CARON FALLS

This 60 acre park is located north of County Road Number 88 (170th Street) and three miles from Nerstrand Woods State Park in the eastern part of the County. Caron Park became reality in 1990 and development continued through 1997. A cor-ten steel footbridge and 1.5 miles of trail have been established at Caron Park. The park is a remnant of the Big Woods Forest Community and serves as an excellent environmental study area. Caron Park features are as follows: Picnic area complete with a shelter, Biking trail, Hiking trail and Nature study. ~Rice County

A nice little park in Rice County; only a few miles from Nerstrand Big Woods State Park and Hidden Falls. To my surprise, there were actually two falls there. Caron is the larger of the two. I see on Google Maps that the other falls is identified as Wellstone Falls. I don’t know if that is accurate or not, but having visited it on the anniversary of the death of Paul Wellstone, I’ll go with that.

The path to the falls is along a slight grade; it’s most steep at the top – you won’t notice it until the return trip. The uneven ground, due to a bit of erosion, meanders its way to a valley where the river flows. The beautiful mature woods opens up to where both falls are located. There is a large metal bridge that will get you to the other side without getting your feet wet.

iPhone photos