Van Goodwin White water friends of Montana, COME ON DOWN! Yes I have run into stubborn police and park officials about running the rapids of Falls Park. During spring run-off Skunk Creek floods the southern end of Sioux Falls. The police barricade all inputs to the river. Crossing the barricade IS illegal! I run the river from Western Ave. to Killian College just above the falls. To remove any of the boulders won't be permitted to make more passable runs. The experience level of locals is proven every couple of years when Canoeists without PFDs capsize and drown well above the Falls in early spring. The local Search and Rescue ( Sioux Falls Fire and Rescue) Comb the river to find the bodies and use this to scare off well skilled Kayakers. As a short timer here in Sioux Falls I watch the river on a regular basis and check out runs. To watch a kayak competition here would be fabulous! I can be reached at lonegreeneagle at aol .com. The flat water below the old power house above the dead head makes an ideal take out. From Killian College parking lot to just before the train tracks is good for put-in and scouting the falls from the western shore ie; Falls Park public area! There are many points for observers and tie offs for rescue equipment. The eastern shore is also good for scouting! With a walk over the falls bridge, audiences can view all runners and enjoy a competition. With coordination with Parks and Rec. increased flow can be acheived from opening the control station North of the airport where the river was diverted years ago. Yes! This Falls Park rapids can be run by skilled safe white water kayakers. With coordination and planning boaters can enjoy this river here in the middle of "paddlers HELL". I moved here three years ago from Montana and I long for fast water to teach my adventuresome teens safe white water without driving seven plus hours! Sioux Falls authorities are reactive due to idiots being poorly prepared and trained. Anyone that wants to run good drops, fast powerful water, with high skills requirements come and run this section of the Big Sioux River. Thank You Van Edit

Okay folks... here is the skinny. I have spent several days speaking with local police officers and officials with the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Game, Fish and Parks and the Park Operations Manager and it IS NOT ILLEGAL to kayak the falls. What is illegal... swimming through this stretch of river. There is an ordinance against swimming due to the inherent danger. Should you take a swim, you could be ticketed. Important to know: South Dakota has a rule that says if you need rescue, you are responsible for any and all costs involved in providing rescue and medical assistance. Everyone I have communicated with has tried hard to discourage the idea of running the falls but have admitted that it is not illegal. There are no records of anyone ever being ticketed for kayaking the falls. I requested that the Parks Operations Manager please inform the park employees of the legality so that paddlers would not be hassled for pulling in and running the stretch. Should someone try to hassle you or prevent you from running the falls, simply request that they contact the Sioux Falls police department and take the issue up with them. At this point, the police officers should be aware of the recent discussions regarding my request and be able to inform the employees at the park to leave you alone. The next step is for paddlers to show the city of Sioux Falls that we are capable of acting in a safe manner and making appropriate decisions with regard to varying water levels. The largest waterfall in the center of the run is somewhere between 15-20 feet and there are only a couple spots that appear to provide safe routes. There are many loose, large boulders below that need to be avoided at most water levels. This is easily a class V drop so please use good judgement. I recommend that paddlers create a campaign to petition the city to support kayaking in Falls Park and to hold an annual event at the park for paddlers. Removing some of the loose rock below the largest fall could create a much safer run and allow for the main fall to be run at a wider variety of water levels.

From the comments below this sounds like the sort of run that AW would do well to support opening up. A big whitewater park in the most whitewater deprived section of the country. Perhaps the authors of the photos and Jackson web site story should write this up for the AW journal and include some of the photos.

The park is cool but your right you will get kicked out and the police called on you if you run the Falls and below. Even though the police were called you are not breaking any city ordinances for running it. The park people just don't like for you to. It was fun while it lasted and ended fine. Nathan and Lauren had a blast and we didn't know we were breaking any rules. It just says no swimming. Not any No Boating signs. Lauren wrote a cool article for the Jackson website and we put pictures up as well. Check it out at www.jacksonkayak.com It's too bad they don't like kayakers to run this wonderful class V section of the river. It would be great for South Dakota to have boaters on the river.

It has been run. The park people will kick you out so put in up stream of the park run the drops and take out before the low head dam which is just downstream of the last chute/drop. There is at least 20 runnable drops in the section of river.