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Grand Falls is a natural waterfall system located 30 miles (48.3 kilometers) northeast of 
The waterfall is remote and no major paved roads access it. 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.
The Falls used to be open to tourists prior to March 2023, but has since then been closed for its safety to the local environment.
Flagstaff, Arizona
Flagstaff ( ), known locally as Flag, is the county seat of Coconino County, Arizona, in the southwestern United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 76,831.
Flagstaff is the principal city of the Coconino Cou ...
in the Painted Desert on the Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...
. It is also called Chocolate Falls because of the color.
It dumps snow melt or seasonal rain into the Little Colorado River
The Little Colorado River () is a tributary of the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona, providing the principal drainage from the Painted Desert region. Together with its major tributary, the Puerco River, it drains an area of about in ...
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 rangi ...
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. 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.
The Falls used to be open to tourists prior to March 2023, but has since then been closed for its safety to the local environment.
See also
*List of waterfalls
This list of notable waterfalls of the world is sorted by continent, then country, then province, state or territory. A waterfall is included if it is at least tall and has an existing Wikipedia article, or it is considered historically sig ...
References
{{reflist Landforms of Coconino County, Arizona Waterfalls of Arizona Block waterfalls