Plans for MN’s first whitewater park are taking shape [Video]

AUSTIN, Minn. — A vision of whitewater kayaking in Austin, Minnesota began with a trickle of inspiration from a local resident.

“It started when I was kayak fishing locally,” said Nate Smit. “I would go out on the Cedar River but I couldn’t get very far because of the dam.”

Smit, who works for Hormel Foods Corporation as the enterprise lead for breakthrough innovation, says his fishing struggle soon led him to a different kind of breakthrough.

“I was stuck close to home because of the pandemic, so I went on Google earth and I thought, if the dams didn’t exist, how far could I get down the Cedar River?” he said. “I was following the river and I got down right over the border, …