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January 30, 2025

Thaw at the falls

SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) — Spring fever is breaking out across Sioux Falls.

One of its cures is a healing hike through Falls Park.

The winter crowds keep growing the higher the temperatures climb.

Short sleeves are in style among visitors to Falls Park in late January. Joseph Clarke visits the Falls just about every day.

“One of my favorite things about coming down here is watching the seasons change,” Clarke said.

And Clarke has witnessed a season of change within a matter of days.

“This deep freeze that we just had, going out on the ice and then climbing up the waterfalls and seeing how it changes, even from this weekend to now, there’s been a lot that has shifted,” Clarke said.

That seasonal shift includes water flowing again through the once frozen-solid falls. This January thaw accompanies the removal of the park’s Winter Wonderland holiday ornaments.

“It is kind of funny to see the Christmas stuff and feel like I can be out here in a t-shirt,” Experience Sioux Falls Host City Manager Zane Lodmell said.

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More visitors to Falls Park enjoying the warm winter also bring an added economic boost to the city.

“They’ll come see the falls and then they’ll generally venture downtown or talk to our staff down at the visitor center about things to do in down, any events going on, any shows they could catch, or just fun places to shop and hang out,” Lodmell said.

With our warm stretch to extend for several more days, the crowds here at Falls Park should get much bigger over the weekend.

“I can imagine we will see a large number of visitors into our visitor center as people in town who might have normally hid in their hotel rooms get into their cars and travel down here to enjoy the day,” Lodmell said.

Even if this winter warmup proves to be a false spring, the attraction to the falls remains very real regardless of the season.

“I love coming here because there’s a peace and solitude that I feel deeply connected to here,” Clarke said.

Experience Sioux Falls is reminding visitors to the falls to be careful walking along the rocks because there are still slippery spots.

The park’s visitor center is only open on weekends. But it will be open every day starting on March 15th.