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
Desolation Wilderness Backpacking Map, Middle Velma Lake to Lower Echo Lake Trailhead.
Round Top Lake
 
Lost Keys Lake

South Desolation Wilderness Hiking Topo Map

The Tahoe to Yosemite, Pacific Crest, and Tahoe Rim Trails

4 USGS 7.5 minute backpacking topo maps of the Southern Desolation Wilderness

 

Maps Index
TYT-PCT
DESOLATION

Meeks Bay
to
Echo Summit

Guide Index
TYT
YOSEMITE

Meeks Bay
Trailhead

7.5 min
MAP
NORTH

PCT-TYT

Meeks Bay
to
Dicks Pass

7.5 min
MAP
SOUTH

TYT-PCT

Meiss
Country
Roadless
Area

Miles
and
Elevations

NORTH

NONE

Meeks
Bay
is our
Start Point

Miles
and
Elevations

SOUTH

Meeks
Bay

to
Echo
Summit

Trail Guide PAGE

Phipps
Pass


30 minute
MAPS


Desolation
Wilderness

Phipps Pass
to
Echo Summit Trailhead

Click
RED DOTS
for Trail Guide
ENTRIES

WEATHER

Desolation
Stations

Tahoe
Weather

All
High Sierra
Weather

RESUPPLY

Echo
Summit

Lake Alpine

PERMITS

Desolation
Wilderness

LTBMU

map information

 

Road Map

Backpacking Southern Desolation Wilderness

Dicks Pass to Echo Lake Trailhead
11.88 miles

North
7.5 minute topo hiking
map
Meeks Bay
to
Dicks Pass
South
7.5 minute topo hiking
map
Echo Lake
to
Echo Summit
Further South
7.5 topo hiking
map
Echo Summit
to
Carson Pass
South Desolation Wilderness.
North 7.5 minute topo hiking map
Meeks Bay to Dicks Pass
South 7.5 minute topo hiking map
Echo Lake to Echo Summit
Further South 7.5 topo hiking map
Echo Summit to Carson Pass

Location

Main Features: This is the Southernmost of three overlapping topo map compliations covering the Tahoe to Yosemite and Pacific Crest Trails through Desolation Wilderness.

North Desolation Wilderness                         Central Desolation Wilderness                        South Desolation Wilderness

These three maps overlap so we can follow side trails to local trailheads off of the main TYT-PCT route through Desolation Wilderness, such as Eagle Falls, Bayview Camp, and Cascade Lake along the West shore of Lake Tahoe. On the other side of the mountain we have Rockbound Valley. The point of these maps is not just to guide you down the long trails, but to draw you out into the beauties of Nature, first to explore short trips and loops into the Desolation Wilderness, then to spend some time stretching out your legs, lungs, and spirit on the long trails.

These trailheads along the West shore of Lake Tahoe offer short, if steep hikes into the heart of the Desolation Wilderness, and give us many options for hiking trips between trailheads, if not loops returning to our start point.

My hidden goal is to subtly push you towards hiking the whole 28.71 mile length of the Desolation Wilderness as the first section of your section-by-section hike down to Tuolumne Meadows if not Mount Whitney.

This type of on the trail preparation and experience is vitally important for those of us considering hiking the Pacific Crest Trail or even the Tahoe to Yosemite and John Muir Trails. Every year I meet strong young people on the trail who have not given themselves the training or experience to effectively deploy or maintain their strength.

They suffer needlessly. The very success or failure of their efforts becomes dependent upon how well they recover from their lack of physical preparation, gearing errors, and a wide range of unfounded assumptions about nature and how their body will work in nature. This transformational experience can be very dangerous. It can end all your experience, if not torture you, if you are not properly prepared.

A few short trips to work out the gear, break in the boots, figure out your food, and get the legs woken-up will save endless problems on the long trail.

If you only learn by doing things the hard way, be my guest. If you're feeling froggy, jump, by all means!

 

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 yards or .62 of a mile.

Diagonal: 1414.22 meters, if my trig is correct.

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

Map Information Common Map Symbols

Online and Trail Maps Online Length Conversion

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Road and Trailhead
access to
South Lake Tahoe
  Three Excellent Representative Trailheads
Highways 50 and 89

Meeks Bay, Echo Summit and South Upper Truckee Trailheads
  South Lake Tahoe Resources
Highways 50 & 89
 
 

More
Roadmaps

South Lake Tahoe
Resources

 

Lake Tahoe
Trailheads

 
         

Miles, Elevations,
and
Mapping Information

 

Mileages

Backpacking Dicks Pass down to Susie Lake

Desolation Wilderness

-1590, 2.93 miles

Topo Map: Phipps Pass to Lake Aloha

Dicks Pass                            9390                   16.83

                                        -1090                              1.33

Gilmore Lake Jnct               8300                   18.16

                                         -180                                .59

Hlf Moon/Gln Alpine Jnct      8120                 18.75

                                          -240                     .30

Glen Alpine Jnct 2                 7880                 19.05

                                           -80                                .31

E. side Susie Lake              7800                 19.36

                                             --                                .40

W. side Susie Lake                7800                19.76

 

Susie Lake to the North side of Lake Aloha

Topo Map: Phipps Pass to Lake Aloha

+320 feet, 1.4 miles

W. side Susie Lake              7800                  19.76

                                         +120                              .56

W. side Heather Lake        7920                 20.32

                                         +200                              .84

N. Lake Aloha/Rubicon Jnct 8120              21.16

 

North side of Lake Aloha to Echo Summit

End of the Desolation Wilderness

Topo Map: Aloha Lake
Map: Upper Echo Lake                    Map: Lower Echo Lake

- 706 feet, 9.55 miles

N. Lake Aloha/Rubicon Jnct 8120                21.16

                                           +40                            1.42

Lake of the Woods Jnct       8160                 22.58

                                            -80                             .59

Lake Lucille/ Margery Jnct, (L)

and Lake of the Woods (R)      8080              23.17

                                           +240                            .41

Lake Lucille/ Margery Jnct, #2 (L),

and Lake of the Woods #4 (R)   8320            23.58

                                               -80                .76

Triangle/Lilly Lakes Jnct             8240           24.34

                                               -360                        .68

Tamarack Lake Jnct                   7880            25.02

                                                 -80                        .46

Triangle/Lilly 2nd Jnct                  7800            25.48

                                                -280                        .61

Boat Taxi Dock                         7520           26.09

                                                -106                      2.62

Echo Lake Trail Head                 7414           28.71

 

The map above is composed of four USGS 7.5 minute Topographic maps, clockwise from upper Left:

Northwest Map
Rockbound Valley, 1992

Northeast Map
Emerald Bay, 1982

Southeast Map
Echo Lake , 1992

Southwest Map
Pyramid Peak, 1992

Compass Offset
Magnetic North
is
18 degrees, 34 minutes
East of True North

 

Scale
1:240 000

Contours
40 Feet

 

Backpacking Permitting Authority

Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

Contact Information

Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

 

National Forest

LTBMU

 

Wilderness Area:

Desolation Wilderness, TahoeWhitney

Desolation Wilderness, the feds.

 

Physical location:

Desolation Wilderness Region Map

 

Tahoe to Alpine Trail Guide Index

Meeks Bay trail head

 

Top of Page

Map North: Meeks Bay to Dicks Pass                            Map South: Echo Lake trailhead to Round Top Lake

Elevations   More Information

Lake Tahoe
6226 feet

Dicks Pass
9390 feet

North Side of Lake Aloha
8120 feet

Lower Echo Lake Trailhead
7414 feet

Trail Guide, Section
Meeks Bay to The Carson Gap

Trail Guide, Segment
Meeks Bay Trail head

Google Road Map
All Lake Tahoe trailheads

 

Map Credit

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

The
USGS

USGS MAP LOCATOR

Use search term "Meeks Bay," and "Address," as search type to locate this USGS map.

USGS Topographic

Map Information

Common Map Symbols

This trail guide began at the
Meeks Bay Trailhead

Trailhead
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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©Lake Tahoe to Mount Whitney: Crown Jewel of the Pacific Crest Trail