The Rainbow Family is Gathering near the Montana Border in Idaho

The Rainbow Family is back.

The Rainbow Family of Living Light is already setting up camp in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest in Idaho not far from the Montana border.

Public Information Officer Julie Thomas provided details of the group’s activities over the weekend.

“What we know so far is the Rainbow Family is coming to the Nez Perce Clearwater National Forest,” said Thomas. “We know that they have begun to set up their campsite on Forest Road 241. We’ve started to see arrivals already and our ‘guesstimate’ is about 200 people so far.”

Thomas provided a more comprehensive description of the Rainbow Family’s campsite location.

“It’s actually about four miles north of Riggins, Idaho,” she said. “The family has had 20,000 people in the past, but we’ve been told that because of pandemic that we might get upwards of 3,000 people,” she said.
Thomas said there is a significant law enforcement presence near the campsite.

“We have our Forest Service law enforcement officers on scene,” she said. “We also have the Nez Perce Tribal law enforcement on scene working with our folks, along with the Idaho State Police.”

The Rainbow Family is a loose-knit group of people from throughout the USA and other countries. Each summer they hold a national gathering to pursue social and spiritual activities and pray for world peace. Since 1972, the event has taken place on a different national forest each year. Crowds range from 2,000 to 10,000 forest visitors.

An event of this size can have significant impacts on traffic, communities, local resources, residents and visitors. Local businesses can expect to see large numbers of Rainbow Family participants visiting stores and buying food and supplies along routes to the gathering site. Forest and county roads in the Slate Creek area as well as the communities of Grangeville and Riggins are expected to see potential impacts from the gathering.