To get to Stehekin you will need to make reservations on one of these two boats: the Lady of the Lake or the Stehekin Ferry. 

We were staying 2 nights in the area so our day hike consisted of the following:

• 9am: Catch the blue shuttle bus to the northern trailhead of Rainbow Loop, which is a C-shape and not a loop. Patty, our driver, was friendly, informative, and kind.
• Make a mental rainbow using the many wildflowers on the trail. I "cheated" and used the sky for blue, and bear scat for black. Your mileage may vary.
• Take 2 right turns:
  • Right at the intersection for Rainbow Creek. Just past this, we saw a wooden sign indicating a tent site. We explored that area for 10 minutes or so.
  • Get back on the trail and turn right again at the intersection of Boulder Creek Trail.
• 12pm: Enjoy a spectacular viewpoint.
• At the conclusion of Rainbow Loop, we turn north on the road.
• Explore the old school.
• Continue to Rainbow Falls Mist trail. Enjoy the most enormous picnic bench ever.
• Retrace our steps south on the road until the bakery.
• 3:15 ish: Patty came by on the blue bus and picked us up for a short ride back to the landing.

Beautiful falls, flowing great. Nice and easy but great.

Bottom Line:

Beautiful Stehekin valley hike to Rainbow Falls with lake and mountain views, a stunning waterfall from a glacial cirque, ample flowers and a bakery(!?); road and trail are in excellent condition; there are many ways to extend this hike (next up for me will be the Rainbow Falls Loop climbing above the falls - map snapshot provided below); it is OK to wave down the shuttles if needed

Stats:

• Distance: 9-1/2 miles
• Duration: 4-1/4 hours
• Vertical: 450 ft
• Weather: Sunshine to increasing clouds, thunderstorms and sprinkles; 75F; light wind
• Road/Parking: Started at Stehekin Landing where we arrived by ferry 
• Trail: Hiked from Stehekin Landing to Rainbow Falls return; the hike along Stehekin Valley Road is beautiful, with a couple stops of interest (e.g. the old school, a National Historic Landmark, and the bakery!) and beautiful mountain and lake Chelan views; the road and trail to lower/upper Rainbow Falls is in excellent condition with some recent work; moderate water volume so falls are not generating a lot of mist right now so we stayed dry; the Rainbow Falls loop trail climbs up above the falls and was tempting but will need to wait until next time; there are shuttles from the landing to the falls, but what fun is that? :)
• Takeaway: Beautiful waterfall well past peak winter melt water volumes but still pretty intriguing - check out the video below; if visiting Stehekin and having to choose between waterfall hikes, I would probably choose Agnes Gorge instead, as it is truely something special

PS. Does the map below "out me" for going to the bakery in both directions?! :)

This was quite some day hike that pretty much captured all that is Stehekin in one long day.  We were camping at Purple Point campground so walked the lake road to the southern loop trail head of Rainbow Loop, stopping at the bakery to pick up lunch on the way.  Rangers were about to take care of felling some hazardous trees, but we were free to pass.  The hike up through the burnt forest is very sun exposed but conditions were breezy which helped.  The burned black trunks contrasted amazingly with the blue skies and white blooming native ceanothus.  The dramatic view point down to the Stehekin River with views up the valley was very windy.  I immediately lost my hat and it had to be rescued by my partner as I was stuck on top of the rocks.  After the high point the trail plateaus into a sublime section of flowers (now lupines as well) and gentle grade until it drops to a frothing Rainbow Creek on a sturdy bridge.  The loop down is much longer at a little under three miles through unburnt forest.  A study in shades of green.  Fresh bear scat here but no sightings.  At the end you pop out at the fun colored trail sign and then realize that when they quote the mileage for the "loop" it does not include the road walk back to the start!  So off we set.

Half way back you pass the short road into Rainbow Falls so we followed that up and had lunch at the most ginormous picnic table sized for valley trolls.  Worth checking under the Harlequin Bridge as you pass it by!  The table was in the cooling draft of the falls so welcome on a hot day.  We hiked up the short mist trail, which is partway covered with new gravel, as far as the getting soaking wet zone.  Then we returned to enjoy the cool and dry views of the falls from the bottom.  Very few people out even though it was the holiday weekend.

Back on the road again we immediately started looking for a connector trail called Buckner Lane (it's a good idea to pick up a trail map from the national park service center before you do these hikes), to the Buckner Orchard - an old homestead.  It's a little gem passing through the hot forest beside an irrigation channel - think oasis in the desert.  We walked around the Orchard but really should have given ourselves longer to explore here.  We were also very happy to see a potable water spigot near the old trucks.  In spite of carrying a liter of water on a day with only around 1000 feet of El gain we were running dangerously low on water with it being so hot.

Checking our watches we then took a quick pace returning up to the road and then back to the bakery for ice cream before it closed.  We did add in a stop at the old log cabin school house so then had to hike even faster.  After our tasty late afternoon break on the bakery's shady green lawn we walked the final miles back along the road to our campsite for just under a total of fifteen for the day.

Most/many people rent bikes to explore this area.  If we had done that we could have still followed the same itinerary (leaving the bikes at the southern Rainbow loop end) reduced our walking road miles and given ourselves more time to explore, but we would have missed Buckner Lane.

Summary

Wonderful early season backpacking route, and definitely one of the more unique ones you can do in Washington. We hiked from Prince Creek to Stehekin overnight, staying in Moore Point, and staying at Lakeview campground in Stehekin.

Wildflowers (especially lupines, balsamroot, dogwood, and Pemberton) are out and absolutely covers the entire trail right now. No real issue with bugs.

Logistics can be a little complicated when it comes to ferries and possibly getting around in Stehekin.

Detailed Report

Day 1 - Prince Creek to Moore Point. About 12 miles.

Longest and hardest segment. Took the Lady Express from Fields Landing ($7 per night fee). The ferry dropped us and half the boat off at Prince Creek and I think there were about 20 to 30 of us, but we found solitude quickly on the trail as folks spread out. The lake is beautiful, and it's a little hard to capture how blue/emerald it can get.

The trail, as others have mentioned, does not closely follow the shore. Prepare for lots of up and downs (I think I recorded about 2000 ft this day), with very little shade. The first half of the trail was not so bad in a sun hat, but as the day heated up to the mid 70s-80s after Meadow Creek, the trail got pretty grueling and slow going. A few creek crossings that are a little challenging with high river flows right now, but do-able with good balance or hiking poles. A few blowdowns, but we saw a trail crew working on it so it should be cleared up soon. 

Moore Point was crowded, and another trail crew was camping there on weekends this month, but I think everyone found spots eventually. There's a big grassy field where folks were able to set up if the more secluded spots were taken. Clean pit toilets and there were bear lockers to use. Lovely place to chill in the lake and hang out.

No rattlesnake, or bears spotted, although some other hiker saw a snake and osprey. Lots of wildflowers out, and we saw a grouse.

Day 2 - Moore Point to Lakeview Camp in Stehekin. 8 miles.

We got started at 6am this time to beat the heat, and hiked 8 miles into Stehekin about 10am. Highly recommend starting early as the entire hike will be in the shade before the sun rises above the mountains. It's a lot cooler and much more enjoyable.

Set up camp in Lakeview before it got too crowded, and took the shuttle to the bakery at 11am (make sure to check the schedule!). The NPS visitor center and the Stehekin ranch are still closed for the season but the restaurant and store is open.

I personally liked Lakeview campground better than Purple Point. Even if both campgrounds had running water, Lakeview seemed much newer and less steep. It's a bit easier to access the restaurant and the boat landing as well, but is a little bit farther away from the shower building ($1 in quarters per 2.5 mins).

Day 3 - Stehekin

We rented a bike to Rainbow Falls. Amazing time to go, it's roaring from all the snowmelt and you can actually get quite wet at the upper lookout. Also saw the Orchard and old schoolhouse, both are great stops too.

Took the ferry out at around noon and made it back to the car at 2pm.