Rivergoer
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
We stopped in Forbidding Canyon in May this year and again today Nov 3rd. The main Rainbow Bridge Dock and restroom facility is still tied off at the old pre-Dangling Rope fuel dock location.
But further up about 1/2 mile past the narrows there are a few stranded dock sections. Here’s how they looked in March 2026:
Here they are November 3, 2026 after the astonishing record rainfall. It looks like things got pretty violent back there.
As for Rainbow bridge access, the landing area is about 50-100’ of log-filled debris. We rowed our Zodiac to the drier sandy side on the right but further up about 1/4 mile the 12’ high sand cliffs formed by recent erosion made it pretty much impassible to descend to where the creek is crossable. The left side landing is mucky, probably OK, but no guarantee the trail not washed out further up.
Ultimately we didn’t try the left side so can’t report on RB trail condition.
But further up about 1/2 mile past the narrows there are a few stranded dock sections. Here’s how they looked in March 2026:
Here they are November 3, 2026 after the astonishing record rainfall. It looks like things got pretty violent back there.
As for Rainbow bridge access, the landing area is about 50-100’ of log-filled debris. We rowed our Zodiac to the drier sandy side on the right but further up about 1/4 mile the 12’ high sand cliffs formed by recent erosion made it pretty much impassible to descend to where the creek is crossable. The left side landing is mucky, probably OK, but no guarantee the trail not washed out further up.
Ultimately we didn’t try the left side so can’t report on RB trail condition.
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