Top Trails: Lake Tahoe. Mike White

Top Trails: Lake Tahoe

pit toilets, and running water in season.

Logistics

With a pair of durable vehicles you can arrange a shuttle and shave off 1.6 miles of hiking by driving the Castle Valley Road to within 0.1 mile of the Hole in the Ground Trailhead. With a high-clearance vehicle you may be able to get all the way to the trailhead.

The trip length with a shuttle is 8.0 miles.

Trail Description

images 1 From the parking lot follow a well-signed gravel path to a stone bridge over a seasonal stream and continue on dirt track through lodgepole pines, western white pines, and white firs. Soon encounter a junction with the Glacier Meadow Loop, images 2 where you veer right and continue eastbound toward the Pacific Crest Trail. After a short distance you come to a second junction with the Glacier Meadow Loop, images 3 where you veer to the right again. Pass by a shallow pond, where mountain hemlocks join the mixed forest, and then make a short descent to the Pacific Crest Trail junction, near the edge of a grass- and willow-filled meadow, 0.5 mile from the trailhead. images 4

Head north on the PCT around the fringe of the meadow and pass through a pair of large culverts, underneath the eastbound and westbound lanes of I-80. Beyond the culverts you make a moderate climb to the crossing of a seasonal creek and then come to a well-signed, four-way junction, 1 mile from the trailhead. images 5

Remaining on the Pacific Crest Trail, you proceed straight ahead at the four-way junction, following signed directions to Castle Pass. The PCT rises and then drops to the north shore of a small pond, where you should veer right at an unmarked Y-junction with a path bound for the Donner Summit Rest Area.

images Steep

Beyond the unmarked junction, you follow mildly graded trail through mixed forest, toward Castle Valley. Eventually the trail brings you alongside the creek for a brief time and then travels just east of the verdant meadows of Castle Valley. Use trails branch away from the PCT at various points, headed toward the creek and meadows. At 2.3 miles from the trailhead you cross a well-traveled dirt road, and then continue upstream through Castle Valley, hopping over a number of lushly lined tributaries along the way. Nearing the head of the valley, the PCT bends to the west on an ascending traverse to a signed three-way junction with a trail from the Castle Valley Road. images 6 From there, a short but stiff climb brings you to Castle Pass and a five-way junction, 3.3 miles from the trailhead. images 7

images Historical Interest

At Castle Pass, proceed north on the Pacific Crest Trail, on a traverse across a lightly forested slope. After about 0.5 mile you begin a moderate, switchbacking descent toward Round Valley. Nearing the floor of the valley, a short use trail leads to the Peter Grubb Hut, images 8 4.2 miles from the PCT Trailhead. The hut is complete with a wood-burning stove, firewood, gas stove, cooking utensils, table and chairs, a loft with sleeping platforms, and a detached outhouse. Interesting old photos and memorabilia cover the walls and provide a sample of the area’s history.

images OPTION

Peter Grubb Hut

The Peter Grubb Hut, built in the 1930s, was the northernmost in a series of six huts planned for the Tahoe Sierra along the crest between Donner and Echo Passes. The huts were patterned after hut systems in the Swiss Alps. The four huts that were built have provided overnight shelter at a nominal cost for backcountry skiers and hikers for several decades. For more information or to make a reservation, contact the Sierra Club at 530-426-3632.

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