When I was at the Sioux Steel open house the other day, the CEO of the company said there was a public park adjacent to the river and their property. He also said it is rarely visited because no one knows it is there. It is basically the remnants of Seney Island after a backfill occurred that Sioux Steel is built on now.
So I was out for a long walk on Sunday and decided to see if I could access the park. First I tried to find a path from the 6th Street bridge, no luck. So I actually walked through the shipyard and entrance of Sioux Steel and found this sign;
Well, it certainly is a park, it has a picnic table and not much of anything else.
There is a historic marker about Seney Island (sorry I couldn’t get a picture of side two unless I stood in the river. No thanks.)
So I tried to see if there was a North Entrance to the Park from the South Side of Falls Park. I found this retaining wall at the top of the Falls with a chainlink fence only a few feet from the water. Maybe since the water was high it was covering up a trail, but I did not see ANY access to the park from the Northside. To be honest with you, I don’t even know what the name of the park is? I also think it is strange you have to walk across private property to access it. I have lived in Sioux Falls since 1991, and I never knew the park existed until last Thursday. It will be my new favorite hiding spot.
