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Rainbow Basin National Natural Landmark

5/5 (4 reviews)
Barstow, California (San Bernardino County)
Last Updated: 05/05/2019

Trail Information

Highlights

Rainbow Basin National Natural Landmark, is an area of geo-formed badlands and folded differently colored strata which have been eroded into small ravines and pinnacles. The basin is found at the edge of hills, 8 miles north of Barstow in a part of the Mojave Desert, and the loneliness of the setting is quite striking with huge slabs of red, orange, white, and green stones tilting at crazy angles. The trail is a winding loop trail that takes one through the basin and provides wonderful views of the amazing rock formations.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

5/5 (4)
400
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 05/07/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Great little loop. Great scenery and plenty of photo ops. A full size rig might find some tight spots… but plenty of room for most vehicles. Some spots you can pass other cars if needed. Perfect for thos first timers with the exploration itch!
Open
Visited: 01/18/2021

The Owl Canyon Campground is great! It is $6.00 a night, first come first served. We came over MLK, Jr weekend and about 7 of the 22 sites were full. Sites have new cement picnic tables, new fire rings with adjustable height cooking grates, new cement BBQ grills, and new shade structures. The vault toilets are clean, with many spaces around the two loops. The road is well compacted and graded. Any RV should be fine in these sites. There are no hooks ups, and no shade other than the man made structures. Site are spaced apart fairly well for SoCal. Nice rocks for kids to play on. Some playground equipment too.
100
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 02/23/2020

This is a beautiful little canyon that can be accessed by just about any vehicle. It is a well graded dirt road. There is some very cool geologic features to enjoy. We had a group of 10 vehicles and we did this as a part of a larger day trip that started out on Fossil Bed Road.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 06/15/2019

The dirt road is easy for any stock 4x4 vehicle. The view and landmarks are really cool. It’s a great day trip just outside of Barstow.

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