Category: Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park: Lower Falls

On By nationalparkswithtIn Wyoming3 Comments
Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!

Wyoming 2023 Trip➤

In September of 2023, my husband and I set out to explore some National Park units in the state of Wyoming. We visited Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park, The John D. Rockefeller Parkway, and Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. In Yellowstone National Park, we visited the Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Yellowstone National Park➤

President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law in 1872. This created America’s (and the world’s) first National Park. The US Army managed the park from the late 1800s through 1916 when the National Park Service was created.

The park sits on top of a massive super volcano. As a result, over half of the worlds geysers and geothermal features reside in Yellowstone. It’s also famous for being home to hundreds of animal species, including bears, wolves, bison, elk and antelope. One of our guides compared touring Yellowstone’s Valleys to taking an African Safari.

This park is huge at 3500 square miles in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Divided into two large loops, the park road takes visitors to the main sites. The Lower Loop Road is 96 miles while the Upper Loop is 142 miles.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone➤

Yellowstone Falls comprise two primary waterfalls on the Yellowstone River. The river flows north from Yellowstone Lake, exiting the Hayden Valley, and cascades over Upper Falls before plunging a quarter mile downstream over Lower Falls. Upon reaching Lower Falls, the river enters the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was formed through a combination of volcanic activity and erosion. Around 600,000 years ago, massive volcanic eruptions occurred in the Yellowstone region, depositing thick layers of volcanic ash and rock. Over time, the Yellowstone River carved through these layers of volcanic rock, aided by glacial activity during the last ice age, creating the canyon’s steep walls and deep gorge. The ongoing erosive forces of the river continue to shape and deepen the canyon today.

As we continued around the lower loop from the Artists Paintpots, we headed to the North Rim Drive to stop at the viewpoints for the Lower Falls. The Lower Falls drops 308 feet into the canyon. We stopped first at the Brink of the Lower Falls, then a few other overlooks before heading back to our hotel for the evening.

Yellowstone Posts➤

Location: Grand Loop Road, Wyoming
Designation: National Park
Date designated/established: March 1, 1872
Date of my visit: September 23, 2023