Father Hennepin Bluff Park

Where is Father Hennepin Bluff Park?

Father Hennepin Bluff Park is located in Minneapolis along the east bank of the Mississippi River below Owámniyomni / St. Anthony Falls. The park is sandwiched between St. Anthony Falls Laboratory to the north and the Stone Arch Bridge to the south. Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board owns the park, which is approximately 8 acres. The park has 2 acres of programmed park area on top of the bluff and 6 acres of natural park area, including the bluff, Hennepin Island, Williams Island and river floodplain.

This site is an important link in a corridor of protected and restored sites in the heart of the city, including FMR restoration sites like Ole Olson, Sheridan Memorial Park, James Rice Park, Nicollet Island, BF Nelson and the Mississippi River Gorge Regional Park. 

The public is welcome to visit Father Hennepin Bluff Park. (See the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board website for more info.)

Our work here takes place on Dakota homelands. Learn more about Dakota connections to this place and the nearby falls via Owámniyomni Okhódayapi. 

What's special about Father Hennepin Bluff Park?

The lower trail area of Father Hennepin Bluff Park is a natural oasis where groundwater, surface water and habitat meet.

Parkgoers can get to the lower trail area by descending a wooden staircase down the bluff into the riverine landscape. Owámniyomni, or St. Anthony Falls, used to flow through this park. From the paved trail in the park, visitors can see the wall where the river once flowed. At its base, water stays open year-round. This groundwater seepage wetland provides liquid drinking water to resident birds and animals that stay here during Minnesota winters.

Groundwater also seeps out of the limestone bluff face just under SE Main Street. Because of this consistent supply of groundwater, water-loving plants like jewelweed grow halfway up the bluff despite the lack of topsoil and typically droughty conditions.

In contrast to the more developed west bank along Owámniyomni, the east bank within this park allows people to directly connect with the Mississippi River. Visitors can traverse paved trails, gravel trails and bridges to reach a gravel access drive down to the river, which Xcel occasionally uses to clean out debris that piles beneath the spillway waterfall. Park users can wade in the water, skip rocks or enjoy sightings of migratory birds and other wildlife.

Finally, this area is full of wildlife! Great blue herons, beavers, snapping turtles, coyotes and frogs are just some of the wildlife that call this area home. It's a humbling experience to be in the heart of the city and be amongst nature thriving.

Our work at Father Hennepin Bluff Park

FMR wrote a volunteer-centric management plan for a neighborhood group of volunteer stewards, thanks to a grant from the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization.

The Father Hennepin Park Stewards group, housed within the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association, has engaged hundreds of people in stewardship of this site for many years. They've made tremendous progress managing invasive species in accessible areas of the park but needed a prioritized, long-term plan to guide future restoration activities.    

We spent about one year surveying the vegetation in the park, meeting with volunteer leaders and community members, and designing and writing a management plan intended to be implemented by volunteers. We also partnered with Full Circle Planning + Design to lead Indigenous community engagement around the plan. The big goals of this planning effort were to:

• Maximize coverage and diversity of native plants, and minimize nonnative invasive species
• Provide connectivity with other natural areas in the river corridor
• Improve water quality by focusing on erosion control efforts and slope stabilization
• Create a model for people to steward this area in a sustainable, prioritized way

This management plan was finalized and approved in September 2024 and will guide volunteer restoration work from 2025 to 2034.

Find out more and get involved

• The Father Hennepin Park Stewards group is always looking for more volunteers! Learn more and sign up for their habitat care days through the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association. 
• Learn more about Dakota-led efforts to restore habitat and lift up Dakota culture across the river at Owámniyomni Okhódayapi.
• Volunteer with us to restore other places like this.
• Contact FMR project lead Leah Weston.

Partners and funders for our work at Father Hennepin Bluff Park

This work was made possible by the Marcy Holmes Neighborhood Association, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, and by our generous volunteers and donors like you!