New, more flood-resilient bridge opens above High Falls in Tettegouche State Park
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A new footbridge has opened in Tettegouche State Park over the Baptism River, just above where High Falls plummets 60 feet as the river gushes toward Lake Superior along the North Shore.
The former bridge had been closed to the public since it was damaged in major flooding in 2022. Even worse flooding two years later ripped one side of the bridge from the riverbank.
Construction on the new $1 million bridge began earlier this year. The bridge officially opened earlier this week.
It’s a popular crossing and provides the shortest access for hikers to see High Falls from both sides. It also serves as a crossing for the Superior Hiking Trail. For the past several years, hikers have been forced to take a two-mile detour to cross the river.
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The new bridge was designed to be more resilient to major flooding, which has become more common as climate change has increased the prevalence of major rainstorms in northern Minnesota.
It’s five feet higher than the older span, and is made of reinforced fiberglass polymer, which holds up better to the elements.
“We worked with hydrology experts to map out a bridge that would withstand a flood event,” explained Katie Foshay, park manager at Tettegouche.
When six inches of rain fell in about six hours in 2024, the Baptism River rose about 23 feet. That provided a perfect opportunity to measure the new bridge design against an actual catastrophic flood to make sure it could withstand a major event.
Foshay said the design passed that test with several feet to spare.
Crews built a temporary access road through the park to haul an excavator and crane to the construction site, where they built the bridge and then set it in place across the river.
Foshay said initial reviews of the bridge have been positive, even though some miss the former span’s springiness. Hikers could also see through the old bridge’s floor, which was made of a fence-like metal grate.
“The previous one had a lot more character,” Foshay acknowledged. It brought out “that inner child in you when you go across it, it kind of reminds you of those carnival fun houses,” she said.
But there also were people who were afraid of it because you could see through the grates, she said. Many dogs were also afraid of going across it.
“So I understand that it is not that same jovial experience — or maybe terrifying experience, depending on your comfort with the previous bridge,” Foshay said. “But this new one is much more robust and safe for users to use.”
Other areas of the park that were closed during the bridge reconstruction have also reopened, including the High Falls trailhead parking lot and several hiking trails on the west side of the Baptism River leading to the bridge.
