Mesa Falls
Mesa Falls - Worth a Side Trip During Your West Yellowstone Visit
Whether you like to photograph, view wildlife, smell wildflowers, fish pristine waters, or feel the spray from one of America's cleanest waterways, you must experience the majesty and awe of upper and lower Mesa Falls, only 20 minutes northeast of Ashton, Idaho.
Two million years ago, the Yellowstone Hot Spot laid beneath the Island Park area creating huge volcanic eruptions. 1.3 million years ago, one of these events spewed ash into the air, creating an ash layer many hundreds of feet deep. This ash compressed into the Mesa Falls Tuff that is seen on the west side of the river. Few waterfalls are as dramatic, and accessible, to auto travelers coming to the Yellowstone area than Mesa.
Between 200,000 and 600,000 years ago, the river eroded a wide canyon which was subsequently partly filled with basaltic lava. These columnar basalts are seen on this side of the river and create the bench that the historic 'Big Falls Inn' sits on. The Henry's Fork then carved the channel through the basalt which is the inner canyon we see today.
Mesa Falls Tuff is the rock over which Mesa Falls cascades. The upper falls are 110 feet high, the lower falls are 85 feet in height. For public safety please stay on the walkways at all times.
For daring fishermen willing to brave the steep hillsides of this canyon to gain access to prime Henry's Fork water, you can walk a trail just downstream of Lower Falls via Forest Service road. Individuals and commercial fishing guides can rappel watercraft down this dirt pathway almost 500 vertical feet to the water's edge. Since the canyon receives few anglers via this method, the fishing is typically much better than other sections of the Henry's Fork more accessible to autos and roads. Should you want to launch your boat in this section and need a shuttle to your takeout point, tell shuttle drivers you'll be floating the Mesa Falls to Warm River section.
Native Americans used the upper Snake River Valley before the arrival of the whites. Artifacts have been found on the Targhee Forest dating back 10-12,000 years. The area around Mesa Falls was a hunting and gathering site for the Shoshone and Bannock tribes of Eastern Idaho.
In 1901, John Henry Hendricks homesteaded the site. He paid $200 for 160 acres. He built a small cabin, and moved his family in. Hendricks drove a stagecoach for Yellowstone Park, and worked in a sawmill near Warm River in the winter, forcing him to be away from his young family much of the time. The isolation and fear for her children around the cliffs and fast water made his wife, Clara, eager to move.
In 1904, immediately after proving up, Hendricks sold the property to Thomas Elliott, of the Snake River Power and Light Co. for stock and cash.
Elliot was the man who built Big Falls Inn, probably to be the headquarters for his power company. He and his series of power companies owned the site for 32 years, until he sold it to Montana Power in 1936. His dreams of a power dam were never fulfilled, and the lodge became a stage stop and hotel for the increasing tourist traffic to Yellowstone. In 1986, the Forest Service acquired the property from Montana Power through a land exchange.
The historic lodge has been a cafe, saloon, dance hall, employee retreat, boy scout camp, and a police lodge and is now being rehabilitated to be an interpretive center.
Work began on the lodge in 1997, The Forest Service Historic Preservation team began replacing windowsills and the intricate shingle work on the gable ends of the building.
The bulk of the restoration work was performed by Harris Construction of Pocatello, Idaho, supervised by Marv Carollo in the summer of 1998. The interpretive center will be open late in 1999.
The Mesa Falls Scenic Loop, a 28 mile road that winds through farmland, open meadows, timber and clearcuts was rebuilt in phases over the years 1998-2000. This road illustrates the beauty and many uses of the Targhee National Forest.
The 85-foot Lower Mesa Falls, one mile south of the entrance to the Upper Falls, features the Grandview overlook built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's. Young men came west from all over the country during the harsh days of the depression. They lived in camps and spent long hours working on Forest Service and other government projects.
Osprey and other birds of prey including bald eagles, peregrine falcons, turkey vultures and many species of hawks are seen in the canyon. Visitors with sharp eyes can often see the osprey fishing below the falls.
A succession of wildflowers bloom throughout the season at Mesa Falls. From the first glacier lilies to the last asters and snowberries of the fall, there is a flower to every season. A walk on any of the trails around either upper or lower falls reveals the profusion of wildflowers.
Distances from Mesa Falls:
Yellowstone Park 51ml.
Ashton 16mi.
Highway 20 12mi.
Mack's Inn 25mi.
Idaho Falls 68mi.
Lower Mesa Falls 1mi.
Distance around walkway 1/2 mi.
Other pages you might find helpful:
Mesa Falls Marathon
The Mesa Falls Marathon, held the third week of August in Ashton, Idaho, is truly one of the 50 great Marathons in the nation.
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