Willow River State Park – Hudson, Wisconsin Review

Willow River State Park is located just outside of Hudson, Wisconsin and is best known for its beautiful waterfall – Willow River Falls. Located close to the Twin Cities Metro area of Minnesota, Willow River State Park is a popular day trip from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Willow River State Park Wisconsin – Details

Getting here and Location:
Address –
1034 Co Hwy A
Hudson, WI 54016

Generally, it’s about a 45 minute drive here from the Minneapolis-St Paul area.

Cost:
Day use: $13 out-of-state plates, $3 for Wisconsin plates
Annual Wisconsin State Park Pass: $38 out-of-state, $28 Wisconsin state plates

Time commitment: There’s lots to do at Willow River State park – you could spend all day here following the hiking trails, fishing and relaxing at the beach, but I’m guessing you’re here to see the falls. Plan on spending an hour here for the waterfall.

Visiting Willow River State Park

Hiking to Willow River Falls waterfall

After you pay your park admission from the ranger station, you’ll turn to the right down a dirt road. You’ll find a large parking lot – this is where you’ll want to park for the trailhead. This is called the Willow Falls Hill Trail – look for the signs.

It’s a 0.4 mile hike from the parking lot down to Willow Falls. However, it’s very steep. The trail is very well maintained, so you don’t necessarily need hiking boots. I hiked this in Sketchers and I was fine.

Willow River Falls has viewpoints with guardrails and benches, however you can continue walking down to the falls. You have complete open access to the waterfall, so you could technically get as close as you want and try out a bunch of different photography compositions.

Like I said before, Willow River State Park is a popular day trip destination from the Twin Cities Metro area and only seems to be increasing in popularity, mainly due to its famous (and very insta-worthy) waterfall. It gets BUSY here. Busy to the point where, if you’re coming here to photograph the waterfall on a summer day, you’re likely going to have people in your pictures, crawling all over the waterfall.

Personally, I don’t understand why people feel the need to swim in a waterfall, especially one like this where it’s very rocky and slippery. It seems extremely dangerous. If it’s hot and you want to cool off, Willow River State Park has a swimming beach – why swim in a goddamn waterfall? Anyway, rant over.

Best time to visit Willow River State Park

I visited Willow River State Park and hiked to the waterfall midweek during October. As you can see from my pictures, there was hardly anyone there. I highly recommend this strategy if you want people-free shots of the waterfall. Summer weekends are insanely busy and you won’t walk away with the photos you want. My fall visit was perfect – the falls were still flowing, the leaves had just started to turn, and best of all – no people! You could even visit on a fall weekend and you won’t find people crawling on the waterfall because it’s too cold for swimming.

Other activities in Willow River State Park

Let’s be honest – most people visit Willow River State Park to see the waterfall and then leave. That’s exactly what I did. There’s a lake here – Little Falls Lake – that was recently drained – and offers fishing and swimming. The lake is back to full levels for 2021, and the beach will be open for swimming, but will not be stocked with fish for this summer. Willow River State Park has three campgrounds, and a few other hiking trails to explore.

Willow River State Park – Final Thoughts

Pros:
Beautiful waterfall
Close to the Twin Cities Metro Area

Cons:
EXPENSIVE for out-of-state license plates – $13 just to see a waterfall?! Straight up, there’s not much else to do here except see the waterfall.
Extremely crowded during summer

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