Rainbow Falls Hike

This week we headed north a bit to Plymouth for our walk.  The Wise Owl is getting a bit spoiled with hikes that end at the summit of a mountain - he loves the views.  As much as he loves being out in the woods, sometimes a meander through the forest doesn't present the same WOW factor to him.  So, I figured a hike with a waterfall should pass muster, and boy did it!

Rainbow Falls is located on Cummings Hill Road - which is off of RT 3 between Plymouth and Ashland. It is easy to find, but parking is minimal.  The hike is part of the Walter Newton Natural Area. It is a loop trail that is just a bit over a mile long.

We started our trail to the left of the bridge, near the wooden sign.  We had a night and morning full of rain so the trail was wet and muddy.  It was also very buggy, however that didn't stop 9 preschoolers from having a great time.  Through out the walk there are many footbridges - some made of wooden planks others of small trees- to keep you above the mushy ground. It was a great exercise in gross motor skills!

I was just happy that Sassy Sis stayed on the footbridges during this hike!

There were lots of rocks, for my favorite rock jumper to explore.  She left NO rock undiscovered!

About halfway through the trail we came to the Rainbow Falls.  The little ones were excited to finally spot it as they could hear it for a while before it was in site.

We viewed the falls from the bottom.  There are some nice benches there and had the bugs not been SO bad we would have stopped for a little snack while enjoying the falls.  However, we found if we stayed put for more then 30 seconds in any one place we were a target for the bugs!

So, a few quick pictures and we were off.  After you cross the bridge by the water fall you can turn left and take a spur of the trail to the top of the waterfalls however, with my luck Sassy Sis would be using the falls as a natural water slide - so we opted to continue on the loop back to the parking area.

During this part of the hike there was an incline, but it quickly leveled out. There were many more bridges to cross on the way back.

However, the last leg of the trail opened up wide so we could run, run, run!

Overall, this was a great hike.  The Glove Hollow Brook is always nearby and the falls are a fabulous surprise! The footbridges were a hit with my two as well.  The bugs, well they were a bit over the top today, but if they do calm down it would be a great place for little ones to really be able to explore their environment. My 27 month old walked all but the last section of the hike.

Trail maps and information can be found here.