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

Fall Color in Iron County Wisconsin and Upper Michigan

Every weekend during the fall my husband and I go leaf-peeping.  We chase the fall colors across the state, starting at the top and ending in southern Wisconsin.  This was the first weekend of our fall foliage hunt, and since the colors are just starting to turn around us, we had to drive all the way up to the tippy top of Wisconsin and a little into Michigan to see some WOW color.

This is the route we took.  We drove 3 and a half hours to Mellon Wisconsin and started our day in Copper Falls State Park.  From there we hopped onto Highway 77 and hit two waterfalls:  Upson Falls and Gile Falls.  We spent the night in Ironwood, Michigan, then went hit three more waterfalls before driving home:  Interstate Falls,  Superior Falls, and Potato River Falls.  

Copper Falls State Park

We had been to Copper Falls State Park way back in 2016.  You can read all about that visit HERE.  It was summer time during our first visit, so I was curious how different the park would look in the fall.  I didn't think the park had a lot of color because there are not a lot of deciduous trees, mostly pine.  Nevertheless, there were spots of pretty color here and there.

We took the famous "Doughboy trail where you can see two waterfalls:  Copper Falls and Brownstone Falls.  The waterfall views on this trail are truly spectacular.

The paths are easy and well-maintained making it accessible for everyone.  Some parts of the trail are even wheelchair accessible, although there are a lot of steps on other parts of the trail.

There are so many beautiful, photogenic bridges on this trail!

Of course, I had to stop and take a picture on every single bridge!

The viewing decks to see the falls are fabulous!

The red/brown color of the rock makes these waterfalls so much more interesting.

I should mention it was a misty day, but it never rained hard enough to spoil our fun.  It mostly lightly rained in the morning and the afternoon was just cloudy.

Upson Falls

Our next stop was Upson Falls.  This little waterfall is a hidden gem located in the town of Upson.  Below is pictured the lower Upson Falls, but if you follow the river upstream just a bit, you will discover the upper falls which are a true beauty.

There was no formal trail to get to the upper falls, but it is such a short hike, we managed.  The woods and mossy rocks were just exquisite!

And here is upper Upson Falls.  Gorgeous, isn't it?

Corrigan's Lookout

Some very friendly locals we met at Copper Falls State park directed us to an overlook where they said we would see fabulous fall color.  They were absolutely right! It was magnificent and only a short 1/4 walk through a forest to get to the overlook too.

Giles Falls

Our last waterfall of the day was so tricky to find.  Even with directions I had to stop and ask a local and we still barely found it.  Everyone said "Look for the row of boulders" but the boulders all had tall weeds growing in front so they were obscured from view.  And, there were also "No trespassing" signs posted, so we didn't know what to think of that.  Why would they advertise a waterfall if you weren't allowed to see it?  Well, we disobeyed the signs because we saw other cars parked in the lot, and we followed a very short path to the falls.  These falls were very lovely I just wish they were more accessible to the public.

After checking into our hotel and freshening up, we had dinner at "El Tarasco".  The atmosphere left much to be desired, but the food was fabulous.  It is a very popular place for the locals as everyone seemed to know each other....if locals eat at a restaurant, it's usually a good one.  We ordered "Fajitas Texas" for two and it was INCREDIBLE.  People from another table had to come over and ask what we were eating because it looked so appealing.  It's loaded with large shrimp, delicious veggies, tender sliced beef, plus chicken.  YUM! We ate our fill at the restaurant and still had leftovers for two more meals.

Interstate Falls

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel then drove five minutes to "Interstate Falls".  This is such a pretty trail and a popular place for the locals.  There were so many benches to just sit and enjoy the solitude of the woods.

The path is short and easy.

See the house in the upper center of the photo?  Those are very lucky homeowners as they have a great view of the falls.

Superior Falls

Superior Falls was my favorite waterfall of our trip.  I just loved the tall rock formations surrounding it and how it spills into Lake Superior

The photo above shows Lake Superior in the background.  The falls would be behind and to my left of this photo.  The water falls over the cliff then into a pool and short river before going into the lake.

On the way to our next and last waterfall we spotted a pair of swans!  This was the second time on this trip we saw swans. 

Potato River Falls

Everyone said that if you're in the area not to miss Potato River Falls, and I would agree.  It was definitely one of my favs.  There are two trails to two different lookouts:  the Upper Potato River Falls and the Lower Potato River Falls.  Both are short trails, but involve a lot of steps.

Upper Potato River Falls

Lower Potato River Falls

The Lower Potato River Falls is definitely the more spectacular of the two waterfalls.

I hope you enjoyed my fall leaf peeping journey.  I'll be back next week with another adventure.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!