Kepler Cascades is a waterfall

Waterfall

A waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...

 on the Firehole River

Firehole River

The Firehole River is one of two major tributaries of the Madison River. It flows north approximately from its source in Madison Lake on the Continental Divide to join the Gibbon River at Madison Junction in Yellowstone National Park...

 in southwestern Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The cascades are located approximately 2.5 miles south of Old Faithful. The cascades drop approximately 150 feet over multiple drops. The longest drop is 50 feet. The cascades are located very near to and visible from the Old Faithful to West Thumb road.

History

The Kepler Cascades were described by the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition

Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition

The Washburn Expedition of 1870, explored the region of northwestern Wyoming that a couple years later became Yellowstone National Park. Led by Henry Washburn, Nathaniel P. Langford and under U.S. Army escort led by Lt. Gustavus C...

 in 1870 but not named until 1881. In his 1871 report to the Secretary of War, Gustavus C. Doane

Gustavus Cheyney Doane

Gustavus Cheyney Doane was a U.S. Army Cavalry Captain, explorer, inventor and Civil War soldier who played a prominent role in the exploration of Yellowstone as a member of the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition.-Early life:...

, a member of the expedition described Kepler Cascades as:

September 18 [1870]. -- We broke camp at 9 o'clock, traveling along the slopes of the ridges, skirting the ravines through falling timber, and passing in many places over swampy terraces, for a distance of three miles, when we suddenly came upon a mountain torrent, 40 feet wide, and running through a gorge of trachyte lava 200 feet in depth. This was the Firehole River, heading in a lake a few miles to the south. Following down the course of this stream we presently passed two fine roaring cascades, where the water tumbled over rocks to the depth of 20 and 50 feet successively. These pretty little falls, if located on an eastern stream, would be celebrated in history and song; here, amid objects so grand as to strain conception and stagger belief, they were passed without a halt.

The cascades were named by Philetus Norris

Philetus Norris

Philetus W. Norris was the second superintendent of Yellowstone National Park and was the first person to be paid for that position.- Early life :...

, park superintendent in 1881 for the 12 year old son of Wyoming's territorial

Wyoming Territory

The Territory of Wyoming was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 25, 1868, until July 10, 1890, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne was the territorial capital...

 governor John Wesley Hoyt

John Wesley Hoyt

Dr. John Wesley Hoyt was an American politician and educator.Born in Worthington, Ohio, in 1831, he graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and attained a medical degree from Eclectic Medical Institute in Ohio. He moved to Wisconsin in 1857 and became active in politics...

. Hoyt and his son, Kepler Hoyt, were visiting Yellowstone in 1881 when Norris named the cascades after Kepler.