Rainbow Road

full-limited Icon
4.2/5 (49 reviews)
Idaho Springs, Colorado (Clear Creek County)
Last Updated: 06/21/2023

Trail Information

Highlights

Rainbow Road is a great mountain getaway with fishing, hiking, and camping. Located a short distance west of Idaho Springs on the way to St. Mary's Glacier, Rainbow Road takes you to the popular Fall River Reservoir and connects you to the Chinns Lake Trail. Along the route, you will come to a Continental Divide National Scenic Trail access point which provides long-distance hiking access north to James Peak Wilderness and southeast to Bill Moore Lake and Breckinridge Peak.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

4.2/5 (49)
User Avatar
inline-aa Icon
400
Open
Visited: 08/27/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

I just wanted to clarify my review below - I went up to the reservoir, not the Chinns Lake split off trail.
Trail Review: Rainbow Road - Todd
Trail Review: Rainbow Road - Todd
View More Images
User Avatar
inline-aa Icon
400
Open
Visited: 08/27/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

I did this trail on Saturday Aug 26, 2023 in a Lexus 470 lifted with oversize tires. Having done it I wouldn't take my stock 4Runner Off Road Pro up there. Not that it couldn't do it but there's a good chance I'd bang the undercarriage on rocks. It's a real rough rocky road with big rocks. A slow crawl. It's safe though as no dropoffs. Probably easy in a Jeep. Though I did see basically every type of truck and SUV up there I'm amazed some of them made it without damaging their vehicle. At 7am Saturday morning no one was there. By 3pm about 15 vehicles. Beautiful area for sure. I went up to Loch Lomond a few days ago also in my 4Runner and Rainbow Road was tougher, though Loch Lomond has a few areas with dropoffs.
Trail Review: Rainbow Road - Todd
User Avatar
inline-aa Icon
2300
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 08/12/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Still just a dirt rocky road until after way-point 3. From east to west, seemingly due to heavy rains, the road is much rockier with larger exposed rocks. Vehicles that are not purposely built for trails after way-point 3 will experience much trepidation.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 07/22/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

As other have stated, mostly just a rocky dirt road. I drove it until the final fork and then went up to Chinns Lake which is more difficult.
User Avatar
inline-aa Icon
2300
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 07/22/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

It's just a rough dirt road with some mining equipment. Make sure you follow the road to the right where it splits and becomes more difficult. There are several signs about private property and dust. Please try to be considerate to the folks who live there and drive slow.
Trail Review: Rainbow Road - Tom

From the Community

Start a free trial and get this level of detail on every trail guide
Start Free Trial