Location: Your options for mixing the best bits of the Tahoe to Yosemite and the Pacific Crest Trails

Main Features: This map depicts where I suggest that you consider merging your Tahoe to Yosemite route with a bit of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Or visa-versa. The best route is the best route no matter which direction you hike it.

The reason is simple: The Tahoe to Yosemite between Carson Pass through the Summit City and Mokelumne Rivers is not to be missed. It is a beautiful route. On the other hand, the section of the Pacific Crest Trail through the East Fork of the Carson River through Wolf Creek Lake to Sonora Pass is also especially beautiful.

So my simple solution is to stitch these sections together via the Highland Creek trail. The Highland Creek trail parts from the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail just to the Southeast of Spicer Meadow Reservior.

Independent of if your goal is the Sonora Pass or Saint Marys Pass on Highway 108, the vast majority of Southbound backpackers are going to pick up a resupply package at Kennedy Meadows Pack Station. After hitching a ride 9 miles West to Kennedy Meadows from Sonora Pass, Southbound backpackers can either continue on the Tahoe to Yosemite trail which departs out of Kennedy Meadows, or catch a ride back up to the Sonora Pass to continue South on the Pacific Crest Trail from there.

Your route has many options. Rather than exclusively following either the Tahoe to Yosemite or the Pacific Crest Trail, you can stitch together the best parts of each to craft your own route between Lake Tahoe and Mount Whitney.

We will continue to discuss the various trail options as we head further South. If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact me. I'll have all of these maps, as well as the trail guide pages, linked to a forum about this section soon.

Mapping, Mileage, and National Forest Information

Physical Location: Between Highway 4 and Highway 108

Mileages

Jenkins Canyon to Highland Lake: 6.46 miles

Jenkins Canyon to Saint Marys Pass: 23.26 miles

Mileages

Ebbetts Pass to Wolf Creek Pass: 7.02 miles

Wolf Creek Pass to Sonora Pass: 20.81 miles

back to Highway 4 Trail Guide Index

back to trail head

Top Map Name: Ebbetts Pass, Calif, 1979, USGS 7.5 minute Topographic

scale: 1:24 000

Contours: 40 feet

Bottom Map Name: Dardanelles Cone, Calif, USGS 1979, 7.5 minute Topographic

Compass Offset: Magnetic North is 16 and 1/2 degrees East of True North

scale: 1:24 000

Contours: 80 feet

Backpacking permitting authority

West Flank

National Forest: Stanislaus National Forest

Stanislaus National Forest Wilderness

Carson-Iceberg Wilderness

East Flank

National Forest: Toiyabe National Forest

Toiyabe National Forest Wilderness

Carson-Iceberg Wilderness

NF links are all dead from local NF sites...they do that sometimes. I am constantly trying to keep up with their changes. email me.

Upper Highland Lake: 8613 feet

Lower: 8584 feet

Wolf Creek Pass : 8400 feet

Tyron Peak: 9320 feet

Trail Guide: Jenkins Canyon

Trail Guide: Highland Lakes

Trail Guide: Wolf Creek Pass

Google Map: Highland Lakes and Ebbetts Pass

Map Credit

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior: The USGS

USGS MAP LOCATOR

Move the Map to the Sierras. Select size of Maps you wish to locate. Click "Mark Point" on map to see the USGS map grid of the selected map scale.

USGS Topographic Map Information