Upper Mesa Falls

Infobox Waterfall
name = Upper Mesa Falls


image_size = 200
caption = Upper Mesa Falls in June, 2008
location = Fremont County, Idaho
latitude = +44° 11' 16.44"
longitude = -111° 19' 48.72"
coordinates = coord|44|11|16|N|111|19|48|W
elevation = convert|5600|ft|m|0
type = Cascade waterfall
height = convert|114|ft|m|0 [cite web
title = Upper Mesa Falls, Idaho
work =
publisher = Public Lands Information Center
date = 2008
url = http://www.publiclands.org/explore/site.php?search=YES&back=Search%20Results&id=7121
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-08-13]
width =
height_longest =
average_width =
number_drops =
average_flow =
watercourse = Henrys Fork (Snake River)
world_rank =
footnotes =

Upper Mesa Falls is a waterfall on the Henrys Fork in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. Upstream from Lower Mesa Falls, it is roughly 16 miles away from Ashton, Idaho.

Upper Mesa Falls is roughly 114 feet high and 300 feet wide. [ [http://www.westyellowstonenet.com/attractions/mesa_falls.php Mesa Falls Near Ashton Idaho ] ]

Formation

Mesa Falls Tuff, which is the rock over which Upper Mesa Falls cascades, was formed 1.3 million years ago. A cycle of rhyolitic volcanism from the Henrys Fork caldera deposited a thick layer of rock and ash across the area. [cite book
last = Shallat
first = Todd A
authorlink =
coauthors = Bentley, E B
title = Snake: the plain and its people
publisher = Boise State University
date = 1994
location = Boise, ID
pages = 53
url =
doi =
oclc = 31689273
isbn = 9780932129123] This layer compressed and hardened over time.

Between 200,000 and 600,000 years ago, the river eroded a wide canyon which was subsequently partly filled with basalt lava flows. The Henrys Fork of the Snake River then carved the channel through the basalt; which is the inner canyon seen today.

External Links

[http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/caribou-targhee/about/mesafalls/index.shtml Mesa Falls Recreation Area] (USDA Forest Service - Caribou-Targhee National Forest)

References