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| Lower Falls of Minneopa Falls drops 39 feet in southern Minnesota. |
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| Minneopa Falls Trail map. Click for larger version. |
The 0.4-mile round trip Minneopa Falls Trail sits in Minneopa State Park near Mankato. The trail is located in the park's smaller southern part.
To reach the trailhead, from Mankato follow U.S. Hwy 169 west. Turn right/north onto County Road 69/Gadwall Road. After entering the park, take the first left/south. The road ends in a gravel parking lot; leave your vehicle there.
Follow the paved path from the parking lot past the picnic area. You'll hear the rush of the falls as you approach Minneopa Creek.
The trail next turns northwest and comes to a footbridge that crosses between the falls' two drops, allowing you to see the smaller falls and the lip of the lower falls. Multicolored leaves float and swirl along the shallow creek.
Trail to Lower Falls
Minneopa Creek flows 11 miles, most of that through farmland, before reaching park. The Upper Falls drops 8 feet.
After crossing water, the trail go upon the top of the gorge then limestone steps heads down the edge of ravine. At the bottom is a sandy and rocky trail that runs along the creek bank.
The orange-red glow of the autumn leaves forms a canopy over the trail. Sugar maple, basswood, elm, and northern red oak, with some hackberry and ironwood, all contribute to the harvest colors. A stand of yellow birch also can be found at the southernmost edge of its range.
How the trail looks to your great-grandchildren in a few decades almost certainly will be different than it does now. Dutch elm disease has claimed most of the elms while oaks, unable to tolerate shade, are not replacing themselves as they fall. The result is maples and basswood are becoming more dominant.
At last the trail reaches the Lower Falls. It drops 39 feet and is 25 feet wide. If you can take your hike a couple of days after a thunderstorm, the water flow will be heavier that usual in autumn.
Millions of years in the making
Minneopa Falls exists thanks to millions of years of geology that predate the dinosaurs. Beneath the dirt are several stories of dolomite and sandstone, set down in a shallow sea over tens of millions of years atop a layer of steeply tilted granite. The granite slopes to the east toward Mankato.
At the end of the last ice age about 10,000 years ago, the Glacial River Warren carried meltwater from retreating glaciers, carving out what today is the Minnesota River Valley. As the amount of meltwater decreased, so did the size of the glacial river, forming dry, flat terraces where it used to flow. The park sits on one such terrace.
The Lower Falls at one time likely was the the creek's mouth to the Minnesota River, but the creek eroded away the rock below the waterfall until the mouth moved to its current location, about 2.2 miles downstream.
There's a double waterfall because of three different layers of hardness in the sandstone. The site of the waterfalls is the softest while the 66-feet stretch between them is harder or more resistant. The constant spray of the waterfalls ensures nearly vertical gorge walls.
Minneopa Falls got its moniker by shortening the Dakota name for it – Minneinneopa – which means "water falling twice."
After taking in the Lower Falls, retrace your steps back to the parking lot.
