The Falls of Rauros lay on the course of Anduin as it flowed out of the hills of the Emyn Muil. At this point in its course, the Great River spread out to form a wide lake known as Nen Hithoel, and then thundered down on either side of the tall island of Tol Brandir into a great waterfall. At the base of that powerful fall, the river had carved a basin that it filled with churning water before flowing on southwards. This foaming basin at the base of Rauros, ringed by rainbows from the falling water, was given the name of Rauros-foot.

The falls and the basin at their foot made this section of Anduin impassible for river-craft, and the Gondorians solved this problem by creating a passage down from the high Emyn Muil onto the plains below the fall. From the lawn of Parth Galen above Rauros, the long path known as the North Stair led down to the lands beside Rauros-foot, enabling traffic to pass north and south along the Great River. By the closing years of the Third Age, the lands northward of Rauros were almost entirely abandoned, and so there was little traffic on the river. Nonetheless, the Stair down to Rauros-foot remained.

When the Company of the Ring reached this point in their journey, they planned to use the North Stair and carry on to Minas Tirith, but the Fellowship was broken and scattered at Parth Galen above Rauros. Boromir was slain there by Orcs, and his funeral boat was sent over the falls. Thus, in the end he was the only one of the Fellowship to pass Rauros-foot on his long journey down the Great River.