Not So Great? This Is Actually Montana’s Most Overrated Waterfall

Montana is a great place to visit if you enjoy nature and pristine wilderness. Unfortunately, there are a few places in the state that will leave you longing for more.

Tourist Trap Alert: This Montana Waterfall Could Be Better

Montana is full of picturesque waterfalls, but there are a few that are considered a huge letdown. When the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived in 1805, they encountered a magnificent, rugged waterfall stretching 80 feet high.

However, in the name of progress, dams were built in the early 20th century, effectively reducing the once-mighty falls to a controlled trickle.

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Today, visitors expecting an awe-inspiring natural wonder are instead greeted by a man-made structure regulating water flow. To be honest, the name of the waterfall is a bit misleading.

Great Falls, Montana, might sound like a place boasting a breathtaking waterfall, but the reality is far less impressive. In truth, the city’s namesake “falls” are among the most overrated natural attractions in the state.

Even the city’s attempt to market the falls as a must-see attraction falls flat when compared to the genuinely breathtaking sights Montana has to offer. Even locals refer to the falls as "mediocre falls."

Why spend time staring at what’s essentially a glorified spillway when you could be marveling at Palisade Falls near Bozeman, or watching the thunderous, unspoiled beauty of Virginia and St. Mary Falls in Glacier?

Sure, the history behind the Great Falls is interesting, and the dams provide essential hydroelectric power, but if you’re looking for Montana’s best waterfalls, this isn’t it. If anything, it’s a lesson in how human intervention can turn something once wild and majestic into a controlled, uninspiring afterthought.