Rainbow Falls
San Francisco County, California
Your visit at a glance
- Waterfall height
- Not recorded
- Location
- San Francisco County, California
- Access status
- Partial: park viewpoint; flow and parking not confirmed
- The walk
- Roadside viewpoint; walking distance from parking not published
- Ground & access
- Paved park promenade. The falls are viewed from beside the promenade.
Rainbow Falls is a man-made waterfall built in 1930 in a former quarry in Golden Gate Park. Water drops more than 50 feet in two steps and is pumped back up from Lloyd Lake. View it from the north side of JFK Promenade, about 700 feet east of the Transverse Drive intersection, below the Prayerbook Cross. The sources do not confirm that the pump is running on any given day.
Plan your visit
JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park to the Rainbow Falls viewpoint
The Richmond Review places the falls on the north side of JFK Promenade, 700 feet east of Transverse Drive. That is a location, not a walk from parking. No walking distance was measured.
Paved park promenade. The falls are viewed from beside the promenade.
Where to start
A parking app (SpotAngels) says there is no on-site parking and lists the nearest street parking on Fulton Street. City parking rules near the falls were not confirmed.
Timing & water
The falls are pumped and recirculated. The 2023 article reports past stoppages, including a nine-month stop in 1971. Current operation not verified.
Before you go
Golden Gate Park is a public city park run by San Francisco Recreation and Parks. No entry fee was found in the reviewed sources.
Visitor informationVisit sources
More waterfalls nearby
Within 40 straight-line miles. Road and trail distances will differ.
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