Where: 101 N Cascade St, Osceola, WI 54020

Was it worth it? Yes, I give it an 8/10

Highlight: The frozen falls

Suggested time here: 1-2 hours

When we visited: January 2021

Pleasant Surprise

I didn’t know anything about Cascade Falls until the day we went there. It’s funny because I’ve been in that area so many times but had never heard anything about it! After a foggy morning walk around Franconia Sculpture Park, we set off in search of the falls! It was only a 7 minute drive from Franconia to the falls.

First off, Osceola’s main street area is super cute! We went on a Saturday and the place was hopping! If it wasn’t for the GPS though, we would’ve driven right on by the sign. I was expecting an official brown, state/county sign.

There is street parking all around the main street area and even on what appeared to be a busy day, parking was easy to find. I must say though, at this point my expectations were pretty low. I thought if these falls are directly next to the main street they can’t be too great. Oh was I wrong!!

Lots o’ stairs!

There are 135 stairs to get down to the falls. Word of caution, they were ICY the day we went so be careful if you’ve got little ones. Be sure not to rush down the stairs though without first stopping to check out the view of the falls from above!

The Frozen Falls

There were only a handful of people at the waterfall when we got there. We were wowed, it was BEAUTIFUL! There had just been a few intensely frosty days so everything was coated in white. The actual falls were half frozen over but you could see the water still flowing underneath the ice. That was so mesmerizing to watch!

The best part was that there was a young couple there getting some professional photos done (assuming engagement pics) and the boys were thoroughly grossed out by it all. Every time they’d kiss or when the guy would pick her up and twirl her, the boys would pretty much dry heave! I didn’t get a pic of the couple although I kind of wished I did so the boys could relive it!

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I’d say this is the best frozen waterfall we’ve seen so far this winter! The others that we’ve seen at Pattison , Amnicon and Minnehaha don’t allow you to get as up close and personal. Plus, some of the bigger falls didn’t have the frozen over sections that are so cool to look at!

There are some trails that loop around the falls if you feel like a hike. If we go back, we’ll for sure check them out because there is supposed to be a great lookout point somewhere along the trail. We asked the boys if they wanted to hike that day but little legs were worn out after trucking through the snow at Franconia so we gave it a pass.

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Franconia/Falls Combo

This beauty of a spot is less than an hour away from the Twin Cities! I would definitely put Cascade Falls on your must see list but it’s worth your time to combine it with something else nearby!

Here are a few suggestions:

-Franconia Sculpture Park (see my post, it’s a great choice to combine this because it’s so close to the falls)

–Fawn Doe Rosa (seasonal)

-Lunch & mini golf at The Drive In in Taylor’s Falls (seasonal)

-Stillwater

-Interstate State Park (both the MN & WI sides)

-Canoe trip leaving from Interstate State Park (seasonal) (post coming soon!)

Happy Exploring!