An iconic view in Yellowstone National Park - The Lower Falls

There are many iconic places to see in Yellowstone National Park. This is one of them, the Lower Falls in the Little Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The river that flows north over the falls and eventually ends up in the Missouri, is the Yellowstone River.

The Lower Falls is approximately 308 feet tall. Here under morning light and the correct angle of sunlight, a misty rainbow bends her colors across the powerful thunder. The flow is only about 680 cubic feet/sec (5085 gal/sec) in autumn and 8,400 cubic feet/sec (63,000 gal/sec) at its peak runoff in late spring.

The width of Yellowstone River at the falls is only 70 feet compared to Niagra's 2,600 feet. The river cascades over a 590,000 year old Rhyolite lava flow. Artist Point, where the falls is most view, is where Thomas Moran painted his famous depiction of this great natural event.

The Yellowstone River is the longest free-flowing river in the contiguous United States (no man-made dams impeding its flow).