The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

This is the first large canyon on the Yellowstone River downstream from Yellowstone Falls. We had aspirations of hiking along the South Rim. Unfortunately, the whole rim was closed for repairs to the overlooks and parking areas. We were able to get to Artist Point (where Thomas Moran sketched his famous picture of the falls and the canyon) and take some neat pictures.

The walls of the canyon are very colorful…

…and still have active thermal vents:

On the north rim, we were able to drive to several different points where we could hike down 600-800 ft into the canyon, to get some really neat perspectives on it and the falls. The Lower Falls of the Yellowstone drop over 300 feet, about twice as far as Niagra.

The green notch is an area of deeper, less turbulent water:

Seen from the edge of the falls:

Standing on the observation deck at the top of the falls was mind blowing.

In the next picture you can see one of the staircases we took to get a different view of the falls. On the right side of the falls, you can spy the observation ledge where we had been on the edge.

The canyon walls were so multi-colored, and covered in green at the bottom (from the constant mist of the falls):

Another gorgeous section of canyon wall…

…and many of the steps it took to get there.

As we drove away from the canyon, we passed open areas with large buffalo herds that never failed to attract numerous cars (including ours, sometimes) pulled off the sides of the road for pictures.

Next post will conclude our Yellowstone visit.