Crystal Falls is a 78-foot horsetail waterfall on Cascade Creek in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, where the creek pours into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone between the Upper and Lower Falls. It is the third falls of the canyon, a short walk from the Upper Falls viewpoints.
The falls
Cascade Creek enters the canyon in a single horsetail near the head of the gorge. The World Waterfall Database measured the drop at 78 feet from one-meter lidar. Older measurements gave 129 feet in three steps, a figure visitor guides still repeat. The creek is fed mainly by snowmelt, so the falls look fuller in early summer than in August and September.
Getting there
On the North Rim Trail, the Crystal Falls Overlook is about 0.25 mile from the Brink of the Upper Falls, which lies just off the Grand Loop Road south of Canyon Junction. Beyond the overlook the trail drops about 50 feet to cross Cascade Creek, then climbs about 110 feet toward the Brink of the Lower Falls. The falls can also be seen from the South Rim Trail just east of the Upper Falls Viewpoints; take South Rim Drive and turn left at the first entrance into that parking area. A longer North Rim outing takes in both Yellowstone falls and Inspiration Point at 6.5 miles round trip with 685 feet of gain, rated moderate.
Yellowstone admission is $35 per vehicle for seven days, plus $100 per person for non-US residents aged 16 and older unless they hold an Annual or America the Beautiful Pass.
When to go
May to October is the season for the North Rim route. Flow is highest with early-summer snowmelt.
On site
The falls are viewed from overlooks on the canyon rim; base access isn't documented. Crystal Falls can also be picked out from Uncle Tom's Point by looking to the right of the Upper Falls. The North Rim route is closed to dogs. Park rules require staying at least 100 yards from bears and wolves and 25 yards from other wildlife.
History and name
Cornelius Hedges of the 1870 Washburn expedition named Crystal Falls. Park superintendent P.W. Norris later named the pool above it Grotto Pool.
Nearby
Upper Yellowstone Falls is about 0.3 mile away, Lower Yellowstone Falls also about 0.3 mile and Red Rock Cascade about 0.7 mile. On North Rim Drive, walkways at Lookout Point and the Brink of the Lower Falls look at both big falls, and Artist Point sits at the end of South Rim Drive.
Distances are straight-line.