Colter Falls, also called Coulter Falls, is a waterfall on the
Missouri River in north-central
Montana, and part of the
Great Falls of the Missouri. Downstream of Colter Falls lies
Rainbow Falls, and upstream is
Black Eagle Falls
The Great Falls of the Missouri River are a series of waterfalls on the upper Missouri River in north-central Montana in the United States. From upstream to downstream, the five falls along a segment of the riverCutright, Paul Russell, and John ...
. The falls is now flooded in the impoundment behind
Rainbow Dam. As Rainbow Dam's reservoir is a
run-of-the-river reservoir, it rarely is emptied, so the falls are rarely seen even in extreme drought.
Discovery
The
Lewis and Clark Expedition visited the falls, first describing the
Westslope cutthroat trout at their base, but did not name them. They were named by
Paris Gibson, founder of the city of
Great Falls, Montana
Great Falls is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County. The population was 60,442 according to the 2020 census. The city covers an area of and is the principal city of the Great Falls, M ...
.
References
Landforms of Cascade County, Montana
Waterfalls of Montana
Block waterfalls
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