Minnehaha Falls Walking Tour: History and Heritage in Minneapolis’ Crown Jewel

(72 reviews)

Minneapolis, Minnesota audio tour: Minnehaha Falls Walking Tour: History and Heritage in Minneapolis’ Crown Jewel

This is a 1mi walking tour

It takes an average of 60 mins to complete.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

The United States

$9.99

Access all 20 locations offline with the VoiceMap app

Buy for a Group

Reviews

About the Tour

Welcome to Minnehaha Falls, Minneapolis’ crown jewel, once the most famous waterfall in the world. Ever since the city was founded, this waterfall and park have been one of its best-loved places. Over the years, it's been frequented by pioneering millwrights, carnival barking showmen, booze-soaked crowds, world-famous composers, U.S. Presidents and lonely hermits.

On this walking tour, I’ll guide you through the park’s forgotten history. While strolling along the creek from the Longfellow House to the Song of Hiawatha Garden, I’ll tell you how Minneapolis got its start, and what “Minnehaha” means. I’ll show you the small Victorian train station known as the Princess Depot, the John H Stevens House, and the Hiawatha and Minnehaha Statue.

On this hour-long stroll, you can also look forward to learning about:

Why everyone hated, and made fun of, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s ”The Song of Hiawatha”
The hermits of Minnehaha Glen
The first person to kayak over the falls
The Longfellow House and the park’s two zoos
The Minnehaha Midway and its reputation for “rowdy, lawless indulgence”
Why the Eyes of Little Crow are empty

Join me for this walk through history, along the banks of Minnehaha Creek, and discover the waterway that flows through our past and present, in one of the city’s most beloved green spaces. Allow yourself at least an hour to fully enjoy the falls and surrounding area.

Please note, in winter, the stairs down to the falls are closed. If the stairs are open in the fall or spring, you can complete the tour. If not, best wait till summer.

Tour Producer

Frank Bures

11 tours

Frank Bures is an award-winning writer and essayist. His books include Pushing the River: An Epic Battle, a Lost History, a Near Death, and Other True Canoeing Stories, Under Purple Skies: The Minneapolis Anthology, and The Geography of Madness: Penis Thieves, Voodoo Death, and the Search for the Meaning of the World's Strangest Syndromes, which Newsweek called one of the best travel books of the decade.

His work has appeared in Harper’s, The Atlantic, Outside, and other publications, and has been included or selected as “Notable” in the Best American Travel Writing, Best American Essays and Best American Sports Writing nineteen times.

Apart from giving tours of his hometown, Bures has tracked down genital thieves in Nigeria, gone on Sasquatch expeditions in the north woods and competed in the World Rock Skipping Championships on the Great Lakes. He has interviewed everyone from sitting U.S. Senators to Klingon Karaoke aficionados to plant psychics. He has lived in Italy, Tanzania, New Zealand and Wisconsin. He still speaks Italian and Swahili passably well, and used to be able to get by in Thai. Currently he lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two daughters, not far from the Mississippi River, which he grew up on further to the south.

Preview Location

Location 16

Wild Times at the Falls

After you've crossed the bridge, turn left again and walk along this gravel road until you reach the paved path.

In the late 1800's, there was another kind of wild life that liked to frequent the falls. Local historian Karen Cooper has unearthed the lost history of the “Min... Read More

View locations and route

How VoiceMap Works

Focus on your surroundings, not the screen

The VoiceMap app uses GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place, so you can focus on your surroundings, not the screen.

Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

Resume playback to go at your own pace

If you'd like to stop for a drink or go into a museum, end your tour then use the Resume feature to pick up exactly where you left off.

Listen as many times as you like

You can listen to your tours as often as you like using both the VoiceMap app and website.

Take virtual tours anywhere, like a podcast

Select Virtual mode in the VoiceMap app to listen to tours like a podcast - at home or in transit.

Buy for less on voicemap.me and sync

Once you've purchased a tour, it's added to your VoiceMap library. To access it in the app, just sign in using the same account.

Do tours without paying for data

Tours work offline, so you don't have to pay roaming fees. Just download them over WiFi before you get started.

Major Landmarks

John H. Stevens House Museum
Godfrey Parkway
Minnehaha Falls Trailhead
Godfrey Circle
Longfellow House
Longfellow Gardens
Minnesota Valley State Trail
Minnehaha Depot
Gunnar Wennerberg Statue
Minnehaha Falls Pergola Garden
Native American Monument
The Eyes of Little Crow
cascata Minnehaha
Minnehaha Creek
Hiawatha Statue
Minnehaha Pavillion
Sea Salt
Minnehaha Falls Grand Lookout
Minnehaha Falls Lower Glen Trail
Deer Park
Song of Hiawatha Garden

View all

Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
4801 S Minnehaha Dr, Minneapolis, MN 55417, USA
Total distance

2km
Final location
4801 S Minnehaha Dr, Minneapolis, MN 55417, USA
Distance back to start location

245.41m

Directions to Starting Point

Tour Start: Parking lot, 4155-4315 Godfrey Pkwy, Minneapolis, MN

The tour starts at the parking lot on Godfrey Parkway, close to the large stucco pavillion. There are two pay stations there, and it's close to the roundabout.

Show Directions

Gift vouchers

Buy tours for friends and family who delight in discovery

Buy Now

Buy for a group

Get 15% to 50% off when you buy for a group

Buy Now

License this tour

Adapt this tour to use your brand and suit your guests

Find out more

Tips

Places to stop along the way

Sea Salt Eatery is the current tenant in the Minnehaha Pavilion, serving great food, beer and wine. There is also a Diary Queen just across the street near the roundabout.

Best time of day

Any time in the summer, with the possible exception of late night/early morning on weekends. In winter, the stairs down to the falls are closed. If the stairs are open in the fall or spring, you can complete the tour. If not, best wait till summer.

Precautions

Avoid the glen (the path below the falls) late night and early morning on weekends. Otherwise, the area is very safe.

Get The App

Download tours to use them offline

Listen hands-free with GPS playback

Get turn-by-turn directions

Scan the QR Code

“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”