RAINBOW FALLS
At Rainbow Falls the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River drops 31 meters (101 feet) over an andesite and rhyodacite cliff. It is thought that after the last glacier melted, the river flowed downstream from Devils Postpile in channels about 457 meters (1,500 feet) west of its present course. Flowing in these older channels, it cut through the rhyodacite lava down to granite, leaving a cliff of rhyodacite for its eastern bank. Then, some distance upstream, the waters were diverted eastward. The river left its bed to follow its present path until it returned to the old channel, by cascading down the cliff it had earlier cut. Thus Rainbow Falls was formed. A stairway and short trail lead to the bottom of the falls, where numerous flowers and grasses form an enchanting garden. Cars may be driven to within 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) of the falls via the road to Reds Meadow.