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.
15-576: Lower Falls may refer to: Lower Falls, a named section of Yellowstone Falls in Wyoming Lower Falls (District Electoral Area) , in Belfast, Northern Ireland Lower Falls, West Virginia Lower Falls (Yarmouth, Maine) Newton Lower Falls , a village of Newton, Massachusetts Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
30-451: A height of 308 feet. 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. As of 2022 it was closed. The Lower Falls area
45-749: A private group of three explorers named the falls in 1869. The earliest images of the falls were drawn by Private Charles Moore, a member of the U.S. Army escort of the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition which explored the Yellowstone River in August–September 1870. During the Hayden Expedition of 1871, the falls were documented in photographs by William Henry Jackson and later in paintings by Thomas Moran . In January 1887, Frank Jay Haynes took
60-736: 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
75-599: 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. It is likely that Native American tribes knew of the falls for centuries. Captain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition made a note in his journal about hearing of
90-631: Is the largest volume waterfall in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. 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 m /s) in the autumn, to 8,400 cu ft/s (240 m /s) at peak runoff in late springtime. The flow rate of Lower Falls
105-406: 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. Cascading from the 590,000 year old Canyon Rhyolite lava flow, Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River
120-505: The east at Canyon Junction once more. Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition The Washburn Expedition of 1870 explored the region of northwestern Wyoming that two years later became Yellowstone National Park . Led by Henry D. Washburn and Nathaniel P. Langford , and with a U.S. Army escort headed by Lt. Gustavus C. Doane , the expedition followed the general course of the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition made
135-484: The expedition, Montana writer and lawyer Cornelius Hedges, later wrote a number of articles for a Helena, Montana -based newspaper, describing the things the expedition had witnessed. In discussions with other members of the party and in his writing for the newspaper, Hedges was a vocal supporter of setting aside the Yellowstone region as a National Park , an idea originally proposed by former acting Montana Territorial Governor Thomas Francis Meagher . The Washburn party
150-624: The expedition, Cooke financed Langford's early 1871 speeches in Virginia City, Helena, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. about the 1870 expedition on behalf of the Northern Pacific Railroad. On January 19, 1871, one of those speeches in Washington, D.C. was attended by geologist Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden , who became inspired to conduct his next geological survey in the Yellowstone region. The result
165-414: The falls but did not believe the story. The first European to see the falls was likely French fur trapper Baptise Ducharme who claimed to see the falls in 1824, 1826 and 1839. Jim Bridger and fellow explorer James Gremmell claimed they visited the falls in 1846. In 1851, Bridger provided missionary Father Pierre-Jean De Smet a map showing the location of the falls. The Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition ,
SECTION 10
#1732772365529180-432: The first winter photographs of Lower Falls. Over the years the estimates of the height of Lower Falls has varied dramatically. In 1851 Jim Bridger estimated its height at 250 feet. One outrageous newspaper story from 1867 placed its height at "thousands of feet". A map from 1869 gives the falls its current name of Lower Falls for the first time and estimates the height at 350 feet. However the current map lists Lower Falls at
195-490: The previous year. During their explorations, members of the party made detailed maps and observations of the Yellowstone region, exploring numerous lakes, climbing several mountains, and observing wildlife. The expedition visited both the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins , and after observing the regularity of eruptions of one geyser , decided to name it Old Faithful , since it erupted about once every 74 minutes. One member of
210-477: The title Lower Falls . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lower_Falls&oldid=1199382764 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Yellowstone Falls The Upper Falls of
225-607: Was clearly inspired by the journals kept by Charles W. Cook and David E. Folsom, as well as their personal accounts. Immediately after the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition, Folsom went to work as a surveyor for Washburn. Additionally, Langford had personal connections with Jay Cooke of the Northern Pacific Railroad well before their expedition. Cooke was interested in the potential of the Yellowstone region to attract railroad business. After
#528471