Falling for Minnehaha Falls

Minnehaha Falls is one of the "must see" places in the Twin Cities. It's in every guidebook and most of the native Minnesotans rave about it. As a non-native, I needed to see this place first hand. What did I expect? A freaking waterfall, and not much else.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I saw the falls first from the river flats and then walked up the other side to see the falls from the top. Although both were great, I enjoyed the falls from the bottom.

The Specs:
- Parking is E-A-S-Y! I suggest parking across Hiawatha Avenue on the street and crossing over to Minnehaha Park. Before arriving at the waterfall itself, you'll get to see the John H Stevens house (He's a cool guy - he was the first settler to Minneapolis. Kudos, buddy!) and a little garden area with an arbor.
- If you choose not to drive, you can get there on bike by the Grand Rounds bike path or the light rail, which stops right at the entrance to the park.
- Take the stairs all the way to the bottom of the park. It's designed like something you'd see in Germany and there are better photo ops of the waterfall from the bottom.
- Stay a bit! I haven't tried it yet, but the Sea Salt Eatery near the top of Minnehaha Falls is supposed to be superb - and inexpensive!
- There are bike rentals - and even the kind that two or four people can ride. Prices range from $8/hr for mountain bikes to $27/hr for that four person "surrey" I was talking about.
- Admission is free, of course :-)

http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=4&parkid=252

http://www.wheelfunrentals.com/listlocations/50