Rainbow Falls ... The forgotten watefall! I was free in the afternoon and thought I would update this pictorial with some new photos. Scroll down to see my 2002 pictorial, which includes directions.
As you'll note, there's plenty of fresh graffiti on the underside of the bridge that runs adjacent to the waterfall. Some like to climb up (right photo) and jump into the base of the falls, which I would imagine would be very dangerous! Also, teenagers and gangs often climb underneath the arch of the bridge (scroll down) and occasionally someone falls and dies. I think the last person who died was in 1998.
Nice shot! Below are all of my watefall pictorials:
That's beautiful Rainbow Falls, just outside of Manitou Springs on the northwestern edge of town, going up Ute Pass.
How to get there: Take Manitou Avenue west (towards the mountains) and when the road splits into Route 24, veer right onto Serpentine Road (Route 24 eastbound). Park your car at this very noticable switchback.
There's also a landmark that briefly explains the history.
As described in the headline, Rainbow Falls really
is the "Forgotten Attraction" because the area has been long-neglected and
overidden with graffiti. Also, a large bridge and two overpasses were
built in the early 1960's with little regard for aesthetics, creating a strange clash of
natural beauty and environmentally destructive human engineering.
An example of the graffiti.
An ugly man-made hill faces the north side of
Fountain Creek.
Back to the actual site of Rainbow Falls. It is simply mind-boggling to
think that an engineer designed a road and bridge that virtually destroyed
the dignity and enjoyability of this charming waterfall.
Rainbow Falls is probably most known as a hot spot for gangs and teenagers to leave their graffiti.
In fact, these two suspicious-looking teenagers
were up to not good when I got there. They had climbed the arch underneath the bridge and
when they realized I was staying for a while, they left looking very scared of getting caught of
whatever they were up to.
Another way to view Rainbow Falls is to take the first exit into Manitou Springs while you're going east on Route 24.
The stream runs right along the deceleration lane and ...
...Rainbow Falls is juxtaposed next to the bridge.
A view of the bridge from above. What I find amusing is for years I have driven on this bridge and never realized that I was driving over a really beautiful waterfall!
I ran into my friend Collin, who helped give some perspective of
the size of the waterfall.
