Colorado trails · Rainbow Lakes Trail

Rainbow Lakes Trail

A 8.2-mile out-and-back in Colorado, with 2,635 ft of climbing, topping out at 11,372 ft. Reaches Middle Rainbow Lake and other lake destinations. Managed by USFS Parks Ranger District.

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Length

8.2 mi

Elevation gain

2,635 ft

Highest point

11,372 ft

Difficulty

Expert

Max grade

28%

Steepest mile

+570 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

2.6 mi

Shape

out-and-back

Surface

dirt

Dogs

yes

Bikes

yes

Horses

yes

Managed by

USFS Parks Ranger District

Elevation profile

The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It climbs almost continuously, with little descent to recover on.

3-D terrain

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Reaches

Middle Rainbow Lake (lake)
Upper Slide Lake (lake)
Rainbow Lake (lake)
Lower Rainbow Lake (lake)

Heads up

Stream ford: expect at least one unbridged crossing.

Getting there

Rainbow Lake Trailhead — parking nearby. 40.65840, -106.58032 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:04 a.m., the sun rises at 6:32 a.m. and sets at 7:40 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 8:08 p.m. (MDT) — 13 h 08 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 16.5-mile round trip takes roughly 8 h 44 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 3:16 p.m. — 4 h 24 min before sunset.