Rainbow Creek Trail

Difficulty Distance Elevation Gain
 Unknown 1.0 Miles Round-trip 150 on way back

Destination

Rainbow Creek, 1,500 feet

Directions

On State Highway 20, 6 miles west of Concrete, turn left onto Baker Lake-Grandy Lake road. Go 20 miles to Road 1130, just after the Boulder Creek bridge. Take a right and follow the road 3 miles to the trailhead.

Notes

The pleasant forest trail travels down to Rainbow Creek, raging down the flank of Mount Baker. Up the creek is Rainbow Falls, an impressive spout that plummets a couple hundred feet.

The trail is straightforward and well marked. It can get slippery when wet and the way down to the creek is steep in some places. It is possible to cross over the creek on a logjam and continue up to Swift Creek on the former Swift Creek Trail. The trail is no longer serviced; the Forest Service is allowing it to go to seed since the corridor was determined to be prime grizzly bear habitat last year.

This area on Mount Baker is one of the most remote and least visited.