Rainbow Falls is a gorgeous 101-foot waterfall on the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River located in the Devil’s Postpile National Monument.

Rainbow Falls is a gorgeous 101-foot waterfall on the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River located in the Devil's Postpile National Monument, near Mammoth Lakes, California. An easy day hike through the Ansel Adams Wilderness.
Sunrise Hike to Rainbow Falls Near Mammoth Lakes

We were super excited to hike to a raging Rainbow Falls this year. For the past several years, the Sierra has sadly gotten an abnormally low amount of snow, and therefore low snowmelt to feed rivers, lakes, waterfalls, etc. We hadn’t been back to the falls since before 2011, the Sierra’s last good snow year. But thankfully, this past winter it absolutely DUMPED snow (the slopes were open until the first weekend of August!). So with the rivers happily rushing, we made sure to make the quick hike to beautiful Rainbow Falls.

Afternoon is definitely your best bet to see an iconic rainbow shining over the falls, but we chose to beat the heat and the crowds and get some shots with the morning light, so we were on the trail by 7:30 am.

You can only drive your vehicle into Red's Meadow Valley before 7am or after 7pm (unless you're camping or a few other special exceptions). It's $10/vehicle or you can use your National Parks Pass. Otherwise, you have to take the $7/person shuttle from the Mammoth Mountain Main Lodge. Shuttle departure times vary depending on the time of day.

You will either love or hate the fact that the hike is downhill. We’re neutral since the elevation loss isn’t drastic, but if you’re not used to elevation or you’re still waking up like us, you’ll feel it a bit on the way back. Another pro for hiking early in the morning is that most of this hike is fairly exposed thanks to the 1992 Rainbow Fire whose aftermath is still very evident in this part of the valley.

Years of fire suppression lead to the devastating Rainbow Fire in 1992.
Years of fire suppression lead to the devastating Rainbow Fire in 1992.
This trail is great bang for your buck.
This trail is great bang for your buck.

The hike is located in the Ansel Adams Wilderness and crosses into the Devil’s Postpile National monument right before you reach the falls. The trail intersects several others, including the PCT/JMT, the trail to the actual Devil’s Postpile, a crazy basalt rock column formation, and to Fish Creek in the John Muir Wilderness backcountry.

Crossing over Boundary Creek.
Crossing over Boundary Creek.
You can see Mammoth Mountain to the left!
You can see Mammoth Mountain to the left!

The main attraction isn’t far – less than 1.5 miles from the trailhead you’ll lay eyes on one of our very favorite waterfalls:

Fun fact: Rainbow Falls continues to move farther and farther upstream due to undercutting. It’s about 500 feet from its original location! You can track its movements by looking at the surrounding rocks.

There are two main viewpoints. The photo above was taken at the second one, which we think is the better view. There are very steep rock stairs that lead to the bottom of the falls, but they were closed this year for construction.

Since they’re aren’t as spectacular, most people (including us – we’re usually too eager to go fishing) don’t walk the extra half mile or so until the end of the trail, but we thought we would this time.

The Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River.
The Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River.

While not as grand, Lower Falls definitely isn’t ugly…

Standing above Lower Falls.
Standing above Lower Falls.
Lower Falls pool.
Lower Falls pool.

On the way back, we starting noticing quite a few more people, especially families, as the shuttle bus was dropping off the first few loads of people. If you don’t like crowds, we highly recommend doing this hike first thing in the morning. You can snap photos to your heart’s content with nary a tourist in the way. 😉

Rainbow Falls is a stunner, worthy of any being on any waterfall chaser’s bucket list!