Killer Sunset at The Sisters near Carson Pass Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney: Crown Jewel of the Pacific Crest Trail Need a Map? Lost Al near Lost Keys Lake
Tahoe to Yosemite Trail Option through Highland Lakes
Dicks Lake   Lake Aloha
Dicks, and Fontanillis Lakes from Dicks Pass

Backpacking
Highland Creek on the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail
to
Wolf Creek Pass on the Pacific Crest Trail
via
Highland Lakes

Hiking
A Tahoe to Yosemite Trail Route Option

7.5 minute USGS Backpacking Topo Map of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness

Aloha Lake under Pyramid Peak from Dicks Pass

Tahoe to Yosemite
Maps and Mileages
  Trail Guide   Tahoe to Whitney
Indexes
  More
Miles and Elevations
  Permits   Weather, Map Data
Maps
INDEX

Tahoe
to
Yosemite
Trail
TYT
Trail

Highland
Creek

North
and

South
PCT

Ebbetts Pass
to
Sonora Pass

BIG Maps
TYT
Lake Alpine to Saint Marys

PCT
Ebbetts Pass to Sonora Pass

Miles and Elevations 

TYT
Lake Alpine to Saint Marys Pass

PCT
Ebbetts Pass to Sonora Pass

TYT

Jenkins Canyon
PCT

Wolf Creek Pass
TYT-PCT Link

Highland Lakes
All Miles

Tahoe to Whitney
Local Maps

Highway 4 to Highway 108
All Maps

Tahoe to Whitney

TYT
North

Carson Gap
to
Lake Alpine

 Lake Alpine
to
Saint Marys Pass

PCT

Ebbetts Pass
to
Sonora Pass

West
of
Ebbetts
Pass

Stanislaus National Forest

East
of
Ebbetts
Pass

Toiyabe National Forest

Weather Resources

High Sierra Weather Page

map info
           
Highland Lakes & Garner Meadow
Trailheads
HUB of TRAILS

6.46 miles Northeast from TYT at Jenkins Canyon via Highland Lakes Trailhead.

3.72 miles from Highland LakeTrailhead Northeast to PCT at Wolf Creek Pass.

TYT to PCT
10.18 miles

Context
The Carson Iceberg Wilderness Map

Click RED DOTS and BLACK LABELS below for
Associated Guide Pages and Backpacking Maps

TOPO MAP
CONNECTOR
TYT-PCT
Spicer Reservoir via Highland Creek
TOPO MAP
North
PCT
Ebbetts Pass to Tyron Peak
TOPO Map
South
PCT
Wolf Creek to Swampy Lake
Tahoe to Yosemite Trail route linked to the Pacific Crest Trail at Wolf Creek Pass via Highland Creek, Highland Lakes, and Gardner Meadow.
Spicer Reservoir via Highland Creek
TOPO MAP
TYT-PCT
CONNECTOR TRAIL
Ebbetts Pass to Tyron Peak
TOPO MAP
PCT
North
Wolf Creek to Swampy Lake
TOPO Map
PCT
South

The Carson Iceberg Wilderness Map

Mapology

MAP NOTE
Those squares breaking the USGS maps up into grids are the Universal Transverse Mercator / Military Grid Reference System, otherwise commonly known as UTM.

What's important for our general reference purpose is that each side of a square is 1000 meters, or a Kilometer.

From my point of view that is 1093.6 yards or .62 of a mile.

Diagonal: 1414.22 meters, if my trig is correct.

That converts the diagonal distance into 4,639.8 feet or .88 of a mile.

Map Information All Map Symbols
Common Map Symbols
Online and Trail Maps Online Length Conversion

 


Location
our options
for mixing the
Best Bits
of the

Tahoe to Yosemite and the Pacific Crest Trails

Main Features

Local Hikers
Highland Lakes and its car campground are served by a fine dirt road coming Southeast out from Highway 4 just a bit West of Ebbetts Pass. Check out the ROAD MAP.

This road gives us access to a set of trailheads and trails located just West of the route of the PCT and maybe ten miles Northeast of the route of the TYT. These are fine access points for local backpackers to areas near and on the Sierra Crestline which also gives day hikers and car campers excellent access to a remote segment of the Sierra Crest to observe and explore.

Long Distance Hikers
This map depicts where I suggest that you consider merging your Tahoe to Yosemite route with a bit of the Pacific Crest Trail as you hike one or the other across the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

Or visa-versa. The best route is the best route no matter which direction you hike it. From Highland Lakes the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail is to our South, the Pacific Crest Trail to our Northeast.

The reason for tying the TYT and PCT routes together through Highland Lakes is simple: just a bit further North of Lake Alpine on Highway 4 the Tahoe to Yosemite Trail between Carson Pass through the North Mokelumne River and Summit City Creek is not to be missed, in my opinion. It is a beautiful route. This section also contains a long section of unmaintained trail.

On the other hand, the section of the Pacific Crest Trail through the East Fork of the Carson River from Wolf Creek Pass to Sonora Pass is also especially beautiful. Humm, OK, my question is how can we pull this off? On one hike? A few hikes? Many many backpacking trips...

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 Northeast of Spicer Meadow Reservoir at the Jenkins Canyon trail junction. We must understand that we have a menu of route selections backpacking across the length of the Carson Iceberg Wilderness.

This is a little bit of backpacker heaven. So I got a little bit of map here depicting it's heart, or Hub of Trails...

On Down the Trail
Independent of your goal, be it 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 have another vexing choice: either continue South on the Tahoe to Yosemite trail hiking South out of Kennedy Meadows, or catch a ride back up to the Sonora Pass to continue South on the Pacific Crest Trail from there. Easy Money, Honey.

These all look like good options to me...

Your route through the High Sierra Nevada Mountains has many options that only time on trail will clarify. Highland Lakes can be a start point for great hiking loops around the Carson Iceberg Wilderness using both the PCT and TYT routes, or you may just be hiking by, connecting up these two beautiful trails around the Carson Iceberg.

Rather than exclusively following either the Tahoe to Yosemite or the Pacific Crest Trail, Highland Lakes is one of the connectors trails you can use to stitch together custom parts of each trail to craft your own unique route between Tahoe and Whitney.

We will continue to discuss the various trail options as we hike 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 where you can soon leave your bits of wisdom about this section.


Mapping, Mileage, and National Forest Permit Information

 

Miles and Elevations

 

Physical Location
Between Highway 4 and Highway 108

Mileages TYT Route

Jenkins Canyon to Highland Lake
6.46 miles

Jenkins Canyon to Saint Marys Pass
23.26 miles

 

Mileages PCT Route

Ebbetts Pass to Wolf Creek Pass
7.02 miles

Wolf Creek Pass to Sonora Pass
20.81 miles

 

Trail Guide
Highway 4 Trail Guide
Index

Topo Maps
Highway 4 to Highway
108 Map Index

 

USGS Topo Map Information

 

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

 

scale
1:24 000

Contours
80 feet

 

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

Nearby Trailheads

Highland Lakes

Gardner Meadow

Ebbetts Pass

Lake Alpine

Clarks Fork Road

Arnot Creek

Disaster Creek

Scroll down the Clarks Fork page for the Clarks Fork TH and the Boulder Creek PCT-TYT connector trail.

 

Backpacking permitting authorities

West Flank

Stanislaus National Forest Wilderness

Contacts
Stanislaus National Forest

National Forest website
Stanislaus National Forest

National Forest website
Carson-Iceberg Wilderness

East Flank

Toiyabe National Forest Wilderness

Contacts
Toiyabe National Forest

National Forest website
Toiyabe National Forest

Carson-Iceberg Wilderness
NF links are all dead from local NF sites...(FIXED AGAIN, 5-28-2012) they do that sometimes. I am constantly trying to keep up with their changes. email me.

Region map, North & South: The Pacific Crest Trail                               last map, TYT: Spicer Reservoir up Highland Creek

Elevations   More Information

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: Thanks, USGS !

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior

The
USGS

Download Free USGS Topo Maps

USGS MAP LOCATOR

I love these guys...

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 Maps

Map Information

Common Map Symbols

Trailhead
Comments
Jenkins Canyon TYT
to
PCT beyond Highland Lakes
Contact
Alex Wierbinski

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Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney

Your guide to backpacking the Sierra Crest, including the Tahoe to Yosemite, Pacific Crest, and John Muir Trails

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