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Photo: Aryeh Alex, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This 84 ft waterfall tumbles over remnants of the Yellowstone Caldera rim and is easily accessible from a pullover on the park road. The rock wall on the opposite side of the road from the waterfall is the inner rim of the caldera.
Gibbon Falls is a waterfall on the Gibbon River in northwestern Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Gibbon Falls has a drop of approximately 84 feet (26 m). The falls are located roadside, 4.7 miles (7.6 km) upstream from the confluence of the Gibbon and Firehole Rivers at Madison Junction on the Grand Loop Road.
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The Gibbon River flows from Wolf Lake through the Norris area and meets the Firehole River at Madison Junction to form the Madison River. Both cold and hot springs are responsible for the majority of the Gibbon's flow. Brook trout, brown trout, grayling, and rainbow trout find the Gibbon to their liking. The Gibbon River is fly-fishing only below Gibbon Falls.
This small, nearly dormant basin lies at the top of a very steep one-mile (1 mi) trail. Highlights of the area include thermos-bottle shaped geyser cones that are remnants of a much more active time, several intriguing travertine structures, and some great views.
Artists Paintpots is a small but lovely thermal area just south of Norris Junction. A one-mile (1 mi) round trip trail takes visitors to colorful hot springs, two large mud pots, and through a section of forest burned in 1988. Adjacent to this area are three other off-trail, backcountry thermal areas: Sylvan Springs, Gibbon Hill Geyser Basin, and Geyser Creek Thermal area. These areas are fragile, dangerous, and difficult to get to; travel without knowledgeable personnel is discouraged.
The small thermal area just north of Madison Junction. This area provides the visitor with a short boardwalk tour of hot springs.
The Madison River is formed at the junction of the Gibbon and Firehole rivers, hence Madison Junction. The Madison joins the Jefferson and the Gallatin rivers at Three Forks, Montana, to form the Missouri River. The Madison is a blue-ribbon fly fishing stream with healthy stocks of brown and rainbow trout and mountain whitefish. The canyon created by the river consists of steep, tree-covered rock walls on each side.
The river derives its name from the steam (which they thought was smoke from fires) witnessed by early trappers to the area. Their term for a mountain valley was "hole," and the designation was born. The Firehole River boasts a world-famous reputation for challenging fly-fishing. Brown, rainbow, and brook trout give the angler a wary target in this stream.