Indian Head and Rainbow Falls
Indian Head and Rainbow Falls is a trail loop located near Keene, NY and is rated moderate. The length of the loop is around 11 miles but may vary depending on some choices you make. Despite the long length, this is a must do if you're in the Adirondack area! This was possibly one of the most breathtaking views we've seen from the top of a mountain, it's incredibly beautiful.
The parking lot is not large and has been partially closed since covid-19 started, so despite getting there relatively early, we couldn't get a parking spot at the starting point. We had to park a half mile away on the next parking lot, which added an extra mile to our hike and that extra mile was a walk on the shoulder of a windy road, that part was not fun at all.
The first part of this trail is a dirt road called Lake Road, if you walk from the parking lot to the entrance of this road and then all the way to its end, it's about 4 miles on a steady climb.
There is an option to take the side trails instead of staying on this road, we ended up opting for staying on the road due to the time it would take to do the whole loop. Some people find the dirt road boring and prefer to do the side trails instead.
Despite being long, the dirt road has some beautiful spots along the way, but on the way back it feels like it's never going to end, the sole of our feet really hurt at the last miles, I strongly suggest you practice time on your feet before during this trail, it's really long.
Once we got to the end of the dirt road, we headed over to Rainbow Falls. My jaw dropped when I started to cross the bridge over a dam on the way to the falls.
From there, we can view the mountain that named this place Indian Head, at the top part you can see what resembles a profile of an Indian.
Here's a closer look:
Rainbow Falls is not far from the dam, but there are lots of rocks on the way there that may be slippery if the weather has been rainy, we got an excellent dry day and it wasn't hard to get to the falls.
From the Falls we took the trail to Indian Head, which is about a mile hike to the summit. This is a view from the beginning of the trail:
The trail is not difficult and since it's only about a mile long, it doesn't require a crazy amount of effort.
It's nicely maintained and well marked.
When we got to the top, we were rewarded with this gift from Nature:
I can't recommend this trail enough, it's really unique.
Check this video for more views and for lots of detailed footage showing what to expect from this must do trail:
https://cinnamon.video/watch?v=416141346869348082
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