Rainbow Falls is a waterfall on Cascade Brook in Essex County, New York, in the Northeastern Highlands region, with a total height of about 150 feet. It lies about 10.6 miles southeast of North Elba and roughly 90.3 miles north of Schenectady as the crow flies.
At 150 feet it stands in the tallest quarter of New York’s 184 waterfalls with a recorded height, ranking 20th; the typical New York waterfall is about 50.5 feet.
The Northeastern Highlands are the mountains of northern New England and the Adirondacks, with spruce-fir on the summits and northern hardwood forest of maple, beech and birch below, and countless lakes and boulder-strewn brooks. Fast mountain streams drop over granite and gneiss ledges in chains of falls and pools. Cascade Brook carries 2 recorded waterfalls, and Rainbow Falls is the tallest of them.
There are 63 recorded waterfalls in Essex County. Beaver Meadows Falls, 50 feet high, is about 1 miles away. Artists Falls, 10 feet high, is about 1.2 miles away. Fairy Ladder Falls, 90 feet high, is about 1.4 miles away.
Rainbow Falls is located at 44.1183° N, 73.8296° W. The listing is based on the World Waterfall Database, one of the sources compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey in its inventory of waterfalls and rapids of the conterminous United States. The creek name is confirmed against the federal Geographic Names Information System. The position was verified on aerial imagery. Details on trails, parking and access have not been documented for this waterfall yet.