Great Falls (Missouri River)

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 10-mile (16 km) segment of the river are: Black Eagle Falls (26 feet 5 inches or 8.05 meters) Colter Falls (6 feet 7 inches or 2.01 meters) Rainbow Falls (44 feet 6 inches or 13.56 meters) Crooked Falls, also known as Horseshoe Falls (19 feet or 5.79 m) Big Falls, also known as the Great Falls, (87 feet or 26.52 m) The Missouri River drops a total of 612 feet (187 m) from the first of the falls to the last, which includes a combined 187 feet (57 m) of vertical plunges and 425 feet (130 m) of riverbed descent.

The Great Falls have been described as "spectacular", one of the "scenic wonders of America", and "a major geographic discovery". When the Lewis and Clark Expedition became the first white men to see the falls in 1805, Meriwether Lewis said they were the grandest sight he had beheld thus far in the journey.