Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Great Falls, MT and the Great Falls of the Missouri

We explored the Missouri River area which runs through Great Falls, MT and were very surprised at the Great Falls that are actually on the river. While the falls are now the site of large dams, they are still very impressive. This is Rainbow Falls is about 45' tall and is some 1,100 feet wide and is just south of Great Falls.

This is the actual Great Falls of the river and is almost 100' high. These are the falls that caused such a problem for Lewis and Clark since they had to portage some 18 miles to get around the series of 5 falls that dropped over 400'.
There is a large hydro-electric plant here as shown by Orinda and Cody! There is a wonderful park on an island between the hydro canal and the main river, which is a great place to watch the falls.

A great surprise is the Giant Spring State Park which is just below the Rainbow Falls. This beautiful state park features the spring and this fish hatchery with these huge trout! Apparently, they do let a few of these beauties go to make some fisherman's day!

The spring empties into the Roe River, which is only 201'long and is said to be the shortest river in the world. We recalled the D River in Lincoln City, OR which was 401' -- there was a bit of disagreement over which was the shortest!

Here is the Giant Spring putting forth over 150 Million gallons per day! This crystal clear water is a constant 54 degrees.

Cody and Orinda really loved the spring! This platform let us walk right over the spring and watch the water pour out. Giant Spring is well worth the stop.

1 comment:

squawmama said...

We visited Great Falls last year too... I think you’re on the same route we took. On River Drive there is the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center. It is truly a must see if your ever in the area. They have 2 movies they alternate and show plus a ranger who is of the Blackfeet Tribe that demonstrates ways of survival for Indians of those days. Have Fun!

Travel Safe
Donna