Rainbow Falls State Park – state parks quest #39

A river runs through it

Rainbow Falls is a mellow cascade. The Chehalis River flows through the park from west to east, and the water foams over a five-foot drop on a 50-foot run. The rushing sound of the falls muffles the noise of State Route 6 a few feet away, and the water is a cool place to play on hot days. Yet the river is both balm and bane in this picturesque park. Saturated with winter rain and clogged with downed trees from constant logging in the Willapa Hills, the Chehalis can be a fearsome force. Peaceful or raging, the river dictates the visitor experience at Rainbow Falls State Park.

Locals get the park ball rolling

In the 1920s, the logging boomtowns of Doty, Dryad, and Pe Ell (whose combined population at the time was about 2,000 people) wanted a local park. The Pe Ell Kiwanis Club took the lead, brokering a land deal between a timber company and the state to launch what is now Rainbow Falls State Park. In 1932, Public Lands Commissioner Clark Savidge, in one of his last official acts after four terms in office, gave Schafer Bros. Logging 120 acres of state timberland in Grays Harbor County in exchange for 124 acres at Rainbow Falls, including about 75 acres of old-growth forest that comprises the south part of the park.

Named and dedicated 

The park’s name may have come from a Dryad settler and World War I veteran who posted a sign reading “Rainbow” at the falls to honor the Army’s Rainbow (42nd Infantry) Division, named for the geographical diversity of its members, who hailed from 26 states and Washington, D.C. That’s a romantic origin story, but Washington wasn’t one of the states with soldiers in the Rainbow Division; its draftees served in the 41st. Some have suggested the park name was inspired by rainbows that appear over the falls in the right light. I like the Army story better.

In July 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression, three thousand people, including state officials, state legislators, and members of the Pe Ell Kiwanis Club, cheered as Governor Clarence Martin dedicated the new park. It was the only state park on what was then called the Ocean Beach Highway, a partially paved route that went from Chehalis to Raymond, south to Megler, and east to Kelso.

The CCC at Rainbow Falls

Three months after the park’s dedication, 500 Civilian Conservation Corps recruits arrived at Camp Rainbow Falls in Doty. Their assignment: develop Rainbow Falls State Park. Part of a massive New Deal employment program, the recruits within months built a campground, kitchen shelter, caretaker’s cabin, garage, tool shed, and a footbridge across the Chehalis River that provided access to CCC-built trails through the park’s old-growth forest. They built a handsome wooden suspension bridge linking the north and south parts of the park, which are separated by the Chehalis River and today’s State Route 6. 

Recreation demand, a new auto bridge

In 1955, in response to the postwar boom in outdoor recreation (visits to Rainbow Falls tripled from 1950 to 1952), the state added an auto bridge. Built 25 feet above the river, it allowed motorists to directly access the north-side campground, play fields, picnic areas, and other park facilities from the highway. 

Over the years, the two bridges withstood a lot of weather. In 1972, after record flooding on the Chehalis River, a 35-foot logjam wedged against the auto bridge, closing it for several months. The footbridge remained open. Major floods in 1990 and 1996 threatened both bridges, but they endured. State Parks closed the footbridge in 2005 because of structural concerns, planning to reopen it after repairs were completed. 

The Great Coastal Gale of 2007

Then, in early December 2007, a record storm known as the Great Coastal Gale obliterated both bridges. When a logjam several miles west of the park broke apart, a wall of water estimated to be 18 feet tall swept downstream, tearing the bridges from their foundations and inundating the park under 44 inches of water. It was the biggest flood ever recorded on the Chehalis River. About 15 miles downstream, ten feet of water covered Interstate 5, closing a 20-mile-long stretch for four days. 

On Memorial Day weekend 2008, Rainbow Falls reopened to the public, with the north side accessible only via a temporary bridge a couple of miles down the highway. In addition to standing in for the park’s auto bridge, the provisional span replaced two county bridges that had provided alternate routes to the park but were also destroyed by the massive flood.

The park sustained about $6 million in storm damage, including almost $2 million to the bridges. But the auto and foot bridges were gone for good. Repeated severe flood events on the Chehalis meant replacing the park’s bridges was neither financially feasible nor good public policy. Today, brawny bridges span the river two miles east and one mile west of the park, providing vehicle access to the north part of the park. 

A park in two parts

The result is a two-part park, split by the Chehalis River and State Route 6. The northern unit includes access to most park facilities and the nearby Willapa Hills State Park Trail, and is the best place to see the CCC’s handiwork. We started in the lovely campground, which requires constant cleanup because branches and needles regularly fall from the tall trees. “We want it to look nice,” the volunteer host told us, and the sites are beautifully maintained. Duff-covered paths were banked by green carpets of wood sorrel, a lemony-tasting native plant. 

The campground restroom is vintage CCC, its stone base and peeled log frame built using local materials. It’s at one end of a large play field, across from a CCC kitchen shelter that features a capacious smoker, complete with instructions. More modern restrooms are available at the day-use parking area adjacent to the play field. We parked there to explore, walking toward the river on what’s now a dead-end road. The CCC-built caretaker’s cabin and garage are visible on one side, and the road is lined by a classic, CCC-built, three-rail fence.

The road used to lead to the auto bridge. Now it serves as a wide path for biking and walking to the river. At the end, we found the CCC-built foundations for the footbridge, as well as diamond-pointed steps leading down to the river and the best view of the falls.

Remnant old-growth

Across the river and highway, the southern park unit contains an impressive grove of old-growth trees, one of the last, tiny pockets of ancient forest in the Willapa Hills. Because the bridges inside the park are gone, the only way to get here from the campground is to drive a few miles, park in the pullout next to the river, and carefully cross the highway. Signs posted in the park strongly encourage driving between the north and south units.

We spent a rainy afternoon wandering the trails in the southern unit, admiring the big trees and clambering under, over, and around giants felled by recent storms. Naturalist Robert Michael Pyle wrote that only 10 square miles of ancient trees remain in the 2500 square miles that comprise the Willapa Hills. Indeed, the park’s small tract is surrounded on three sides by working forests that are regularly logged (the fourth side is the river and road) and is vulnerable to wind and rain, as our hike amply demonstrated. Nonetheless, the forest here is a gem, with three miles of trail winding through green, green, and more green. Oxalis, bleeding heart, trillium, salmonberry, bracken, wood violet, and wild ginger were all blooming in the rain.

Back to the river

We left the trails and crossed the highway to look at the river, where a lone kayaker, waterproofed from head to toe, ran the falls. In summer, water levels are typically lower, making the area a popular swimming spot, though signs warn that no lifeguards are on duty. 

Whether you come to admire CCC architecture, sleep in a quiet forest, hike among evergreen giants, or commune with the fickle Chehalis, the river is the heart of the park, and Rainbow Falls doesn’t disappoint.

Fast facts about Rainbow Falls State Park

• 129-acre camping park, open year round
• 3,400’ freshwater shoreline
• Discover Pass required, $10 daily or, for a very reasonable $30, purchase an annual pass
• 40 standard campsites, 8 partial-hookup sites, three hiker/biker sites, two equestrian sites, one group camp, reservable online or by calling 888-CAMPOUT
• restrooms, showers at campground restroom, dump station
• picnic tables, playground, grills, outdoor kitchens, fuchsia garden
• 3 miles hiking trails, connector to Willapa Hills State Park Trail
• birdwatching, wildlife viewing, horseshoe pits, play field
• swimming (no lifeguards), fishing (license required)
• park brochure
• park map

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Land acknowledgment

Rainbow Falls State Park occupies the traditional and unceded lands of the Chehalis Indian Tribe, the coastal group of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, and other Coast Salish peoples including the Kwaiailks and Kwalhioqua, who have lived, traded, and traveled here since time immemorial.  A Chehalis story told by tribal elder Silas Heck relates that Rainbow Falls was called Spupe and made for native peoples by Whun, a trickster spirit figure, (also written as Whqun, Honne, Xwun). Whun formed high falls out of solid rock so that salmon returning upstream could not get past, making them easy to catch. He also made holes in the rock that Indian women used to store eels they caught at the falls.

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