Boise National Forest · Idaho

Rainbow Lake

0.4 mi of trail, end to end · native material surface · trail No. 094004 · trail class 3 · typical grade trail_grade · tread 24-36 inches wide · hiking, horse, bike

Begins at the forest's mile 0, 44.8290, -115.5720 - no trailhead mapped Drive to where the trail begins

Rainbow Lake / Caton Lake Trailhead the Forest Service's write-up

The Rainbow Lake / Caton Lake Trailhead is a five-acre signed site with a hitching rack and restroom. It serves Caton Lake (#093) and Rainbow Lake (#094) trails.

Rainbow Lake Trail Information -

The first part of Caton Lake Trail is the upper portion of Ditch Creek Trail.

Ditch Creek Trail provides access to Rainbow Lake Trail and Caton Lake Trail.

Approximately 0.7 miles from the trailhead, the unsigned 0.3 mile Rainbow Lake Trail splits off to the left. In another 1.8 miles, the trail junctions with the Caton Lake Trail.

From the Ditch Creek/Caton Lake Trail junction to Caton Lake is 5 miles, and another 0.8 miles to the boundary of the Boise and Payette National Forests.

The trail weaves in and out of trees, large open wet areas, and meadows. After climbing slightly, the trail drops gently for several miles. The trail then passes through Caton Meadows, climbs to a low saddle, and drops sharply to Caton Lake.

This trail begins approximately 0.7 miles up the Ditch Creek Trail. It is not signed, but the trail is obvious and takes off to the left.

Just before the lake, the trail passes through a medium sized campsite, and then out of the trees onto a small marsh at the south end of the lake. Rainbow Lake is lovely and clear, though steep sides and encroaching forest limit the shore.

This trailhead on fs.usda.gov

Every trail in Boise National Forest

All 494 trails in Boise National ForestFind a trailForest on fs.usda.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.