When waterfalls freeze, it is an amazing sight! I now know this because Mom took me to see one last Sunday. It was fourteen below zero on our morning walks and then after breakfast she chose me to go with her to see the frozen waterfall. Niagara Falls is the only waterfall I have visited and it was almost one hundred degrees there that day. No freezing going on there in the summer.
Off we went to Minnehaha Park to find this frozen waterfall. Mom was busy looking for the waterfall and I was enjoying all the scents in this area where I had never been before. With all the snow we had to stay on the shoveled and plowed paths.
To give you an idea of how things change, this is the Minnehaha Creek right before the waterfall. Bailie was there in the summer of 2024 when the water was quite high. People were out walking and enjoying the park.
Switch to last Sunday and Mom is basically the only person aside from two other women taking photos, and I was the only dog. The creek it not completely frozen but there is a lot of ice.
There are spots all around the falls to stop and look. We started at the head/top of the falls. Running water isn’t really visible but we know it is still running under the top ice and freezing more as it goes over the falls.
Being curious, I also decided to have a look from this viewpoint.
Next we went along the side where in the summer the power of the water rushing over the falls is amazing!
As you can see, right now it is completely different and almost more interesting and beautiful. That bridge in the background is where we were standing when we took the photos from the top of the falls. From what we have learned, as the water becomes very cold, it starts to form icicles as it goes over the edge and once that happens, more and more water freezes onto the original icicles making them bigger and bigger, longer and longer.
Walking around the side, the views become slightly blocked by the trees but directly across from the falls is a fairly decent spot to stop for a photo. Seven years ago, Bailie and Madison came out to see how waterfalls freeze and they took a photo in this same spot.
Here is one last shot of the frozen waterfall from a spot a bit closer. It is against the law to go down to the bottom of the falls but it sure would make for some cool photos. One of the two photographers we saw was down there but Mom wouldn’t dare and it is way to dangerous. Hope you enjoyed this amazing thing nature does now and then. We loved it and then after about half an hour of being in the below zero temps, we hopped in the car and sped home to warm up for the rest of the day.
I’m joining my friends at Living Laughing and Barking in Our Backyard for their Nature Friday blog hop.
The frozen fall is just gorgeous. Thank you for showing all this beauty to us, Nelson!
It is so amazing to think of all the power in the flowing water can freeze. It is a slow process, but it happens.
Amazing photos!
Thank you.
That is incredible!
It truly is amazing. Gramma says that it is extremely rare, but Niagara Falls partially freezes. Ice forms on the outside but the water still runs behind it. This falls is much smaller and completely freezes over with the bitter cold temps.
oh our goodness!! That is amazing. Mom remembered when you showed this before and it is still as breathtaking. We can’t believe how cold that must be. We had temperature in the teens and mom was a big baby about that!! You all are strong! Thanks for sharing. Have a great day! your friend Chester
It is fun to see and I have never been to the falls before. Bailie gets cold these days as she is older and Olivia needs to wear shoes but I can go as is and have no issues, so I got to go along and check it out with Mom. We had a few weeks below freezing and several below zero stints which really help water freeze.
Whoah!! How beautiful the falls are in the Winter!!
xoxo,
Rosy & Sunny
They don’t freeze every year, only when we have super cold for enough days. Mom loves how they look.
Looks like a very pretty but very very cold morning
Fourteen below is pretty cold but Mom and I don’t mind the cold. I have my built in coat and Mom has her winter gear. Half an hour is enough time, though. We cranked the heat in the car on the way home.
OMDs I have never NO never seen a frozen waterfall…WOW that last photo is amazing
Hugs Cecilia
The water has so much power yet it will freeze, little by little. Imagine how heavy that ice is!
It sure is amazing to see such powerful water freeze like that!
It is crazy. We’ll probably go again another year when it freezes because it is so special to see.
Nature gives us such beauty ~ mixed with great doggie photos too ~ hugs,
an artist reflects
Beautiful nature and pups!
What cool views! No pun intended, it’s amazing.
It is truly amazing which is why although she saw it several years ago, she wanted to see it again and we will probably go again in several years if it freezes.
Wow, it’s definitely wintery weather in your area. Yesterday (despite the high winds warning and 2nd power outage this week) the temps were in the upper 60’s here. I’ve had to go to a coffee shop every day to power my devices and use their wifi for a couple of hours.
That is a real drag! Thankfully most of our lines are buried so we rarely have an outage. 60’s would be way too warm for us this time of year, we are bumming as upper 30’s.
WOW!!! Mother Nature at work painting canvases!!
It is amazing to see!
That really is an amazing site! Fantastic.
It is amazing to see especially as there was so much water the past year. Years where the creek is fairly low, it freezes faster but this was a lot of ice!
Just beautiful, I remember sights like this from our years (long ago) living in Michigan … always magical to see.
It is fun to see. Mom will go again if it freezes in a few years. The last time was seven years ago.
Gorgeous!!
It is so fun to see and always amazing that it is cold enough for so much powerful water to freeze!