Best Trails in Desolation Wilderness

Beautiful views of Emerald Bay. Snow mostly pretty packed now but plenty of it. Snowshoes are helpful but not required.

In lieu of traversing the “snow wall” mentioned by another reviewer, you can go right up a shallower slope and then round a turn back left. I *think* that this is actually the intended trail, but I havent done it in the summer to know for sure.

River is very full and roaring. Small Eagle Lake mostly frozen and snow covered but very serene.

Did this is warmer months. Pretty easy and good views.

Very snowy, but we made it to the lake. There is a large snow wall that stop most people, but we managed to climb it and saw only 2 other people on the trail. Had the lake to ourselves. Beautiful!!

awesome trail.

It was my first hike in years. Out of shape 63 years old. It was a long hike to the Lake of the Woods, my legs were too tired to go down to the water. I could handle the 350’ hike up, so I just enjoyed the view from above. Hope to do it again and go all the way down to the water. Important to listen to your body.

I was surprised to see so many cabins around the lakes. It’s a moderate hike, very manageable for beginners. It was my first hike and I did w no issues.

Excellent hike with deep, firm snow. towering rocky peaks all around and a frozen lake with a view at the end

Took 7hrs to snow shoe up the mountain yesterday and only 3hrs to get down. There is a lot of snow on the mountain, snow shoes and poles are a must. All Trails did a excellent job helping us keep the trail.

A bit of a monster for this 74 year old. I had a difficult time navigating the last 300 yard boulder portion. I watched a younger guy just glyde over this section of the climb. lots of wind in the Boulder field. 4300 ft elevation climb in 3.1 miles. I thought the Mt Whitney section from the base of the switchbacks to the top was easier.

Did this trail back in the beginning of November but I did it all the way to Middle Velma Lakes and Dicks lake then back up to the bayview junction and took the longer more scenic way down via the bayview trail.
When you get to Velma lakes they are all diffrent but the best and largest is Middle Velma its clear with alot of small islands in it!
Great trail and experience beautiful view of Emerald Bay, Cascade lake, Granite lake and Lake Tahoe on the way down! Still one of my top trails to do again in early Summer.

Really pretty trail with views along the way. Did it 2/1/19 with yak tracks and hiking boots and we made it, just slipped on the snow a couple times. Lake is frozen over and it’s beautiful! Keep in mind it looks like you are supposed to pay $5 to park at the trailhead (but there weren’t any fee envelopes left when we went so I’m not sure if that’s a thing or not anymore.)

Super short but with some good ups.. especially in the snow. It seems fairly popular on the weekends but not obnoxious. The lake is frozen - people were walking all the way out to the island with no issue today.

This is an easy snowshoe trek from the Sno-Park lot to Lower Echo. We also shoed across the length of Lower Echo. Powder is deep in spots, and the lake is mostly frozen. Absolutely enchanting. Such a gorgeous hike. Today’s weather was terrific, along with ideal road conditions.

Completed on 1/11/18. This hike was definetly a low-effort, high-reward kind of trek. There were a ton of incredible views, from Lake Tahoe to mountain peaks to frozen Eagle Lake. A little sketchy in a couple of spots, but definitely doable with some snowshoes and poles. Highly suggested! Didn't see anyone on the way up and only a few hikers on the way down.

Very scenic trail. Starts relatively flat along the length of echo lake, clearly defined trail, spikes used in this section since compacted. As you turn to start the loop, switch to snowshoes required. still relatively easy to follow, a few icy spots. I had service the whole time to check map. Pretty consistent incline to peak. I did an out-and-back to echo peak due to time constraints. 3 hrs to peak and super quick on return. Icy road heading in to trailhead with traffic at peak hours, had to walk the last halfmile due to snow. Great experience, panoramic views and easy to navigate.

This one was fun, as it had some fresh snow had to use snowshoes after the first 1k feet of climbing - barely had any tracks to follow, not a well marked trail by any means (which makes it fun)

Recommendation is to use the all trails app to make sure you're close to the trail. Thank you for putting the cairns or else we'd never be able to find the trail!

I just hiked this one today (12/29/18) and really enjoyed it. Beautiful views.The lake was frozen over so plenty of hikers walked out onto it. Very cool. Some parts of the trail were really icy and can be tough to hike on. I saw plenty of people slip and a few younger kids and older adults had difficulty with icy steps.

Great scenery!

Pretty hike! Get to the parking area early to get a spot and make sure you park in an appropriate spot, as the rangers do ticket. We went in mid-November....Lake Aloha was great when we went plenty of water, but very cold when the sun went down. I imagine it would be absolutely perfect in the spring and fall!

An easy hike with amazing view.

Amazing view of the frozen lake!! Our first Christmas Eve hike

Closed for at least a year due to fire damage

Didn't follow the advice of "best used from June until October." Hiked this in mid-December without snowshoes or poles. Doable without snow equipment but I still recommend it. Tough hike but the view from the peak is well worth it.

great hike

it was a great snowy winterland. it was a wonderful trek and not to long. it is also pretty well marked except after the waterfall. then it got tricky so I decided not to continue and headed back down.

Recently I had the great fortune of hiking to Lake of the Woods with two of our sons. We took a chance, late in the hiking season, to travel a small portion of the Pacific Crest Trail. This wonderful little trail offered a variety of terrain, lakes and foliage. While challenging, in my current athletic ability, this well-traveled trail gives the day hiker and backpacker stunning views and beautiful scenery.

We had the lake to ourselves for two days. Clear sky and beautiful weather with temps in the sixties daytime and low thirties at night, made for a fantastic trip!

We will be back to this little gem again!