[edit] Upper Yellowstone Falls

The upper falls (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 the upper falls marks the junction between a hard rhyolite lava flow and weaker glassy lava that has been more heavily eroded.

[edit] Lower Yellowstone Falls

The lower 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 almost twice as high as Niagara. The volume of water is in no way comparable to Niagara as the width of the Yellowstone River before it goes over the lower falls is 70 feet (22 m), whereas Niagara is a half mile (800 m).

The lower falls descend from the 590,000 year old Canyon Rhyolite lava flow. The lower falls of the Yellowstone is still the largest volume major waterfall in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. The volume of water flowing over the falls can vary from 63,500 USgal/s (240 m³/s) at peak runoff to 5,000 USgal/s (19 m³/s) in the fall.

[edit] History

It is believed that Jim Bridger may have been the first white American to see the falls in 1846. The Folsom Party, a private group of explorers working in close relationship with the U.S. Government, 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.^[1] 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 the first winter photographs of the 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.

[edit] Viewing the falls

Today, there are numerous vantage points for viewing the falls. The Canyon loop road skirts the west side of the canyon with several vehicle parking areas. One trail leads down to the brink of the lower falls, a steep third of a mile (600 m). Another vantage point descends from the east down a series of stairs attached to the cliffs.

The Lower Falls area is located just to the east of Canyon Village in Yellowstone National Park. A one-way loop drive takes one to the brink of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and offers four views, with the last stop at the trail that leads to the top of the Falls.

Images of Yellowstone Falls

Lower Yellowstone Falls by Private Moore (1870) Upper Yellowstone Falls by Private Moore (1870) Lower Falls, by William Henry Jackson, 1871 Yellowstone Falls by Thomas Moran, 1871 Lower Falls, January 1887, Frank Jay Haynes Lower Falls by Frank Jay Haynes, 1909 Brink of Upper falls, 1916 Ansel Adams, 1942 Lower Falls from Artist Point Upper Falls Lower Yellowstone Falls Lower Falls Upper falls Video of Lower Falls, 1899 Lower Yellowstone Falls

Media related to Yellowstone Falls at Wikimedia Commons