Desolation Wilderness Trails & Trailheads

You will find a list below of destinations by trailhead. The charts include the distance one way to the destination, the difficulty rating for that section of the trail, and the zone you will be in when you reach that destination.

West Side Trailheads

**Loon Lake Trailhead to:**
Destination	Miles one way	Difficulty	Zone
Pleasant C.G.	4.1	Easy/Moderate	n/a
Spider Lake	4.5	Moderate	n/a
Buck Island Lake	6.1	Moderate	n/a
Rockbound Lake	6.7	Moderate	1
Rubicon Reservoir	8.3	Moderate	6
Camper Flat	13.7	Moderate/Difficult	11

**Buck Island Trailhead to:**
Destination	Miles one way	Difficulty	Zone
Rockbound Lake	1.5	Easy/Moderate	1
Rubicon Reservoir	3.0	Easy/Moderate	6
Camper Flat	8.5	Moderate	11

**Van Vleck Trailhead to:**
Destination	Miles one way	Difficulty	Zone
Forni Lake	4.9	Moderate/Difficult	8
Shadow Lake	6.0	Moderate	n/a
Lake #3	6.3	Moderate/Difficult	13
Lake #5	6.8	Moderate/Difficult	13

**Rockbound Trailhead to:**
Destination	Miles one way	Difficulty	Zone
Beauty Lake	0.5	Easy	n/a
Gertrude and Tyler Lakes	4.2	Moderate/Difficult	31
Maude Lake	4.7	Moderate	25
Rockbound Pass	6.4	Moderate/Difficult	26
Doris Lake	6.6	Moderate/Difficult	26
Lake Lois	7.6	Moderate/Difficult	21
Lake Schmidell	8.4	Moderate/Difficult	14
Camper Flat	10.2	Moderate/Difficult	11

**Twin Lakes Trailhead to:**
Destination	Miles one way	Difficulty	Zone
Grouse Lake	2.1	Moderate/Difficult	36
Hemlock Lake	2.6	Difficult	36
Smith Lake	3.0	Difficult	37
Twin Lakes	3.0	Moderate	32
Island Lake	3.5	Moderate	32

**Lyons Trailhead to:**
Destination	Miles one way	Difficulty	Zone
Bloodsucker Lake	2.9	Easy	n/a
Sylvia Lake	4.6	Easy/Moderate	43
Lyons Lake	5.0	Moderate/Difficult	43

**Pyramid Creek (Twin Bridges) Trailhead to:**
Destination	Miles one way	Difficulty	Zone
Horsetail Falls (base)	1.5	Moderate	44
Avalanche Lake	1.8	Difficult	44
Ropi Lake	2.0	Difficult	44
Lake of the Woods	3.6	Difficult	40
Pacific Crest Trail	4.3	Difficult	33

East Side Trailheads

**Glen Alpine Trailhead to:**
Destination	Miles one way	Difficulty	Zone
Grass Lake	2.3	Easy/Moderate	35
Susie Lake	3.8	Moderate	34
Heather Lake	4.9	Moderate	33
Half Moon Lake	5.5	Moderate	28
Gilmore Lake	3.9	Moderate	29
Lake Aloha	5.8	Difficult	33,15,22
Dicks Pass	5.4	Difficult	23
Mt. Tallac	5.7	Difficult	29

**Mount Tallac Trailhead to:**
Destination	Miles one way	Difficulty	Zone
Floating Island Lake	1.7	Easy/Moderate	30
Cathedral Lake	2.5	Easy/Moderate	30
Mount Tallac	4.6	Difficult	29

**Bayview Trailhead to:**
Destination	Miles one way	Difficulty	Zone
Granite Lake	1.3	Moderate/Difficult	17
Dicks Lake	5.3	Difficult	23

**Eagle Falls Trailhead to:**
Destination	Miles one way	Difficulty	Zone
Eagle Lake	1.0	Moderate	18
Middle Velma Lake	4.4	Difficult	16
Dicks Lake	4.3	Difficult	23
Dicks Pass	5.3	Difficult	23
Fontanillis Lake	4.9	Difficult	23

**Meeks Bay Trailhead to:**
Destination	Miles one way	Difficulty	Zone
Lake Genevieve	4.6	Moderate	3
Crag Lake	4.9	Moderate	3
Hidden Lake	5.7	Moderate	3
Stony Ridge Lake	6.3	Moderate	7
Rubicon Lake	8.1	Moderate/Difficult	7

Last updated July 30th, 2025

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Alerts:

Fire Danger Status

Desolation Wilderness Trails & Trailheads

West Side Trailheads

East Side Trailheads

Alerts and Fire Danger Status

Alerts:

Fire Danger Status

Desolation Wilderness Trails & Trailheads

West Side Trailheads

Loon Lake Trailhead

Buck Island Trailhead

Van Vleck Trailhead

Rockbound Trailhead

Twin Lakes Trailhead

Lyons Trailhead

Pyramid Creek (Twin Bridges) Trailhead

East Side Trailheads

Glen Alpine Trailhead

Mount Tallac Trailhead

Bayview Trailhead

Eagle Falls Trailhead

Meeks Bay Trailhead