If you live near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Cascade Falls right across the border in Wisconsin is an easy waterfall to visit. It’s found in the city/village of Osceola. When you arrive in Osceola, you park on Cascade Street/Wisconsin-35 near a number of shops and restaurants. Then you head to the trail, which leads you into Wilke Glen and to Cascade Falls.

Cascade Falls is definitely a worthwhile waterfall to visit. It’s big enough and in a beautiful setting to make a point of stopping. The hike does involve some stairs to get you from the street down into the glen, but once you’re down in the glen, you get to see a 25′ tall, rather wide waterfall. It might actually be taller or have more drops, but the way the waterfall turns, it’s hard to see above the main drop.

Once you’ve seen the waterfall, you can keep walking along the trail. It doesn’t lead anywhere wildly exciting, though you can get some cool views of the St. Croix River and the bridge crossing the river which connects Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Directions:

1. Head toward Osceola, which you can get to from WI-35 or MN-95.
2. Once you reach Osceola, you can find parking along the main stretch in town, which is WI-35, also called Cascade Street. A landmark that may help is the Watershed Cafe.
3. Just north of the Watershed Cafe, you’ll find some information signs telling you about Wilke Glen and the falls, and there will be stairs leading downhill. After you finish climbing down the stairs, the waterfall will come into view on the left.

Accessibility: 7/10 (easy/moderate due to the stairs)
Height: 25′
Length of Hike: 0.2 miles round-trip

Where in the World is Cascade Falls?