Rainbow Falls drops about 85 feet on LeConte Creek, halfway up the trail on the north side of Mount LeConte in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The falls cut through dense hardwood forest, and sunlight in the spray can form the rainbows that give the falls their name.
In low water the stream falls in a thin veil; after heavy rain it swells into a louder, heavier plunge. The trail to the falls is a shorter destination for visitors who do not continue to the summit of LeConte, one of the park's high peaks.
Rainbow Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 1947, postcard, c. 1947. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/rainbow-falls-great-smoky-mountains-national-park-1947. Accessed November 2, 2026.
