Hidden Falls is a waterfall along the Mississippi River bluffs in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. The waterfall is within Hidden Falls Regional Park, a public park maintained by the City of Saint Paul. The main feature of the park is the small, spring-fed waterfall for which the park is named.[1] The waterfall may be dry in periods of limited precipitation.[2]
History
Maps from the early 19th century label the park area as Rum Town and Lebanon Grove.[3]
The area of park was selected by Horace Cleveland in 1887 to be one of Saint Paul's main parks. The actual development of the area as a park was by the Works Progress Administration 1936–1937,[1] including construction of a limestone staircase leading from the base of the falls up to East River Parkway.[4] In the 1960s, redevelopment of the park resulted in four main areas: nature preserve, boat launch, picnic site, and scenic falls. Hidden Falls Regional Park lies within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area and is maintained by the City of Saint Paul.[1]
Waterfall
Storm sewer opening and falls. Rain runoff provides water for Hidden Falls as of 2021
The Hidden Falls Regional Park describes the falls as "spring-fed";[1] however, when precipitation is scarce the falls becomes dry.[2] According to the Star Tribune, as of 2021 the fall's water comes from stormwater drain pipes.
"More than a century ago, a stream in St. Paul's Highland Park carried stormwater from higher ground over Hidden Falls ... after Henry Ford's factory was built early in the 20th century, stormwater was ingloriously routed through buried pipes to pour untreated and unwatched into the river."[5]
Ford's Twin Cities Assembly Plant closed in 2011, and in the 2020s redevelopment of the site was set to include a restoration of the area's watershed, with plans for more consistent waterflows over the falls and a filtration of pollutants from the water.[6]
The falls is approximately one mile southeast (as the crow flies) across the Mississippi River from Minnehaha Falls, another, larger falls that also empties into the river.
Recreation
Hidden Falls Regional Park includes 6.7 miles (10.8 km) of paved trails for hiking and cycling.[1] Hidden Falls is popular for bicycling and walking, picnicking and grilling, boating, bird watching, and fishing.[2][7] There are two entrances from Mississippi Boulevard to the park, about a mile apart. The two areas are connected inside the park by a biking/hiking trail which also connects the park to the Watergate Marina and Crosby Farm Regional Park downstream to the east.
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