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Grand Falls is a natural waterfall system located 30 miles (48.3 kilometers) northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona in the Painted Desert on the 
The waterfall is remote and no major paved roads access it. In fact the closest road, Grand Falls Road, crosses the floor of the Little Colorado River and at times during the year, only a four-wheel-drive vehicle can traverse it. The falls are dormant for months of the year and reduced to only a drip. To access the falls a passenger car can reach the south side of the river. However, a four-wheel-drive vehicle is then required and only Navajo guides or experienced back-country people are advised to take the road across the river.
A Navajo Nation hiking permit is not required to visit the Falls. The site and the roads to it are located on the Navajo Nation so leaving the roads or trails is against Navajo Law. Picnic benches are provided at the viewpoint. The trail is one-half mile long and easy.
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native American reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah; at roughly , the ...
. It is also called Chocolate Falls because of the color.
At tall, it is taller than Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...
. It dumps snow melt or seasonal rain into the Little Colorado River below. It is known for its extremely muddy flow, which is a major contributor of Little Colorado River opacity. Heavy rains or snow melt will produce spectacular viewing, photography, and sound, whereas a scarcity of water will produce only trickles or no flow at all.
Grand Falls was formed when lava from nearby Merriam Crater in the San Francisco volcanic field
The San Francisco volcanic field is an area of volcanoes in northern Arizona, north of Flagstaff, US. The field covers 1,800 square miles (4,700 km²) of the southern boundary of the Colorado Plateau. The field contains 600 volcanoes rang ...
flowed into the Little Colorado River, creating a lava dam. The river was forced to reroute itself around the dam and Grand Falls formed where the river rejoins its original course.
The waterfall is remote and no major paved roads access it. In fact the closest road, Grand Falls Road, crosses the floor of the Little Colorado River and at times during the year, only a four-wheel-drive vehicle can traverse it. The falls are dormant for months of the year and reduced to only a drip. To access the falls a passenger car can reach the south side of the river. However, a four-wheel-drive vehicle is then required and only Navajo guides or experienced back-country people are advised to take the road across the river.
A Navajo Nation hiking permit is not required to visit the Falls. The site and the roads to it are located on the Navajo Nation so leaving the roads or trails is against Navajo Law. Picnic benches are provided at the viewpoint. The trail is one-half mile long and easy.
References
{{reflist Landforms of Coconino County, Arizona Waterfalls of Arizona Block waterfalls