The force is strong with Rainbow Falls!

Trail: Rainbow Falls

Trail Distance: 750m

Trail Difficulty: Easy

Directions:

Located outside Cherryville, just before the Monashee Provincial Park. From Kelowna, head north on Hwy 97 to Vernon. Once in Vernon, turn right on 25th Ave, and right onto Hwy 6. Follow Hwy 6 for roughly 48 km into Cherryville. Turn left onto Sugar Lake Road at Frank's General Store. Follow Sugar Lake Road, once it turns into gravel reset your trip odometer. At 2.4km you will find the Sugar Lake Dam viewpoint/Brenda Falls.

Just past there is Sugar Lake. Continue to follow the main logging road. At 23.8 km (on your trip odometer) turn right at Spectrum Creek FSR and follow the signs for Monashee Provincial Park. At 1km, just after the bridge, keep right. After 4km, turn left at the sign for Rainbow Falls and continue to the parking lot.

Description:

Enjoy a trail to a beautiful waterfall fed from Spectrum Lake in the Monashee Provincial Park! Although the drive is a bit long, the sight of the amazing Rainbow Falls makes it all worth it!
From the parking area, the trail is short and manageable for the whole family! We began by working our way down into the lush forest. The amazing vibrant green in this area blows me away every time I come to this location! No matter the time of year, the forest always seems to be rich with moisture!

As we got closer, the sounds of Spectrum Creek grew louder and the forest kept getting more vibrant! After crossing a couple wooden bridges and down the last couple of steps, the first of two view points was in sight.
Perched just above the creek, the lower viewing platform gives a fantastic perspective of Rainbow Falls and the creek as it continues on through the forest working its way to flow into the Shuswap River!

The second platform gave us more of an up close and personal view of the falls. Here you can really feel the energy and the true strength of the falls! Being October, I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of water still flowing!
Towering along the edge at the top of the falls is a large rock, placed perfectly by mother nature, that adds a cool feature to these falls! Another neat feature, is that it is possible to walk down and behind the falls! That is, if you can handle the freezing cold temperature of the water (a rain jacket may be suggested!)

Although saying that, please walk very cautiously and it is important to be mindful of falling rocks from above! With constant water flowing in the cracks of the rocks, there is a high chance of rocks coming loose and falling to the ground. Also, the mist can be overly strong and can make the viewing platform very slippery and the trail muddy.

After enjoying the views of Rainbow Falls we headed back up the trail to the parking lot.

A great way to break up the drive heading out to this area is to stop at Brenda Falls right before Sugar Lake. There's a great viewing spot looking over the Sugar Lake Dam and is a great spot to stretch the legs out before the last stretch of the drive to Rainbow Falls. Also Sugar Lake itself is a great lake to check out!

Remember to always be mindful of your surroundings, pack out what you pack in, stick to the trails and Happy Exploring!

Special notes:

There is no service in this area, always let someone know your hiking plans! Where you are going and when you plan to be back!

Things to bring:

Good footwear
Water/Snack
Bear spray (always a good thing to carry)
Camera/ Phone

Born and raised in the Okanagan, Kristy Draginda has always had a strong passion for the outdoors. Whether it be hiking to the top of a mountain or standing below a waterfall, she says there is no better feeling than being inspired by nature. Follow along as Kristy shares different hiking locations in and around the Okanagan. For more adventure photos, check out Hiking the Okanagan onInstagram or Facebook.