Mesa Falls

Mesa Falls is an outdoor activity in Ashton, ID, part of the Yellowstone Country guide. Cost: under $25. Visitor center opens at the end of May each year, depending on snow and access.

Mesa Falls Visitor Center, Mesa Falls Scenic Byway, about 16 miles from Ashton · Ashton, ID

Why you should go…

Upper Mesa Falls drops 114 feet across a 200-foot-wide ledge on the Henrys Fork of the Snake River, inside Caribou-Targhee National Forest. An accessible trail and boardwalk lead to views of the falls, and you may spot osprey and eagles along the canyon. The visitor center occupies the historic Big Falls Inn, built around 1915, with exhibits on the area's natural and cultural history. A one-mile nature trail through the forest ends at an overlook of Lower Mesa Falls.

#waterfall
#scenic byway
#national forest
#boardwalk
#hiking

What's around here?

The closest stops to Mesa Falls, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

Sightseeing
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Old Faithful
$25–$50
Watch Yellowstone's signature geyser shoot water more than 100 feet high from the surrounding boardwalks.
31 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
Sport & Outdoor
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Grand Prismatic Spring
$25–$50
Follow the boardwalk past Yellowstone's largest hot spring, a deep blue pool ringed in orange and yellow.
34 mi awayMore like this
Tours
Outdoor Adventure
Yellowstone Helicopters
$50+
Helicopter sightseeing flights from West Yellowstone Airport over Hebgen Lake, Two Top and Earthquake Country, from 20-minute hops to a 60-minute wilderness explorer.
34 mi awaySwitch it up: Tours
Attractions
Family Favorite
Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center
Under $25
Nonprofit wildlife park near Yellowstone's west entrance, home to rescued grizzly bears, gray wolves and other native species.
34 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions
Sport & Outdoor
History Buff
Nez Perce National Historic Trail
Free
A 1,170-mile historic trail across five states retracing the Nez Perce people's 1877 flight from the U.S. Army.
35 mi awayMore like this
Sport & Outdoor
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Yellowstone Lake
$25–$50
Look out over North America's largest high-elevation lake, with geysers on its shore at West Thumb and trout below Fishing Bridge.
51 mi awayMore like this