About Lewis Falls
Lewis Falls was a wide 30ft tall waterfall on the Lewis River, which was quite easy to spot especially when driving south towards the Yellowstone South Entrance.
In fact, that was exactly how we chanced upon this waterfall.
According to The Guide to Yellowstone Waterfalls and Their Discovery
It was a curious choice because their explorations were 50 miles to the north of this spot.
That said, a Hayden surveyor by the name of Frank Bradley honored Lewis by naming the falls as such.
After all, he wanted at least one landmark to be named after one of the guys who first surveyed the region.
Experiencing Lewis Falls
Each time we’ve stopped for this waterfall, it was in the morning when the rising sun would shine right on the waterfall.
For the rest of the day, at least part or all of it would be in shadow.
Thus, morning would be the time to take photographs.
When we first visited the falls in June 2004, the best views we were willing to get were from the north side of the bridge over the Lewis River.
I did spot some faint trails that continued for a closer and more direct look at the Lewis Falls, but it looked ill-defined.
That said, I suspected that the picture shown in the Yellowstone Waterfalls book was probably where that trail would have led to.
On a more recent visit in August 2017, it appeared that a new trail was built that brought us closer to the falls.
That was where the photo at the top of this page came from.
Indeed, this was another one of a handful of examples where the park service made changes to the park that was actually for the better.
Especially in this case, the erosion from off-trail scrambling would be less likely given the obvious trail that was now in place while at the same time enhancing the visitor experience.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Finally, the Lewis and Clark expedition was significant because it was the first government-sanctioned effort to explore and map the Western Frontiers.
It happened shortly after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and it included parts of what would later become Yellowstone National Park.
Apparently with some assistance from Sacagawea (a Native American woman from the Shoshone Tribe), they ultimately reached the Pacific Ocean.
For better or for worse (especially for Native Americans), this set the stage for settlers to come west.
However, it also set the stage for the eventual establishment of National Parks.
Authorities
Lewis Falls resides in Yellowstone National Park near West Yellowstone in Park County, Wyoming. It is administered by the National Park Service. For information or inquiries about the park as well as current conditions, visit the National Park Service website.
The Lewis River Bridge from where we could see the Lewis Falls was about 9.6 miles north of the Yellowstone South Entrance and a little over 11 miles south of the West Thumb Junction.
Unlike our first visit in June 2004, the pullouts appeared to be long on both sides of the road making them both obvious while also accommodating several cars in either direction.
The Yellowstone South Entrance was about 57 miles (75 minutes drive) north of Jackson and 70 miles southeast of West Yellowstone, Montana.
For additional geographical context, West Yellowstone, Montana was 58 miles (at least 90 minutes drive) south of Gardiner, Montana, 90 miles (over 90 minutes drive) south of Bozeman, Montana, 72 miles (under 2 hours drive) north of Flagg Ranch (near Yellowstone’s South Entrance), and 321 miles (about 4.5 hours drive) north of Salt Lake City, Utah.
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Sweep from the north end of the bridge over Lewis River towards the falls
Angled view looking down at the falls from the very end of the short walk
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