![Rainbow Falls [Colorado] W G](https://fallsdiscovery.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Rainbow-Falls-Colorado-W-G-768x444.webp "Rainbow Falls [Colorado] W G")
Under the arch of a 1932 highway bridge in Manitou Springs, Rainbow Falls drops 30 feet as a plunge waterfall on Fountain Creek in El Paso County, Colorado. Once informally known as "Graffiti Falls" for spray-painted rocks, the site is now preserved as a five-acre county historic park reached by shuttle.
The falls
Fountain Creek drops in a single plunge, with smaller cascades below the main falls. Lidar measurements place the drop at about 30 feet; older surveys showed 60 feet, while county records describe a 50-foot plunge. The cataract sits on the Great Unconformity beneath the bridge.
Getting there
El Paso County Parks manages the site. There is no parking at the falls: the old lot was barricaded after a rockfall, and parking on Serpentine Drive is prohibited. Visitors park at 101 Higginbotham Road in Manitou Springs and ride a shuttle; the $20 per vehicle charge covers parking and the shuttle, with reservations encouraged. The site is open Friday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the final shuttle departing at 3:30 p.m. From the old trailhead, a 0.15-mile gravel path on a notable slope leads to the falls. One accessible parking space at the entrance can be reserved by calling 719-520-6977 a week in advance.
When to go
Shuttle service runs Friday through Sunday through September. Seasonal flow and winter access are not documented.
On site
The grounds feature a covered kiosk with historical and geological displays, picnic tables and a second trail along Fountain Creek. Visitors can access the creek for wading. Dogs must remain leashed. Spray painting is ticketed. After a rockfall prompted the closure of the old lot, access is provided solely via the shuttle.
History and name
The Ducharme family formerly owned the falls, during which time the site fell into disrepair with trash and graffiti. Volunteers began cleaning up the area in 2005 and 2006; the family donated the land in 2009, and the county took ownership in June 2010. The bridge overhead was built in 1932 by the Pueblo Bridge & Construction Company for $44,695 and added to the National Register of Historic Bridges in 1985. Flooding in 2013 following the Waldo Canyon Fire damaged the area.
Nearby
Ute Falls, also on Fountain Creek, is about 0.1 mile away. Queens Canyon Falls is about 2.5 miles away, and Helen Hunt Falls and Silver Cascade Falls, on Cheyenne Creek, are each about 5.8 miles.
Distances are straight-line.