Address
4801 S Minnehaha Drive
Minneapolis, MN 55417
Contact
Phone: 612-230-6400
Email: info@minneapolisparks.org
Garden Hours
6 am-10 pm
Park Hours
6 am-midnight in developed areas
6 am-10 pm in undeveloped areas
Ordinance PB-2-33
Plan Your Route
Features & Amenities
Good to Know
Located at the Minnehaha Falls overlook just Southeast of Sea Salt Eatery.
Peak bloom time: Tulips in spring, others June through September
Amenities
- Decorative Fountain
- Garden
- Walking Path
Close to:
- Bandstand
- Bike Rental
- Bike Path
- Main Park Pavilion
- Minnehaha Falls
- Parking Lot
- Walking Path
Glorious Gardens
From grand expanses to hidden gems, gardens throughout the park system offer flowers, history, sculpture, community hubs and more.
Garden Details
The Song of Hiawatha is a circular garden located at a central viewing point, just southeast of the main pavilion overlooking Minnehaha Falls. Home to changing annual displays, hardy flowering perennials and ornamental grasses, this stopping point gives you a place to sit and reflect with the soothing sound of the Falls in the background. Excerpts from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem Song of Hiawatha, specifically the last “chapter,” is engraved in stone on top of a low brick wall encircling the garden. A focal point at the very center of the garden features a dry Tuscan-style epergne fountain planted with trailing vines that simulate cascading water spilling over into the sunny, annual garden below the fountain.
Rentals & Permits
Annual Patron Parking Permit: Enjoy parking privileges in specially designated spaces at some of our most popular regional parks. View parking permit details.
Parkway Use: You must obtain a permit for special use of the parkway including closures, and dumpsters, trucks, limousines or carriages on the parkway. View parkway permit details. Permit Application [PDF]
History
The garden was constructed and first planted in 1994 as part of Minnehaha Park’s restoration. Initially a parking lot, the lot was removed along with the connecting roadway and a more user-friendly brick pathway for bikes and pedestrians was created. A donated Tuscan-style epergne fountain was installed and with no water source available, it became a plant exhibit and focal point.