Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is a V- shaped canyon in Yellowstone National Park, through which the Yellowstone River flows. The canyon is deep between 250 m and 400 m, its width measures between 500 m and 1,300 m. It extends about 32 km between the village of Tower Roosevelt and a point south of Canyon Village. Typical are the yellow, orange to red coloration of the rock on the slopes. They date from geothermal stained iron deposits in the rock.

Formation

Towards the end of the last ice age, about 14,000 to 18,000 years ago, emerged in today's outlet of Yellowstone Lake dams of ice. Once these melted, flowed from a large amount of water and cut in a very short time due to erosion of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone in the volcanic rock composed mainly of rhyolite, which in some places even older tuff is exposed. Since then, the canyon is eroded by the Yellowstone River on. With an age 10000-14000 years, he is one of the more recent attractions of the park.

Waterfalls

There are throughout the three large waterfalls in the canyon: the Upper and Lower Falls and in between the lesser-known Crystal Falls. The Upper Falls has a height of 33.2 m. The Lower Falls are almost twice as high as Niagara Falls with 94 m. The Crystal Falls are located at the mouth of Cascade Creek in the Yellowstone River. Your drop height measures 39 m. All three waterfalls are located near the town of Canyon Village, on the southern end of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Artist Point

Different vantage points offer views into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The most famous view point is the Artist Point. He received the name because the painter Thomas Moran painted different pictures there during the Hayden Expedition of 1871.