By:
Submission
Filterable water available.
Great trail. Well marked. Beautiful colors. Amazing views from the tops of the mountains. Bathrooms at trailhead. Get thwir early, parking fills up fast. Last bit of road before trail is very bumpy.
Rainbow lakes trailhead has a really cool vibe. A smaller laid back campground which I believe is first come first serve with great sites, each have bear boxes and nice tent areas that are well designed and nicely placed. There are also bathrooms at the trail parking lot, which is decently sized and has directions for the various hikes.
The real star or the show here though are the spectacular lakes and wonderful views along this memorable yet moderately difficult trail.
The lakes are smaller but still so cool and we even saw some wildlife. The trail has some semi technical sections but is for the most part fairly wide as I meanders slowly upward. Just a really nice out and back that on our day was hardly crowded.
Mostly shaded with some small water crossings but nothing dangerous.
I would recommend an SUV or pick up because the access road is a little gnarly as far as clearance and large rocks in some areas,however I did see people in small cars trying. overall a really nice way to spend three or four hours, and I’m sure your canine friends will love to splash around and swim.
Nice hike with intermediate terrain. Light elevation gain made it approachable for novice hikers looking to take in the beautiful forest and lakes. 10-15 minutes on unpaved road leads to trailhead so be prepared for that.
Moderate hike with beautiful lakes! My son went fly fishing, but due to the cold morning, the trout weren’t active until around 10:30am. Hardly anyone was there from 8am-10:30am, then lots of people started arriving. We found ice covering the first lake at 8:30am, Oct 7!
