“Doubly” Hidden Falls in October 2011

Mid-October might not be the best time to go searching for waterfalls in Minnesota, but sometimes the decision to visit a place is spontaneous. I had relatively good luck seeing Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, but less luck with Minnemishinona and Minneopa falls further south. I still had some time, so I decided to find one of the lesser known waterfalls in the area, Hidden Falls. It is found in Nerstrand Big Woods State Park.

The hike to the falls was rather enjoyable, and I’ll tell you more about the actual Hidden Falls in a separate post some other time. The water was lower here too, but the scenery was beautiful. I was having fun photographing the falls. Since the water was lower, I could actually walk down the creek bed. I stumbled upon this smaller waterfall, which I dubbed “Doubly” Hidden Falls. It is more hidden than Hidden Falls. I’m not sure if you’d be able to view it when the snow is melting or after a significant amount of rain, but I bet it could look pretty impressive. I thought it had a certain amount of charm to it, even with the lower flow level.

Directions:

1. The entrance to Nerstrand Big Woods State Park is some miles northeast of Faribault and just west of the village of Nerstrand. There are multiple different ways to arrive at the entrance, so I would suggest looking at a map or use a GPS to better determine the path you take.
2. The entrance to the park is off of 170th Street E. If you are headed east, the entrance will be on your left.
3. There is a parking area near the entrance, and then the trail leads to Hidden Falls. If I remember correctly, the signage is pretty clear and I didn’t have any difficulty finding Hidden Falls.
4. If possible (using caution), walk a little ways downstream to see if you can find “Doubly” Hidden Falls.

Accessibility: 8/10 (easy/moderate)
Height: 5′
Length of Hike: 1.1 miles round-trip

Where in the World is “Doubly” Hidden Falls?