Hidden Falls
Minnesota · height not recorded · Nerstrand Big Woods State Park · Last verified 2026-05-15
Hidden Falls is running at 623 cfs — well above seasonal normal.
Right now
Streamflow
623 cfs
CANNON RIVER AT CO. · 1h ago
Overnight
59°F
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
74°F
Sunny
Today's daylight
Sunrise 5:27 AM · Sunset 8:57 PM · 15h 29m
Snapshot built 8m ago. Sources: USGS · NWS MPX.
Hidden Falls is a waterfall in Minnesota. Height has not been officially recorded. Access details and conditions have not yet been verified in person by Fallspots — the data on this page comes from OpenStreetMap and USGS GNIS.
Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park is a state park of Minnesota, US, northeast of Faribault just outside the small town of Nerstrand. The park derives its name from the Big Woods, a large, contiguous forested area covering much of southeast Minnesota prior to the 1840s, when European settlers began to establish farms in the territory, and from Nedstrand in Tysvær Municipality, Norway, of which Nerstrand is a namesake. The park and its forest were an outlying 'woods' typical of and similar to the Big Woods proper, which were historically found on the more recent glacier deposits located west of the Cannon River 10 miles (16 km) to the west. Aside from a small waterfall, the outstanding natural feature of the park is the forest itself.
Is the water flowing right now?
Most waterfall sites don't tell you this. The waterfall itself is almost never gauged, but a USGS streamgage in the same watershed can tell you whether snowmelt has started, peaked, or run dry.
USGS gage 05354500 · 7.6 mi away
CANNON RIVER AT CO. HWY. 29 BELOW FARIBAULT, MN
View live discharge data →
30-day streamflow
Above 30-day average↻ Same date last year: 825 cfs · 99% of last year — similar
Compare to nearby falls
If this one isn't the right fit, here's how it stacks up against the closest documented falls. Every column is filterable on the site — not buried in 13,000 reviews.
| Waterfall | Distance | Height | Trail | Dogs | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hidden Falls (this page) | — | — | — | Y | Free |
| Caron Park Falls | 3 mi | 5 ft | — | — | — |
| Molly Falls | 3 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Vermillion Falls | 29 mi | 33 ft | — | — | — |
| Hidden Falls | 39 mi | — | — | — | — |
| Minnehaha Falls | 40 mi | 52 ft | — | — | — |
Questions visitors ask about Hidden Falls
Answers built from our structured data. If a question isn't here, the fact is unverified — we'd rather omit than guess.
Is Hidden Falls in a national or state park?
Yes — Hidden Falls is inside Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. We inferred this from OpenStreetMap protected-area polygons; if you find we got the boundary wrong, please report it. See the park page for fees, hours, and current conditions.
Can I bring my dog to Hidden Falls?
Yes — dogs are allowed (Nerstrand Big Woods State Park permits leashed dogs in most areas). Inferred from park type; check the official site for trail-specific restrictions. Always leash and pack out waste.
Is there a fee to visit Hidden Falls?
No entrance fee. Nerstrand Big Woods State Park is free to access. Some trailheads may charge a parking fee separately.
How far is Hidden Falls from a major city?
Hidden Falls is 2 miles from Nerstrand (about 3 minutes' drive).
More waterfalls in Minnesota
Where it is
44.3480, -93.1028
Sources and live status
Where we got the data, and where to check current conditions before you drive.
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerstrand-Big_Woods_State_Park
Wikidata (Q6996700)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6996700
GeoNames (5039017)
https://www.geonames.org/5039017/
Last verified by Fallspots: 2026-05-15
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Marina and Theo verify pages one road trip at a time. If you've been to Hidden Falls recently, your local knowledge improves the page for everyone. Pick the kind of contribution that fits — every email lands in our inbox and gets read (and credited when we publish).
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