Falls Park: A Waterfall in the City of Sioux Falls South Dakota

This is the final post of a travel series to Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Parks.  If you'd like to start at the beginning, go HERE!

Well folks, we have finally reached the end of my fall travel series out west.  We drove over 1,000 miles to see Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks, and we saw lots of cute western towns and sites there and back.  One of the places we stopped on our return trip was Falls Park.  This is just a short jaunt off the highway, and a really fun place to stretch your legs.

I was absolutely stunned by this place.  I have never seen a waterfall system in the middle of a city before.  At first I thought it was all man-made as it looked too perfect to be real, but hubby laughed and said "Nope, all the waterfalls are natural".  However they did add paths, bridges, and viewing platforms to enjoy the falls.

Did you ever see a waterfall with buildings in the background before?  I sure haven't.  

See the people on the rocks?  A fun thing about this place is you can step off the path and walk all around and above the falls.  

Last spring we had so much rain that this place really got flooded and destroyed.  When it was filled with water, it was barely recognizable.  When we arrived in the falls, you could still see the damage done by the floods, and they were still working on fixing paths and viewing platforms.   You can see the historic flooding in the video below.

Falls Park is a public park in north central Sioux Falls, South Dakota, surrounding the city's waterfalls. The park includes a cafe, an observation tower, and the remains of an old mill. The park comprises over 128 acres just north of downtown, along the Big Sioux River.

An average of 7,400 gallons of water drop 100 feet over the course of the falls each second.

Pictured below is the bridge and the Falls Overlook Cafe.  

This is the Queen Bee Mill.  You can read all about it on the plaque photo.

Some interesting history of the falls:

The waterfowl were enjoying the falls as much as the people were!

There is an observation tower that you can go up inside of to get an aerial view of the falls.  It is free, and there is a gift shop inside too!

It's amazing isn't it?  Can you believe this right in the heart of town?  I sure couldn't!  Be sure to check it out if you're ever driving out west.

Here are a couple of short videos of the falls so you can see the water in action.  

And that concludes my final post of our fall adventure out west.  For the next few travel posts I'll be sharing some short staycations we took over the winter, and then I'll begin a new travel series!  We just returned home from a trip out east to see Mt. Vernon (George Washington's home), and Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown.  I can't wait to tell you all about it!  Until then, 

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

For more information on our trip out west, please check out these posts:

YELLOWSTONE:

Old Faithful

The Grand Prismatic Spring

Firehole Canyon Drive

Fountain Paint Pot, Lake Hotel and Cabins, and Hayden Valley

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

The Yellowstone Caldera, Tower Fall, Calcite Springs, & the Roosevelt Arch

Mammoth Hot Springs

The Golden Gate of Yellowstone, Mud Volcanos and the Fishing Bridge

Nearby Western Towns Not To Be Missed:

Jackson Hole Wyoming 

Cody, Wyoming

Buffalo, Wyoming

Wall South Dakota

The Grand Tetons:

Mormon Row, Craig Thomas Visitor Center, and Jenny Lake

Mt. Moran, Signal Mountain, Chapel of the Sacred Heart, Jackson Lake Dam, Jackson Lake Lodge, Oxbow Bend, Elk Ranch Flats, and Snake River

The Buffalo Bill Dam