Rainbow Canyon is one destination in Death Valley which I always thought had an awesome name, but never expected to actually end up visiting. The reason why is that it has always been known as a climbing canyon, having 4 massive dry falls which all require rappelling down with lengthy ropes to continue. Rainbow Canyon is well known to all regular park visitors, as just about everybody has looked down into it from the overlook at Father Crowley Point. However, the canyon name is not as well known, since the hike has never before been recommended in a guidebook. To break things down, Rainbow Canyon is divided into 3 sections-- Upper (mainly known for being accessible to climbers, but some hikers can find their way in), Middle (only accessible to climbers who rappel in), and Lower (known mainly for easy access for hikers). These three sections are all divided by massive dry falls. The head of Upper Rainbow Canyon basically starts out with the 1st dry fall (100 ft.). Next, Upper & Middle Rainbow are divided by the 2nd dry fall (170 ft.) and 3rd dry fall (90 ft.) which are done as back-to-back rappels. And finally, Middle and Lower Rainbow are divided by the 4th dry fall (20 ft.). During my Spring 2010 trip, I had the chance to solo hike the canyon over the course of two days. This report is for the upper portion, while another report covers the lower portion.
When I went home to take a short break from my Spring 2010 trip, I was feeling a bit down and needed something to spark my interest and inspire me enough to go back and finish my trip. It was at this point that a friend invited me to hike Lower Rainbow Canyon with him. He ended up not being able to make it, but his off-hand mention of Lower Rainbow Canyon raised my curiosity enough to think to myself- 'he mentioned Lower Rainbow, well, what about Upper Rainbow?' While I was home I did some research and found a climber's report which shared details of a bypass which could be used to get into Upper Rainbow Canyon. This intrigued me, so I spent a few more hours researching the entire canyon, printed out a number of maps, and headed back to Death Valley. When I got there, I used the suggested bypass and this allowed me to get to the base of the 1st 100 foot dry fall of Upper Rainbow Canyon and also overlook the middle canyon from the top of the 2nd 170 foot dry fall. And I truly came to appreciate that Upper Rainbow Canyon is unbelievably beautiful, as is the view down into Middle Rainbow Canyon with walls colored by rainbow bands towering up to 1,000 feet on each side. This was a true Death Valley adventure that I will never forget.
When I went home to take a short break from my Spring 2010 trip, I was feeling a bit down and needed something to spark my interest and inspire me enough to go back and finish my trip. It was at this point that a friend invited me to hike Lower Rainbow Canyon with him. He ended up not being able to make it, but his off-hand mention of Lower Rainbow Canyon raised my curiosity enough to think to myself- 'he mentioned Lower Rainbow, well, what about Upper Rainbow?' While I was home I did some research and found a climber's report which shared details of a bypass which could be used to get into Upper Rainbow Canyon. This intrigued me, so I spent a few more hours researching the entire canyon, printed out a number of maps, and headed back to Death Valley. When I got there, I used the suggested bypass and this allowed me to get to the base of the 1st 100 foot dry fall of Upper Rainbow Canyon and also overlook the middle canyon from the top of the 2nd 170 foot dry fall. And I truly came to appreciate that Upper Rainbow Canyon is unbelievably beautiful, as is the view down into Middle Rainbow Canyon with walls colored by rainbow bands towering up to 1,000 feet on each side. This was a true Death Valley adventure that I will never forget.
SAFETY ALERT-- This hike contains sections of climbing, exposed bypasses and/or high dry falls and requires safety ropes & equipment in order to complete the entire hike. Those without the proper training, experience, and safety gear should not try to use any bypasses to enter Middle Rainbow Canyon.
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:
And 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 form:
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 first dry fall:
Carefully looking down the massive 100 foot 1st dry fall of Rainbow Canyon:
From this overlook, I had my first view 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 dry fall, surrounding walls, and 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:
Another view of the dry fall which I had been sitting on top of about 30 minutes ago:
Zooming in a little closer on the upper part of the fall and band:
Steve standing in front of the 100 foot 1st 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 beautiful here:
Looking up at the bypass which I had scrambled down earlier:
Time to head further 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's 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 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 distance before the 90 foot 3rd 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:
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 the canyon:
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, it is time to head back to the vehicle: