Great hike. Essentially no bugs!!! Taking the taxi back is a great option otherwise it’s a 12 mile hike. Worst part… Too many rocks!!!
Linda S.
Évaluation du lieu : 4 Rocklin, CA
This is a great day hike. Pack a nutritious lunch and hit the trail, take your time and get some great photos.
Emily A.
Évaluation du lieu : 5 Nevada, CA
6 miles round trip if you take the boat taxi across Echo Lake Moderate hike. One of the bigger challenges of this trail is finding a parking spot. After cruising the 3 parking lots for 30 minutes I gave up and parked a quarter mile down the road. I arrived at the boat taxi just as they were leaving so I was able to hop right on. Even tho the ride is short, I’m happy to pay the 10 bucks as you get to check out the cabins on Echo Lake and the little canal between the 2 lakes is cool. It helps to be a fan of granite expanses to appreciate this hike cause there’s a lot of them. And the trail has a lot of pure rock on it, but happily not a lot of rolling rocks. Still you gotta watch your step, and it’s moderately steep. But Ay yi yi, the views are fantastic! And after just 30 minutes of hiking you hit the turnoff to Tamarack Lake, which looks like a totally nice lake for hanging out. But I trudged on. Did I mention this trail is popular? I passed about 4 groups, everything from college kids that looked like they had never been on a hike before to 70 year old ladies who were just cruising. And tons of couples and grizzled old hippies types. My times before on this trail I have gone to Lake Aloha, another awesome lake. But I wanted to go somewhere new so I took the Lake of the Woods turnoff in the saddle area. One passes thru a pretty little meadow, then up a short ridge, then down down down. You can see Lake of the Woods almost immediately form the crest, but boy, it’s a long ways down there. But once I arrived I was happy to discover that the lake is large enough to accommodate 15 to 20 groups, with lots of big rocks to choose from. Also a couple of areas of sandy lake entry, good for swimming but they were right on the trail, so no privacy for picnicking. I continued on and found a great little spot for hanging out and swimming, a nice flat granite area. The lake is beautiful and you get that feeling that you are right on the top of the world. You should also give yourself enuf time to explore around the lake, there’s some good stuff. I was sad to leave this little bit of paradise but I needed to get back before the last boat took off(6:30) otherwise it would mean an extra hour of hiking. I was a bit stressed coming out as I didn’t see any other hikers going my way on the trail and the boat taxi won’t come out for less than 3 people. I shouldn’t have worried, there were 17 people waiting when I arrived. Notes: Bring your cell phone for calling the boat taxi, the phone wasn’t working when I was there. Good Really beautiful lake Lots of good lounging rocks Good swimming & easy entry Great vistas Boat ride is fun Can bail out and go to Tamarack Lake if tired Varied beautiful scenery on trail Bad Very popular Lots of parking that is already filled up by the time you arrive due to being so popular Boat ride is $ 10 one way First half of trail very rocky Last half mile of trail is steep downhill, meaning a steep uphill climb out
