Yellowstone Falls

Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River
Location	Yellowstone National Park, Park County, Wyoming, United States
Coordinates	44°42′46″N 110°29′59″W / 44.71278°N 110.49972°W / 44.71278; -110.49972
Total height	109 feet (33 m)
Watercourse	Yellowstone River

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River
Location	Yellowstone National Park
Coordinates	44°43′05″N 110°29′46″W / 44.71806°N 110.49611°W / 44.71806; -110.49611
Total height	308 feet (94 m)
Watercourse	Yellowstone River

Yellowstone Falls consist of two major waterfalls on the Yellowstone River, within Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States. As the Yellowstone river flows north from Yellowstone Lake, it leaves the Hayden Valley and plunges first over Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River and then a quarter mile (400 m) downstream over Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, at which point it then enters the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which is up to 1,000 feet (304 m) deep.

Upper Falls

The Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River (44°42′46″N 110°29′59″W / 44.71278°N 110.49972°W / 44.71278; -110.49972) are 109 feet (33 m) high. The brink of Upper Falls marks the junction between a hard rhyolite lava flow and weaker glassy lava that has been more heavily eroded.

Lower Falls

Cascading from the 590,000 year old Canyon Rhyolite lava flow, Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River is the largest volume waterfall in the Rocky Mountains of the United States.^{[citation needed]} These falls (44°43′05″N 110°29′46″W / 44.71806°N 110.49611°W / 44.71806; -110.49611) are 308 feet (94 m) high, or nearly twice as high as Niagara Falls. The volume of water flowing over Lower Falls can vary from 680 cu ft/s (19 m³/s) in the autumn, to 8,400 cu ft/s (240 m³/s) at peak runoff in late springtime.^{[citation needed]} The flow rate of Lower Falls is much less than that of Niagara Falls, as the Yellowstone River is only 70 feet (21 m) wide at the point at the brink, whereas the Niagara River is 2,600 feet (790 m) in width as it approaches the crest line of Horseshoe Falls.

History

It is likely that

Today, there are numerous vantage points for viewing the falls. The Canyon loop road skirts north rim of the canyon with several vehicle parking areas. One trail leads down to the Brink of Lower Falls, a steep third of a mile (600 m). Uncle Tom's Trail descends from the east down a series of stairs attached to the cliffs.^[3] As of 2022 it was closed.

The Lower Falls area is located just to the south and east of Canyon Village in Yellowstone National Park. A one-way loop drive starting south from Canyon Junction takes one to the brink of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and offers four viewpoints, with the first stop at the trail that leads to the top of the Lower Falls. The one-way drive continues east and north past the other viewpoints, rejoining the main Grand Loop road from the east at Canyon Junction once more.

Image gallery

• Video of Yellowstone Lower Falls, 2019
• 
  Upper Falls and downstream view
• 
  Brink of Upper Falls, 1916
• 
  Upper Falls by Private Moore, 1870
• 
  Lower Falls in Grand Canyon of Yellow Stone from Artist Point
• 
  Lower Falls by Private Moore, 1870
• 
  Lower Falls by Thomas Moran, 1871
• 
  Lower Falls by Ansel Adams, 1941
• Video of the brink of the Lower Falls, 2010
• 
  Brink of the Lower Falls, 2021

See also

• List of waterfalls in Yellowstone National Park

Notes