It is about two miles from Devils Postpile to Rainbow Falls.  The trail is quite scenic, and well worth to trek.  Although the trail roughly parallels the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River until the River plunges over the cliff at the falls, hikers rarely see the river from the trail.

The trail to Rainbow Falls weaves in and out between the Ansel Adams Wilderness area and Devils Postpile National Monument.  There is also an intersection with the world famous John Muir along the way.  Rainbow falls lies within the monument boundary.

Some of the trail passes though the remains of the Rainbow Fire.  This fire was ignited by lightning on August 20, 1992.  Visitors will still see some areas where the forest is filled with dead trees, called snags. Whether they remain upright or fall to the ground, these snags provide important nesting and foraging habitat for a variety of wildlife. The death of trees also opens up the forest canopy and allows more light to reach the forest floor, creating favorable conditions for sun-loving grasses, shrubs and tree seedlings to establish. By releasing nutrients into the soil, fire provides an additional stimulant to new plant growth.                                                                Click here for more information on the fire

All parks alphabetically: A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P||Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

A Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHS|Acadia NP|Adams NHS|Agate Fossil Beds NM|Agua Fria NM|Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS|Anacostia Park|Antietam NB|Appomattox Court House NHP|Arches NP|Arlington National Cemetery|Aztec Ruins NM
B Badlands NP|Bandelier NM|Big Bend NP|Big Cypress NP|Big Hole NB|Bighorn Canyon NRA|Big Thicket NP|Biscayne NP|Black Canyon of Gunnison NP|Blue Ridge Parkway|Booker T Washington NM|Boston NHP|Brown vs Board of Education NHS|Bryce Canyon NP
C Cabrillo NM|Cane River Creole NHP|Cane River NHA|Canyon de Chelly NM|Canyonlands NP|Canyon of the Ancients NM|Cape Cod NS|Capitol Reef NP|Capulin Volcano NM|Clara Barton NHS|Carl Sandburg Home NHS|Carlsbad Caverns NP|Carrizo Plain NM|Casa Grande NM|Carter G Woodson Home NHS|Cascade-Siskiyou NM|Castle Clinton NM|Catoctin Mountain Park|Cedar Breaks NM|Chaco Canyon NHP|Chamizal NM|Channel Islands NP|Charles Pinckney NHS|Chesapeake & Ohio Canal NHP|Chickamauga & Chattanooga NMP|Chimney Rock NHS|Chiricahua NM|City of Rocks NP|Civil War Defenses of WA (Fort Circle)|Colonial NHP|Colorado NM|Congaree NP|Coronado NM|Cowpens NB|Crater Lake NP|Craters of the Moon NM|Cuyahoga Valley NP
D Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP|Death Valley NP|Deshler-Morris House|Devil's Post Pile NM|Devil's Tower NM|Dinosaur NM

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P||Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

E Ebey's Landing NHR|Edgar Allan Poe NHS|Edison NHS|Effigy Mounds NM|Ellis Island NM|El Malpais NM|El Morro NM|Erie Canalway NHC|Eugene O'Neill NHS|Everglades NP
F Fire Island NS|Flaming Gorge NRA|Flight 93 NM|Florissant Fossil Beds NM|Fort Bowie NM|Fort Circle Parks|Fort Foote Park|Fort Laramie NHS|Fort Larnard NHS|Fort McHenry NMS|Fort Necessity NB|Fort Pulaski|Fort Scott NHS|Fort Stanwix NM|Fort Sumter NM|Fort Union NM|Fort Vancouver NHS|Fort Washington|Fossil Butte NM|Frederick Douglass NHS|Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania NHP|Fredrick Law Olmsted NHS|Friendship Hill NHS
G Gateway NRA|George Washington Birthplace N.M.|George Washington Carver NHS|George Washington Parkway|Gettysburg NMP|Glacier NP|Glen Canyon NRA|Glen Echo Park|Gloria Dei (Old Swedes' Church) NHS|Golden Gate NRA|Golden Spike NHS|Giant Sequoia NM|Gila Cliff Dwellings NM|Glacier NP|Grand Canyon NP|Grand Canyon/Parashant NM|Grand Portage NM|Grand Staircase/Escalante NM|Grand Teton NP|Grant Kohrs Ranch NHS|Great Basin N P|Great Sand Dunes NP|Great Smokey Mountains NP|Guadalupe Mountains NP|Guilford Courthouse NMP
H-I Hagerman Fossil Bed NM|Hampton NHS|Hanford Reach NM|Harmony Hall|Harpers Ferry NHP|Harry S Truman NHS|Hells Canyon NRA|Herbert Hoover NHS|Hohokam-Pima NM|Homestead NM|Hopewell Culture NHP|Hot Springs NP|Hovenweep NM|Hubble Trading Post NHS|Independence NHP|Ironwood NM

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P||Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

J-K James A Garfield NHS|Jean Lafitte NHP|Jewel Cave NM|John Day Fossil Bed NM|John F Kennedy NHS|John Muir NHS|Johnstown Flood NM|Joshua Tree NP|Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks NM|Kenilworth Park|Kings Canyon NP|Kings Mountain NMP|Klondike Gold Rush NHP
L Lake Mead NRA|Lake Roosevelt NRA|Lassen NP|Lava Beds NM|Lewis and Clark NHP|Lincoln Home NHS|Lincoln Memorial|Little Big Horn NM|Longfellow NHS|Lowell NHP|Lyndon B Johnson NHP
M Maggie L Walker NHS|Mammoth Cave NP|Manassas NB|Manzanar NM|Marsh Billings Rockefeller NHP|Martin Luther King NHS|Meridian Hill Park|Mesa Verde NP|Minidoka Internment NM|Minute Man NHP|Minuteman Missile NHS|Mojave NP|Monocacy NB|Montezuma Castle NM|Morristown NHP|Mount Rainier NP|Mount Rushmore NM|Mount St. Helens NM|Muir Woods NM
N Natural Bridges NM|Natchez NHS|Natchez Trace NP|Nat'l Center Preservation Tech & Training|Navajo NM|Newberry Volcanic NM|New Orleans Jazz NHP|Nez Perce NHP|Ninety Six NHS|North Cascades NP
O Ocmulgee NM|Old Stone House|Olympic NP|Oregon Caves NM|Organ Pipe Cactus NM|Oxon Cove Park & Oxon Hill Farm

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P||Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

P Padre Island NS|Palo Alto Battlefield NHS|Pecos NHP|Peirce Mill|Petersburg NB|Petrified Forest NP|Petroglyph NM|Pentagon NM|Pinnacles NM|Pipe Spring NM|Pipestone NM|Piscataway Park|Point Reyes NS|Port of Chicago NM|Poverty Point NM
 R Redwood NP|Richmond NBP|Rock Creek Park|Rocky Mountain NP|Rosie the Riveter NHP
S Sagamore Hill NHS|Saguaro NP|Saint-Gaudens NHS|Salem Maritime NHS|Salinas Pueblo Missions NM|San Antonio Missions NHP|San Francisco Maritime NHP|San Juan NHP|San Juan Island NHP|Santa Monica Mountains NRA|Santa Rosa - San Jacinto Mountains NM|Saratoga NHP|Saugus Iron Works NHS|Scott's Bluff NM|Sequoia NP|Shenandoah NP|Silos & Smokestacks NHA|Sonora Desert NM|Stanwix NM|Statue of Liberty NM|Stones River NB|Sunset Crater NM
T Thaddeus Kosciuszko NM|Theodore Roosevelt NP|Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural NHS|Theodore Roosevelt Island|Thomas Stone NHS|Timpanogos Cave NM|Tonto NM|Tumacácori NHP|Tuzigoot NM
U-V Upper Missouri River Breaks NM|Valles Caldera NP|Valley Forge NHP|Vermillion Cliffs NM|Vicksburg NMP|Voyageurs NP
W Walnut Canyon NM|Washington DC|Weir Farm NHS|White Sands NM|Whitman Mission NM|William Howard Taft NHS|Wilson Creek NB|Wind Cave NP|Wolf Trap NP|Women's Rights NHP|Wupatki NM
 Y-Z Yellowstone NP|Yosemite NP|Yucca House NM|Zion NP

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P||Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

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Revised: March 06, 2010.
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