On Saturday 3/20/2021, I met Amanda at Jones Gap State park to hike to Rainbow Falls. It was a beautiful day and a lovely hike along the Middle Saluda river. It had been raining that week so we encountered quite a few water crossing. We managed to stay dry by carefully hoping over rocks. We had to go online to reserve parking spots at Jones Gap State Park in order to be allowed into the park before 2pm on the weekend. I very much appreciated this new system since the park is a 2.5 hours drive for me. I much prefer a guaranteed parking spot as opposed to waiting at the gate for someone to leave (as it used to be in years past).
The trail to Rainbow Falls is a moderately strenuous 4 miles hike with just over 1200ft elevation gain. The waterfall is gorgeous. It drops over 100ft. The trail to Jones Gap Fall is easier but still a moderate 3.5 miles with 470ft elevation gain. This 50ft fall was quite spectacular due to the recent rainfalls. Jones Gap is a beautiful park with 18 campsites and over 60 miles of trails. It also offers the best trout fishing in the state.
The hike was so pretty I had a tough time selecting which photos to publish.
Reference Jones Gap State park, Jones Gap Waterfall Trail, Rainbow Falls Trail
Falls Videos
Rainbow Falls
Jones Gap Falls
The Trail
Spring flowers, Animals
The Park
Nearby
- Caesars Head and Bald Rock
- Raven Cliff (Palmetto Trail Middle Saluda Passage)
- Moonshine and Confusion Falls
- Rainbow Falls and Jones Gap Falls
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