Rainbow Trail - Taylor Creek Visitor Center - South Lake Tahoe

During the week of Labor Day our family made a couple of trips up the hill to the Tahoe area to do some exploring. Some of the places we visited were planned, and some of them we ended up visiting as a back-up when our original plans didn't work out. The Forest Service Visitor Center at Taylor Creek was one of those happy accidents. We had a lot of fun here, and will probably go back again to finish seeing all there is to offer. 

Honestly, we pulled into the parking lot here because one of our party was in desperate need of a toilet and we hoped we'd find one here. For the record, there are good bathrooms here. They were even pretty darn clean despite the huge amount of holiday traffic in the area. There is also a drinking fountain at the edge of the parking lot with a spigot for watering pets.
As far as parking goes, the lot isn't huge, but there seemed to be plenty for the amount of traffic this place gets. An important note here is that parking here is free, which can be hard to find around the lake. There is also a stop here for the Nifty 50 Trolley if you don't want to fight the traffic this close to Emerald Bay. Another option is to walk or bike in on the West Way trail that parallels Emerald Bay road for several miles. From West Way you can either go into the main parking lot or there is a connection to the Rainbow Trail that is very clearly marked, you won't miss it.

Marker showing where to access the Rainbow Trail from West Way. 

So what exactly is available at the Taylor Creek Visitor Center? Well, first is the visitor center itself. It is quite small, but if you go inside there are maps of the area you can look at, as well as maps and other odds and ends you can purchase. There's a Touching Table for kids to explore things like pine cones, tree bark, animal bones, feathers, etc. There is a display about how wetlands filter water, which is fun to look at in conjunction with the walk down the Rainbow Trail so you can see in action the ideas presented in the display. The staff behind the desk were all very friendly and incredibly helpful.

 There is also a walking trail that takes you down to the beach on Lake Tahoe. We did not hike this trail, so I can't give much detail about it. I was told it is a 1/2 mile hike round trip. Most of the traffic through the Visitor Center the day we were there seemed to be headed down to the beach.

 We decided to take the Rainbow Trail to see the wetland/stream ecosystem. While this trail would be fun to hike just for the scenery and wildlife, I really loved the effort the FS has made to make this a great learning experience for all ages as well. The signs were simple and easy to read (our 2nd grader read them all to us with minimal help and was able to comprehend most of what they said) and yet interesting. Several of them encouraged interaction with the topics they were explaining, like the one pictured below. The sign explained why knowing how much water is in the stream is important, and then explained how to calculate it for yourself using the nearby bucket (to the left of center in the picture below). My 7 year old just ate this up!
There is also an audio tour available for free at the visitor center, so you might want to check that out too.

 In addition to learning about this complex and delicate ecosystem, there was also a chance to see some fun wildlife. We saw frogs, Stellar's Jays, crawdads (the biggest I've ever seen!), Mergansers (a type of duck), fish, and a variety of other birds and insects. The kids had so much fun trying to keep their eyes open for the next critter.

 This trail is stroller/wheelchair accessible, though bikes are not allowed. It is an easy, mostly level 1/2 mile loop that takes you right back to the visitor center (or you can take a spur trail back to the parking lot and shave off a small amount of mileage). Most of it is paved, though there are a couple sections of board walk, and maybe some dirt areas (I can't remember for sure on that one, sorry!).

 Our kids loved getting to see the beaver pond/dam. We didn't see any actual beavers, but that's okay. The evidence of them being there was pretty fun to look at.

 The one disappointment here (if you can call it that since we showed up with no idea what to expect) was that the Stream Profile Chamber was not open. Apparently this is a large glass-walled room sunk right into the stream so you can watch the fish and other wildlife swim by. Like an aquarium, except it's a natural environment instead of an artificial one. Apparently though some beavers built a dam against the glass during the winter and caused enough damage that the chamber was deemed unsafe. This late in the season I doubt it will be repaired before winter, but maybe it will be open again next summer? I sure hope so!

 Essential Details:
Taylor Creek Visitor Center
35 Visitor Center Rd, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
Website