Osprey Falls, Waterfall in Yellowstone National Park, United States

Osprey Falls is a waterfall in Yellowstone National Park where the Gardner River drops dramatically over volcanic rock into a narrow canyon below. The cascade sits within steep canyon walls that create an enclosed setting away from most park roads.

Surveyors named the falls in 1885 after spotting many osprey birds in the area during their mapping work. The birds that inspired the name were common hunters along the Gardner River at that time.

The name comes from the osprey, the fish hawk that frequents Yellowstone; members of the Hague Survey named the falls for the bird in 1885. In 1886 George Wood Wingate, a former Union Army officer, published a horseback account of the falls in Through the Yellowstone Park on Horseback, comparing the canyon ledges to the Palisades of the Hudson.

The trail to reach the falls is demanding and takes most of the day to walk completely. Visitors should expect uneven ground, elevation changes, and limited services along the way.

George Wood Wingate, a former Union Army officer, described the falls in his 1886 book Through the Yellowstone Park on Horseback, comparing the canyon walls to the Palisades of the Hudson River but four times deeper. He wrote of the river plunging in one unbroken fall of over a hundred feet before continuing in a series of cascades.