Ottawa National Forest · Michigan

Rainbow Falls

0.1 mi of trail, end to end · asphalt surface · trail No. 60083 · trail class 4 · typical grade 12-20% · tread 36-48 inches wide · hiking, bike, snowshoe, ski

Begins at the forest's mile 0, 46.6590, -90.0450 - no trailhead mapped Drive to where the trail begins

Rainbow Falls the Forest Service's write-up

season January 1 to December 31

A 1/2 mile hiking trail will take you from a paved parking lot to a stairway dropping down to an observation platform overlooking the scenic Black River and Rainbow Falls. The falling water (40 feet) creates a mist, and sometimes with the right angle of sunlight, produces a rainbow effect, which gives the falls its name. Rainbow Falls can also be viewed from the east side of the river. This side will provide the photographer with a better angle of the falls. Trail access to the east side begins after crossing the suspended foot bridge at Black River Harbor Picnic Area. This trail is 3/4 mile long via the North Country Trail. Black River Harbor Parking lot and picnic area can also be hiked to from the Rainbow Falls west trail (County Road 513). In September, one can watch as chinook and coho salmon make their upstream runs to the falls.

This hike on fs.usda.gov

Every trail in Ottawa National Forest

All 3,400 trails in Ottawa 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.