see in terms of volume, season, watershed, elevation, time. Everything works together, or rather, affects one other’s processes.
Resources:
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/faq/mnfacts/water.html
https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/abs/10.1144/sp417.9
https://www.mnopedia.org/place/minnehaha-falls-minneapolis
Instagram | YouTube | Newsletter | Gear | Prints | Products
Story and photos ©Ian Hanson. All rights reserved. This post may contain affiliate links, by purchasing through cost no extra yet provide me a small commission to support my continued artistry.