Rainbow Springs
Drag the handle to compare the two views. The orange dot marks the spring, in a frame about three quarters of a mile wide.
Rainbow Springs is a backcountry hot spring in the northeast part of Yellowstone, nearly eight miles from the Northeast Entrance Road. Scalding on record. High ground, above eight thousand feet. West Yellowstone is the town on file as nearest, though the park's northeast entrance is the road that matters. Open, Park Service land.
Seven point seven miles from the Northeast Entrance Road, all of it backcountry. High elevation, so the season is short and the nights cold. Snowfall on record runs around eleven feet, and the annual average temperature barely clears freezing. Yellowstone National Park, no other designation on file.
Backcountry permits are standard in the park; ask before you go. December through February are flagged as the best months on record, which at this depth of snow means ski or snowshoe travel over many miles. The water is scalding. Tower Fall Campground is about ten miles from the spring, the nearest camp on file. Fee not listed.
Aircraft with laser scanners measured this ground to within inches. The scan strips out trees and buildings, leaving the bare shape of the land around Rainbow Springs.
- Setting
- Hillside
- The spring sits on a steep slope that climbs to the east.
- Highest ground nearby
- 450 ft above the spring
- Within a quarter mile, to the east
A slice through the ground from southwest to northeast, about 0.6 miles end to end.
Elevation data: USGS 3D Elevation Program. Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map. Public domain.
That's about twice the US average of 65. It's higher than at 87% of the springs on this site.
Heat flow measures the warmth working its way up through the ground from deep inside the earth. Where it runs high, rain and snowmelt that seep down through cracks in the rock come back up hot.
See every spring on the geothermal heat map →
Heat flow estimate: Stanford Thermal Earth Model (Aljubran & Horne, 2024), CC BY 4.0.
Overview Tower Fall Campground—elevation 6,600 feet (2012 m)—is on the north side of the steep, winding, road to Dunraven Pass. The campground is near the Tower General Store and Tower Fall. The Lamar Valley, with spectacular wildlife viewing opportunities, is nearby as are several Day Hikes in the Tower and Northeast Area. Roosevelt Lodge, a short drive from the campground, offers dining and horseback riding. For reservations at the campgrounds managed by Yellowstone National Park Lodges (F...
At 8,115 feet, Rainbow Springs is in high-altitude territory where the air is noticeably thinner. Soaking in hot water accelerates dehydration and can amplify altitude effects like headache and fatigue. UV radiation is roughly 32% stronger here. Wear sunscreen even on overcast days and take breaks from the water to rehydrate.
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