Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the Upper Falls, he would show them how to descend into the canyon with the help of wooden
ladders and ropes.
Canyon Lodge and cabins stood at the west end of today's parking area from 1925 to 1957.
The Lodge's loyal employees returned year after year and produced musical shows to entertain
the guests.
Above Upper Falls the water “breaks into foam-bloom” (John Muir).
The Canyon and Falls of the Yellowstone
Don't be confused by the names of the two famous falls of the Yellowstone River
[GEO.18].
Upper Falls is upstream from Lower Falls, but Lower Falls is nearly three times taller than
Upper Falls.
• Upper Falls: 109 feet (33 m)
• Lower Falls: 308 feet (94 m)
• Canyon depth: 800-1,200 feet (240-360 m)
• Canyon width: 1,500-4,000 feet (450-1,200 m) in the area of the overlooks
• Canyon length: about 20 miles (32 km) from the Upper Falls to Tower Junction.
You can't see or photograph both waterfalls from any point, since the Yellowstone
makes a big bend between Upper and Lower Falls. The canyon area has been hydrotherm-
ally active since not long after the formation of the caldera, and this activity has altered
the lava that flowed hundreds of thousands of years ago to fill in the area. The rock was
thus easily eroded by the Yellowstone River after the retreat of the glaciers. The falls have
formed on the more resistant layers in the lava flows and where hydrothermal alteration
was less. To read about carving the canyon, see
page 313
.
Trails from Uncle Tom's Overlook
