Grand Falls - the lava source

This is Merriam Crater, the source of the lava that created Grand Falls. The lava flow rached 10 miles in length to flood the Little Colorado canyon and beyond.

Grand Falls geolgoy

This view of a dry Grand Falls is looking back upstream of the original river flow. The falls in the foreground show the affects of water erosion while the background shows the canyon filled with lava and the original canyon rim capped with several feet of lava which flowed from the right, into the canyon, then filled it and continued to flow to the left as well as filling the canyon downstream.

Grand Falls

Grand Falls at a dry time. Grand Falls can be found northeast of Flagstaff Arizona. It is the result of a lava flow which dammed the Little Colorado River. The river canyon eventually filled with water and overflowed the rim and the water found its way around the lava flow, running roughly northward, then westward around the flow and then back to the south where it found the orignal canyon again at this spot, creating a water fall in the process. It has slowly eroded away the wall. You can see large chunks of the wall laying both on the shelf right of center and in the pool at the base of the falls at the left edge of the frame. When Grand Falls runs, it is usually a brown torrent.