Lower Falls

The waterfall majestically falls some 308ft, and you can see it in a variety of ways on both sides of the canyon rim. I've seen photographs of the waterfall taken from the canyon base, but from what I could tell, there was no safe way to do it. I'd imagine the folks that took such a photo managed to scramble down the very steep cliffs somewhere near the Uncle Tom's Trail. But we won't dwell on this any longer since it's not a realistic option for most folks (us included).

Anyways, here are the other ways that we did experience the waterfall.

Lower Falls from Lookout Point: You can get here on the one-way North Rim Drive about 1.2 miles from Canyon Village. This was the first place we stopped to get a look at the lovely Lower Falls. From this vantage point, you can see the context of the waterfall plunging into the rugged Yellowstone River Canyon as well as the Yellowstone River itself meandering below you. Having not seen this waterfall in person prior to this spot, I'm sure it's pretty obvious that we went crazy taking lots of photos from here.

Lower Falls from Red Rock Point: From the same pullout as Lookout Point, there's a steep but paved trail descending about 0.5 miles in a handful of switchbacks to a lower viewpoint closer to the falls. Given that you need to exert yourself (especially for the climb back up to Lookout Point), it's a much quieter spot to enjoy the waterfall than some of the more roadside lookout spots. And, I even remembered feeling a slight bit of spray that blew downstream from the falls at this spot. Pretty cool.

By the way, if you're real observant, you might notice people on the Uncle Tom's Trail across the canyon looking like ants compared to the waterfall. So if you have doubts about how massive this waterfall is, all you gotta do is to look across the river and compare!

Uncle Tom's Trail: This trail leads to an overlook where you almost get face-to-face with Lower Falls. From the large car park at about 0.5 miles on the South Rim Drive (from the Chittenden Bridge over the Yellowstone River), you have to descend some 328 metal grate steps in about a half-mile. You can actually see through the grate steps so I can see how if you're fearful of heights, this "trail" can definitely bring out the butterflies in your stomach.

Once you get to the end of the steps, there's a square area with real limited space (especially considering how popular this trail is). When we came here, the overlook was overwhelmed by one of those Chinese super-sized tours. One of the ladies was quite rude in pushing people away (me included) so she could take the overlook hostage for her own personal photo. Well, at least the rainbow that was appearing in the mist of the waterfall that morning helped to take my mind off of that.

I somehow get the feeling that whoever managed to climb to the base of the canyon to take that frontal photo of the waterfall (like you see in Yellowstone Waterfalls and Their Discovery) probably scrambled down somewhere near here.

Lower Falls from Artist Point: This is the spot where you get that classic photograph of the Yellowstone River cutting through the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with Lower Falls as the backdrop. The photo you see at the top of the page was taken near there, and unlike Uncle Tom's Trail, the overlook has a bit more space (though it does get pretty crowded up here).

If you want solitude in this spot, Julie and I did come here at sunrise and had the overlook all to ourselves. But to be honest, sunrise isn't the best time to view this waterfall, and I think you have to be here in mid-morning if you want to take that classic shot of the waterfall with a rainbow (we weren't patient enough to stick around here for that long).

The car park for this viewpoint is at the end of the South Rim Drive at 1.6 miles from the Chittenden Bridge.

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Classic view from Lookout Point. Told you we went nuts taking photos from this spot!

Trying to show how tiny people are compared to the waterfall. See the circle I drew on the far left?

Descending Uncle Tom's Trail

Getting closer to the bottom on Uncle Tom's Trail

All that descending on Uncle Tom's Trail means we have to climb to get back up

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River and Lower Falls from Artist Point not long after sunrise


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NEARBY WATERFALLS

• Upper Falls
• Crystal Falls
• Silver Cord Cascade

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