Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone - Part I

Before we got to Canyon Village we made several stops along the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

You can easily understand where the the river got its name when you look at the canyon.  Yellow stone totally dominates the view whenever you gaze into the canyon.  I think it is quite beautiful, and unlike any other canyon I've seen (including Arizona's Grand Canyon).  The falls are truly beautiful as well and definitely add to the grandeur of the view.  I can understand why the decision was made to move Canyon Village and the hotel away from the rim of the canyon years ago.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River 

Length.................................................................20 miles (32 km)
Depth...............................................more than 1,000 feet (305 m)
Width..........................................1,500-4,000 feet (450-1,200 m)
Height of Upper Falls.............................................109 feet (33 m)
Height of Lower Falls.............................................308 feet (93 m)
Primary rock type........................................rhyolite/altered rhyolite
--from NPS Canyon Area Trail Guides

We started out driving off the main road along the canyon.  The first stop was at the Brink of Lower Falls, but we ended up not walking along that path, but instead heading down further towards a couple of other overlooks.  Remembering though the great view we got at Cumberland Falls from right near the brink I would like to go back to Yellowstone and follow the path to the brink.

The yellow rock is very obvious in this view--trust me, you cannot miss it when you see the canyon in person.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River expresses the park's complex geologic history in dramatic colors and shapes.  Puffs of steam mark hydrothermal features in the canyon's walls.  The Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River add to the grandeur of this unique natural treasure.  Experience the canyon from a variety of overlooks, at different times of day, and at different seasons.  Enjoy the canyon's most obvious splendors, and look for the details that will make your experience memorable.--from NPS Canyon Area Trail Guides

From Lookout Point we had excellent views of the canyon and we had a great view of the Lower Falls.

When you look at the falls closely, you can notice a large patch of snow to the left of the falls.  I'm not sure how long that area took to melt as there was still cold weather while we were visiting.  I presume that later in the summer it did eventually melt...

But the views here weren't quite good enough, I wanted to see if we could get a closer view and decided to hike down to Red Rock Point.  More on that tomorrow.

~Matt