What is "great falls"

Great Falls may refer to:

In the United States:

• Great Falls, Montana
• Great Falls, South Carolina
• Great Falls, Virginia
  • Great Falls Park
• Great Falls, New Hampshire, previous name of Somersworth, New Hampshire

• Great Falls (Catawba River), South Carolina, United States
• Great Falls (Hamilton, Ontario), Canada
• Great Falls (Housatonic River), Connecticut
• Great Falls (Missouri River), Montana, United States
• Great Falls (Passaic River), New Jersey, United States
• Great Falls (Potomac River), Maryland, United States
• Celilo Falls, Columbia River, United States (historical name)

The Great Falls of the Passaic River is a prominent waterfall, high, on the Passaic River in the city of Paterson in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. The falls and surrounding area are protected as part of the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, administered by the National Park Service. The Congress authorized its establishment in 2009.

One of the United States' largest waterfalls, it played a significant role in the early industrial development of New Jersey starting in the earliest days of the nation. It is part of the Great Falls of Paterson-Garret Mountain National Natural Landmark. It has also been designated as a National Historic Landmark District since 1976. The Great Falls' raceway and power systems were designated an Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1977.

Great Falls is a series of rapids and waterfalls on the Potomac River, upstream from Washington, D.C., on the border of Montgomery County, Maryland and Fairfax County, Virginia. Great Falls Park, operated by the National Park Service, is located on the southern banks in Virginia, while Chesapeake and Ohio Canal parkland is located along the northern banks of the river in Maryland. The Potomac and the falls themselves are legally entirely within Maryland, with the state and county boundaries following the south bank of the river.

Scenic views are offered on both the Maryland side and the Virginia side. The Billy Goat Trail on Bear Island, accessible from Maryland, offers scenic views of the Great Falls, as do vantage points on Olmsted Island (also accessible from Maryland). There are overlook points on the Virginia side.

The Great Falls area is popular for outdoor activities such as kayaking, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, and hiking.

Great Falls and Little Falls (about 5 miles downstream) are named in contradistinction to one another.

Great Falls is a waterfall formed along the Housatonic River at Falls Village in the town of Canaan amidst Connecticut's Litchfield Hills. Great Falls is the highest volume waterfall in the state, though a great deal of its potential water volume is diverted immediately upstream during most of the year for hydro-electric power generation.

The Great Falls of the Missouri River are a series of waterfalls on the Missouri River in north-central Montana in the United States. The five falls, which are located in a area of the river, are:

• Black Eagle Falls ;
• Colter Falls ;
• Rainbow Falls ;
• Crooked Falls, also known as Horseshoe Falls ; and
• The Great Falls .

The Missouri River drops a total of from the first of the falls to the last, which includes of waterfalls and of riverbed descent. The Great Falls have been described as "spectacular", one of the "scenic wonders of America", and "a major geographic discovery". Meriwether Lewis said they were the grandest sight he'd beheld thus far in the journey of the Corps of Discovery.

The Great Falls of the Missouri River were depicted on the Montana Territory territorial seal, and became part of the State of Montana's state seal in 1893.

The Great Falls of the Catawba River mark the point at which the river encounters a series of rapids while coursing across the Piedmont Plateau on the border of Lancaster County, South Carolina, and Chester County, South Carolina, near the town of Great Falls. Prior to the creation of the Fishing Creek Reservoir and other artificial lakes by Duke Power, the falls were a major landmark on the river. The rapids could be heard from long distances away, while a major pre-Columbian trading path ran near the left bank. Historically the Great Falls of the Catawba were approximately 4 miles long, with a total elevation drop of 121 feet. (The word "falls" was an 18th-century appellation, when any river rapids and vertical waterfalls alike were both referred to as falls.) The creation of the dams at Great Falls, South Carolina has resulted in the top 2 miles of it being completely dry (dewatered) except during times of very high flow. The bottom portion of historical Great Falls is drowned by Cedar Creek dam, another hydroelectric project. As of 2006, interest groups have formed in the Carolinas to restore the Great Falls by altering the dam and restoring flow to the dewatered stretch of Great Falls as part of a major restoration project of the Catawba River. As of 2007, a new licensing arrangement has been agreed to by Duke Energy and several interested parties.

Below the Great Falls, the river flows into Lake Wateree where it becomes the Wateree River.

Category:Landforms of Chester County, South Carolina Category:Landforms of Lancaster County, South Carolina Category:Rapids of the United States

Great Falls (also called Grand Falls or Big Falls) is a major waterfall located on the Missouri River in western Montana in the United States. It is the lowermost and largest of the eponymous Great Falls of the Missouri, at high and up to wide at peak flow. Although the falls used to flow powerfully year-round, most of the water is now diverted to the 60 megawatt hydroelectric plant of upstream Ryan Dam, reducing it to a trickle in the summer months. Grand Falls was named by William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805.