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Above and Below: Rainbow
Falls (originally "Handsome Falls") is a waterfall on the Missouri
River in Great Falls, Montana, just upstream from Crooked Falls and
downstream from Colter Falls and Rainbow Dam. It is 47 feet high and
1,320 feet wide. The waterfall is part of the five Great Falls of the
Missouri. The river spills over a sheer ledge of sandstone in the Kootenai
Formation, forming the falls. The falls used to flow with a great deal
of force year-round. In 1914 the river shortly upstream was dammed for
hydroelectric power by the Rainbow Dam, which forms a run-of-the-river
reservoir. As a result, the falls can almost totally dry up in the summer
with only a few narrow strips of water trickling down its face. A railroad
bridge crosses the river directly above the falls. The red rocks add
to the beauty and the sheer drop off makes Rainbow Falls sort of resemble
a much smaller version of Niagara Falls. |
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Below: Crooked
Falls - as seen by the Two RV Gypsies from above Rainbow Falls overlook |
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Below: Sacagawea Scenic
Overlook and Black Eagle Falls |
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Below: An interloper, named
Lee Duquette, got in on the action. |
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Black Eagle Falls is located
right in town along the riverside trail, plus it can be accessed from
the north end of the Missouri River as well. There is an island park
on the north side that gives a closer look of the falls than the more
popular south shore overlook. |
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