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Cascade River State Park

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Park Info

Cascade River State Park is known for its rushing river and beautiful waterfalls that lay within a gorge, which is covered with moss and ferns that grow black on the volcanic rocks. The park also offers, picnicking, hiking, camping, skiing, fishing, and a warming house in the winter. When it comes to wildlife, the area is known for moose, wolves, pine martens, bears, and a large variety of birds.

There is so much to see and learn about this amazing park, so please check out the website linked below and the park office when you go!

All of this info came from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website, so credit where credit is due. Click here to view the original source.

Brown sign with cream-colored lettering that reads Cascade River State Park. There is a painting of the river.
Brown sign in the shape of an arrowhead that reads CASCADE Falls 300 ft right with an arrow. Follow foot trail along east side of river to foot bridge crossing-return along the foot trail on west side of river.
The dark, rushing water of Cascade River
The smaller waterfall on the Cascade River
The Cascade River though the trees
Cascade River with fallen trees reaching from shore to the middle
Rapids on the Cascade River
Tall waterfall through the leafless trees at Cascade River State Park.

Accessibility

  • Parking for the trail we did is off the highway in a designated parking area. It has mostly standard spots, but there are some right at the trailhead.
  • There are no bathrooms on this portion of the park. Make sure you go before you get here.
  • Trail access is right by the big brown sign and across the bridge.

Trail Info

My hiking buddy and I did the Cascade River Loop. It is a 0.5 miles and 85 feet of elevation. The trail is a standard dirt trail, with incline and stairs. There were a couple down trees to climb over, but that isn’t a constant.

We started on the side that was across the bridge and were greeted by dirt stairs with those wooden blocks as the step. They were easy to navigate for me and my buddy, but could be tricky for those with mobility issues. At the top of the trail, there is a bridge to cross back over the river and go back down.

A map is there, so if you’re interested in doing the other trails or meeting up with the Superior Hiking Trail (SHT), you can do so here. We chose to stick to the loop and stopped at all the overlooks and good photo areas. One of them does entail climbing out on the rocks, so use caution if that’s something you’ll do. We did and got some great shots of the waterfall and us.

This trail would fall in the easy to moderate category on my rating scale. This one was near the end of my trip and not long after Devil’s Kettle, so I was going into it with some fatigue. If I went into it well rested, it would have been in the easy category.

Be safe out there! If you have stuff to say, comment below :) REMEMBER YOUR MAPS AND PASSPORT STAMPS!! Seeyalaterbye <3

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