Rainbow Falls Historic Site — Attraction in Colorado Springs

TLDR: If you're just in town and looking for things to see, I'd say this park is an easy skip. If you're a family with young ones looking to cool off over the summer, pack some towels and wear your bathing suits and I'd say this is a smash hit! For everyone in between, if you're willing to make the most of what it is, it can be a relaxing and fun way to get wet and spend time outdoors. Be willing to pay the $20 for parking though - none of the alternative options are worth the stress in my opinion.

The park itself is free, but in order to get there you must either: A. Park down the road (limited parking) and hike uphill (no sidewalks or walking paths that I could see) or B. Pay $20 per vehicle to park at the designated parking location (also limited parking, but you can schedule your arrival time) and take a round-trip shuttle up to the park gates. I highly recommend B if you can afford it - it's a bit steep for one person, but for families it's definitely worth it. My shuttle driver was friendly and accommodating, and the drive to the park is maybe 2 minutes long.

The walk from the gate to the falls is mostly flat and very short. There is a bench and table halfway that would be perfect for picnicking if you can manage the rocky steps. To get to the water there are also a few rocky steps, but they were easily managable for most people I saw visiting. This last stretch down to the water is not handicap accessible since there are no hand rails nor ramps.

At the falls themselves, there is a retaining wall which you can sit, lay, or leave your things at. There is a garbage bin, but no bathrooms or changing stations - the only bathrooms are the porta-potties at the front gate. The entire area in front of the falls and river is shaded by the bridge overhead. When I was there, there was also a park ranger on watch the entire time cleaning up stray garbage.

If you want to get wet, a warning that the water is COLD! You can either take off your shoes and simply dip your feet in, or you can get wet up to your chest and walk behind the waterfall. If you want to get soaked, I'd recommended wearing a swimsuit under your clothes. I also recommend some water shoes - the rocks can be rough on the feet.

At 10am on a Saturday the place was mostly empty, but by noon there were 2 or 3 families all sharing the water. The earlier you can arrive the better, but the place wasn't too crowded overall. Just expect there to be a family or two taking pictures, some kids running around, and there may be a dog since dogs on leashes are also allowed at the park.

And yes, the bridge overhead at the falls is still covered in graffiti! None of it was profane, just some tags and writing. There is some trash tucked away in hard-to-reach places, and some of it ends up behind the waterfall itself, but the place did not feel dirty to me personally.

I went alone and spent almost 2 hours here. I had an amazing time getting in the cold water and sunbathing afterwards, as well as sketching some of the picturesque scenery. It can be a 10 minute venture or an all day activity - like most things, its whatever...

For me personally, this was a fun trip because we were able to enjoy nature and hike up the mountain to the Falls since there weren't any parking spaces. HOWEVER, I noticed around lunch time spaces open up. So if you're wanting to plan it where you have a chance of having a parking spot actually in the Rainbow Falls gate, try going then.

My experience started rocky, pun intended. We arrive at 9:15 not knowing they didn't open until 10 and that's when we noticed there's hardly any parking spots inside that gate. My mom had already tried to visit 3 times before this most recent but didn't have time to wait for a spot to open, so she had to leave. Anyway, the Rainbow Falls attendant came out and told us to drive around until 10 and come back. Which we did. And when we came back, right at 10, every spot was taken as we knew would happen. It was frustrating at first.

After we backed out, we decided to find a spot in town and just walk, mind you had a five year old with us and didn't know if she would be able to hang it there. It was also getting in the 90s, super hot. Thankfully, we all had brought water bottles so we were able to hike it. It really was a beautiful walk, at times there's weren't sidewalks so we had to walk in the road with traffic. There's also construction going on, a bit of a mess but we made the best of it and decided to soak in the nature!

Once we reached the Falls, BEAUTIFUL!!! It was very cold and I would recommend wearing crocs or shoes you can walk in the water with, there's rocks that will hurt. For us, it was perfect since we were hiking up and down the mountain to get to/from our vehicle, so the water felt great and refreshing.

We came on a Saturday right as they opened, perhaps during the week might be better, parking wise? If hiking sounds like your ideal thing, then DO ITTTT. Plan to pay for parking in town and take your time walking,...

After a two and a half year closure to solve a parking problem (too many cars hit by falling rocks in the old lot)…

Rainbow Falls is open for an experience of a lifetime!

With the graffiti art reminding the visitors of the hope in pain, you may want to visit earlier than you’ve planned…

The plan according to the park staff is to cover this art up. And I understand as some of the words may offend sensitive eyes. 👀

However without the history of the place…it is just not as colorful.

If you go, hope to get a shuttle ride with the best jeep tour guide in the company. His name is Augustus. He’s been in the area since the early 80’s and offers private jeep tours as well!

George was the other pro from a company in which I was thoroughly impressed. He was just as knowledgeable as also super personable and uplifting to the whole team. He was super jind and skso iept the new lot immaculate from trash

Inside I met Ryan who happened to be going to do a last round of trash pickup, himself. As we walked to the falls he was kind enough to share his expertise on the geological history of the place in terms of millions of years and type of rocks including igneous 🪨 and described the conditions that were present in the area to yield such noticeable differences in the color and make of the rocks.

If I could have made a tour of the place I would have done it this way. This place is amazing!!

Link is to a video of this

https://youtu.be/qLfCLOn-kUQ?si=cZMWU4ZQQt_5095W

Kudos Colorado! ...