Solo Fastest Known Paddle: 4 hours, 38 minutes, 34 seconds

Scott Miller

this is also the 2nd Fastest Known Overall time

21.3 miles per the map; 21 miles on Scott’s GPS

Minnehaha Creek Watershed District Info and map

Google maps custom map

Start: Creek access below Grey’s Bay Dam, Minnetonka, MN. 10:03am, August 30th, 2025

Finish: Ramp at top of Longfellow Lagoon, Minneapolis, MN 1:41pm, August 30th, 2025

DO NOT GO PAST THE TAKE OUT POINT! (Falls is 1/3 of a mile downstream). TIME STOPS WHEN YOUR BOAT TOUCHES LAND at whichever takeout point you want on river right so long as you have passed under the Minnehaha Parkway Bridge.

Boat Used: Wenonah Voyager solo canoe

Route Description: Only runnable when water levels are high enough, this is a spectacular route with interesting scenery around every turn. There are rapids, lagoons, swamps, lakes, bridges, tunnels, likely some downed trees and one portage. For safety info and water level info check out the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District’s page.

Trip report from Scott Miller:

Scott Duffus and I set the overall FKP for the creek on July 23rd and ever since then I had wanted to get out and establish a solo time. The water levels weren’t as high for me, so I don’t think I got as much help from the current, but they were still pretty nice: 100CFS at Gray’s Bay Dam and I think around 135 at the Falls.

I wanted to get an early start but I drank too much caffeine at my 50th birthday party with my family the night before so I didn’t sleep well. And then the parking lot was full at Grays’ Bay. I talked to someone walking by and they recommended I drive 9 minutes around the bay and park on the other side of a long wooden walkway. Not wanting to get a ticket, that’s what I did and it worked well. There were other paddlers getting ready to head out as well. The creek has been high enough to paddle most of the Summer and many people are taking advantage.

I started off feeling strong, though it took me a bit to figure out when to back off on speed in favor of boat control. I didn’t have a rudder and so keeping the boat straight took some practice. I passed a few people right away and was having a great time. It was cool and cloudy but soon the sun came out and it started warming up.

I had five insulated water bottles filled with Skratch electrolyte drink sitting in a six-pack water bottle holder in front of me, and a hose I could move from one to the next as needed, so I stayed well hydrated. I didn’t get out of my boat until the portage around the waterfall/dam at Williams Park at W 50th St. in Edina, though I did stop briefly before Methodist hospital and stayed in my boat while eating a quick snack of a peanut butter wrap with some delicious Orange Rhubarb marmalade made by my neighbor using the rhubarb from our backyard.

I wanted to put in between the two bridges just below the waterfall but after taking a look I didn’t like the looks of it; there were three drops and I thought I would be likely to capsize and/or take on water. So I portaged across 50th but then rather than walk all the way to the official put in beyond the tennis courts at Utley Park, I checked out a put-in closer to 50th and it looked fine and it was.

Somewhere after that portage paddling through the incredibly scenic and beautiful backyards of Edina I came to a tight right hand turn with a brick wall on the far side. I didn’t want to hit the wall so I took the turn really tight and didn’t realize how significant the inner bend eddy would be. The differential caught my boat and tipped it and I slid right out. Fortunately I didn’t flip all the way over and only shipped about a gallon of water. I had all my stuff tied into the boat but it would have been a lot of work and energy to empty the boat completely. Even still, just this little upset caused me to lose some energy and it took a while to re-group, even though I was back underway in just a few minutes. I passed a Mother and a daughter who were tubing down the river and many other paddlers out having fun. The scenery, between beautiful trees and beautiful homes, was spectacular as always.

Eventually I built my speed back up, but I would have to slow down for many tight corners. At one place there was a tree down but, following the lead of a group of women kayakers in front of me, I was able to ease/shuffle over a narrow gap.

I am sure this time can be beaten by someone with a faster boat and/or faster water, and I look forward to cheering on anyone who tries! The one advantage of these water levels was that I could fit under all the bridges (though I still had to get very low in my boat for some of them).