Upper Mesa Falls

The Henrys Fork is a famous river, a wide, spring-fed trout stream that glides through the pine flats of eastern Idaho, and at Mesa Falls it briefly turns violent. The whole river gathers and drops over a rock lip in a single broad curtain, throwing up a permanent cloud of mist that catches rainbows on sunny mornings.

The Forest Service has built a boardwalk and a series of platforms that carry you from the rim down along the falls, so you experience it up close rather than from a distant pullout. A few miles downstream, a highway overlook gives a long view of Lower Mesa Falls, the river's second drop, from across the canyon.

The rock the falls pour over tells a violent story. It is the Mesa Falls Tuff, a thick sheet of welded volcanic ash laid down about 1.3 million years ago in one of the enormous caldera eruptions of the Yellowstone hotspot, the second most recent of those cataclysms, which blasted out hundreds of cubic kilometers of material.

As the Henrys Fork later cut down through that hardened tuff, it reached a resistant ledge and began to plunge, carving the falls you see today. Standing at the base, you are looking at a river working on the bones of an ancient supervolcano, the same restless system that still powers the geysers of Yellowstone just up the road.

Perched above the falls is a handsome log building, the Big Falls Inn, raised in the early twentieth century by a power company that had eyed this drop for hydroelectricity. The dam never came, but the building found other lives, serving over the years as a hotel, a cafe, and a dance hall, and a way station for ranchers, sportsmen, and tourists traveling the old road toward Yellowstone. Sources differ on the exact year it went up, generally placing it between about 1907 and the mid-1910s.

After acquiring the inn in 1986, the Forest Service partnered with nearby Harriman State Park and other supporters to restore it, and today the old log lodge serves as the visitor center at the falls, a warm, historic anchor to a wild place.

This is the homeland of the Shoshone and Bannock peoples, whose descendants are enrolled today in the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and the Henrys Fork country has drawn people to its water and fish for a very long time. The falls sit in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest amid lodgepole pine, aspen, and huckleberry, home to moose, elk, deer, and the eagles and ospreys that hunt the river. The Henrys Fork itself is a legendary trout stream, though the falls are far too wild to fish.

Timing shapes the visit. Snowmelt in late spring and early summer sends the biggest, most deafening flows over the lip. Summer and fall bring easy access and golden aspens along the byway. In deep winter the scenic byway closes to cars beyond a point, and the falls become a reward for those who ski or ride in to watch the water steam and freeze at the edges.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

Upper Mesa Falls, on the Henrys Fork of the Snake River in eastern Idaho near Ashton, is a spectacular waterfall where the river plunges over a wide, dramatic drop of more than a hundred feet, sending up mist and thundering into the canyon below. One of the last major undeveloped waterfalls in the region, it is beautifully accessible via a series of boardwalks and viewing platforms that bring visitors close to the powerful falls. A historic lodge and visitor area add to the experience. Set amid forest in the eastern Idaho high country, it is a breathtaking sight. With its powerful waterfall and boardwalk views, Upper Mesa Falls offers a spectacular destination in Idaho.

You can walk the boardwalks and viewing platforms that lead close to the powerful waterfall, feel the mist and hear the thunder of the falls, take in the dramatic canyon and forest scenery, visit the historic lodge and visitor area, and photograph the spectacular cascade. The close-up boardwalk views of the powerful falls are the highlight, an accessible and awe-inspiring experience. Interpretive information explains the falls and area. With its dramatic waterfall, boardwalk views, and scenic setting, Upper Mesa Falls offers a rewarding stop near Ashton in eastern Idaho.

Stay on the boardwalks, platforms, and designated paths, keep behind railings, and do not climb over barriers or onto the rocks near the falls, as the powerful current, wet surfaces, and steep drops are dangerous. Watch children closely near the railings, and be aware that boardwalks can be slippery when wet or icy. The mist can make surfaces damp. Staying on the boardwalks, keeping behind railings, and supervising children ensure a safe visit to Upper Mesa Falls in eastern Idaho.

Late spring through fall is the best time, with late spring and early summer bringing the most powerful flow from snowmelt, summer offering pleasant weather and full access, and fall bringing beautiful color to the surrounding forest. The access road and site may be snowbound in winter. The falls are dramatic throughout the warm season. For the most powerful falls aim for late spring, and for pleasant weather and color, summer through fall, at Upper Mesa Falls near Ashton in eastern Idaho.

Upper Mesa Falls is on the Henrys Fork near Ashton in eastern Idaho, along the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway near Lower Mesa Falls, within reach of the Island Park caldera, Harriman State Park, and the route toward Yellowstone and the Idaho Falls area. That makes Upper Mesa Falls a spectacular stop to combine with the Mesa Falls Scenic Area, Harriman State Park, and the other attractions of eastern Idaho on a visit to the state.