Parking area for the hike into Upper Rainbow Canyon is a few minutes to the west of Father Crowley Point:
You can see the top portions of both sides of Rainbow Canyon as it narrows down and comes together at the head:
The trail to the canyon head is visible from the road and very easy to follow:
When I dropped into the wash leading to Rainbow Canyon, this burro was there to greet me. The wash is known as the Santa Rosa Wash:
Looking down the wash to see how Rainbow Canyon begins to take shape:
The upper part of the canyon begins with a beautiful brief section of narrows, shown in the next two pictures:
View into Rainbow Canyon close to the edge of the 1st major dry fall:
Carefully looking down the massive 100 foot 1st dry fall of Rainbow Canyon:
From this overlook, I had my first glimpse of the pretty rainbow bands which make this place famous:
After admiring that initial fantastic view for a while, I worked my way around the canyon to take the bypass route which I had read about. In the next two pictures, I'm using the bypass. I was expecting it to be a lot harder than it actually was:
View from the bypass route of the 1st major dry fall, surrounding walls, and large colorful band:
Now on the ground directly below the 100 foot 1st dry fall, the next three pictures are a panoramic which has been split up looking left to right:
Portrait view of the 1st major dry fall which I had been sitting on top of about 30 minutes ago:
Steve standing in front of the 100 foot 1st major dry fall of Rainbow Canyon in the next two pictures. This is definitely one of my favorite portrait shots from the entire trip because it is so colorful here:
Looking up at the bypass which I had scrambled down earlier:
Time to head farther down Upper Rainbow Canyon with great anticipation:
There were a couple of easy scrambles down some boulder jams and small dry falls:
What once may have bands on the canyon walls, these are now just rocks piled up on the canyon floor:
Upper Rainbow Canyon is narrow the whole way. It's also short, as there is maybe 15 minutes of walking through passable canyon:
Up ahead, it is evident that the hike will be coming to an untimely end soon:
The upper canyon comes to a close at the edge of the 170 foot 2nd major dry fall:
Looking straight down the 170 foot 2nd dry fall. In the upper middle portion of the picture (red part), you can see how there is a very short ledge before the 90 foot 3rd major dry fall tumbles over:
One of my favorite pictures ever taken in Death Valley and perhaps my new favorite viewpoint. Looking out into Middle Rainbow Canyon from the end of Upper Rainbow Canyon:
Two more views of the rainbow bands and grand vista from this viewpoint:
The moment I saw this view, I knew that I would need some good pictures. I took a bunch of pictures and then used some of these on the main page of the site for a while. Here are three personal pictures I took:
Next I backtracked about halfway up the upper canyon until I found a safe route up the southwestern wall. As I was going back up to the ridge, I took this picture looking down Upper Rainbow Canyon:
Once up on the ridge, I found a rim trail that was fairly easy to follow along the top:
In some ways, Rainbow Canyon reminds me of the Grand Canyon. Not just for its epic scenery, but also for the way the land above just suddenly drops off into a massive precipice:
Perhaps no other canyon in the park can claim such large scale beauty:
Looking down through Middle and Lower Rainbow Canyon from the rim trail. After enjoying the views along the rim trail, most hikers will head back to the vehicle:
Splitting up this panoramic allowed more focus on each individual section, being that this spot is so beautiful:
A huge landslide of boulders off to the right of the dry fall:
I had trouble choosing a favorite, that's why I included so many:
However, completely on my own without any outside information or help, I decided to see if I could figure out a major bypass to drop over 500 feet into Middle Rainbow Canyon. I first made my way down part of this steep hill:
Then, I turned to the right and managed to follow along part of a burro or sheep trail:
Finally, I came out upon a long slope of loose rocks forming a landslide. I carefully made my way down this area:
As you can see with my big smile here, I somehow was able to make it safely into Middle Rainbow Canyon, likely one of the first mere hikers to ever do so:
Being on the canyon floor of the middle canyon provided another unique perspective of the rainbow bands:
The first thing I decided to do was to head up canon as far as possible. As you can see here with these boulders, that would be no easy task:
Looking high up the colorful canyon walls:
At the top middle of this picture, you can see the 2nd major dry fall of Rainbow Canyon which is 170 feet tall. I had been standing at the rim of that dry fall 2 1/2 hours earlier. That tells you how long it took me to accomplish the bypass:
Still a great amount of rockfall just below the towering canyon walls:
In this picture, you can see the top part of the 2nd major dry fall and a full view of the 3rd major dry fall:
Steve pictured with both the 2nd and 3rd dry falls. The 3rd dry fall is 90 feet tall:
The view looking back down canyon from the base of the 3rd major dry fall. How many canyoneers have stood at this spot in the past and thought this was their private playground up ahead?:
Another magnificent view of Rainbow Canyon. The location of the parking lot for Father Crowley Vista Point is still out of view:
Starting to head back down the middle canyon. There was lots more to see before daylight was gone:
Notice that the depths of Rainbow Canyon were now mostly in shadows:
Joshua Trees growing in the wash of Middle Rainbow Canyon:
As I passed by my bypass route which I had taken down into the middle canyon, I looked back up it. Basically, I found a way to get from the top center of the picture down and over to the giant landslide of rocks and took that the rest of the way:
The scenery continued to impress in the middle canyon with more large bands stretching down to the wash:
And more large bands across the high cliffs above:
Navigation finally got easier in the middle canyon once a more defined wash became clear:
Notice that the wash finally cleared of the endless pile of fallen boulders:
The cliffs in the distance rise up over 1,000 feet in elevation above the canyon floor:
Sunshine still lighting up the cliffs way off in the distance:
The canyon continued to drop steeply but without any major obstacles:
There were some large boulders but these could be climbed down or worked around:
A smooth polished wall along one side of the canyon:
With the immense size of Rainbow Canyon, sometimes it can be difficult to get everything in a single photo:
There were smaller gorge areas where the walls would come close together and there would be a quick drop:
A towering block of rock on the right side of the canyon:
All of a sudden, I walked up to the edge of the 4th major dry fall:
Taking a closer look at the 4th dry fall. As you can see, a couple of massive boulders have become wedged and formed an unclimbable wall once sediment filled in the empty spaces:
Looking over the edge of the 4th major dry fall which is only 20 feet tall but a formidable obstacle:
One last picture of Steve at the top of the 4th major dry fall looking into Lower Rainbow Canyon. After taking this photo, I exited the canyon just before it got too dark to see:
TRIP REPORT PHOTOS