Best Trails in Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

One of the best short hikes I’ve ever done. Very steep in certain places and had snow up to my knees but it was worth every second of it. I highly recommended this trail for anyone looking to get their heart rate up and get some incredible views.

On reaching the summit you would have earned some of the best views of Lake Tahoe ever. Went today and although small patches of snow are still present it's still manageable with regular trail shoes. Frequent patches of rough rocks too - so right kind of shoes definitely recommend. The hike though is totally worth all the efforts.

Closer to 11.5 miles in and out. Trekked through a few small snow banks in June, made it more interesting and fun. The wildflowers are icing in the cake during this difficult hike.

Fantastic. Hard slog up the fire road, but worth every inch once you get up to the alpine meadow.

The foliage was nice...trail into the meadow muddy.

We hiked Mt. Tallac yesterday. Some patches of snow on the trail but easy to navigate and poles helped with stability. We lost the trail a few times near the summit but it was not a big deal to find it if you keep hiking and pick a good line. This hike has the most beautiful views of Lake Tahoe, Emerald bay, Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Aloha (amongst many more) from the backside. Breathtaking! Round trip 5 hours and a celebratory beer at the car!

question! I will be doing this hike in August. So no snow... how important is hiking shoes vs. nikes? thanks!

A beautiful hike along the shore. There was some small climbing but definitely doable. A good mix of sun and shade. I believe what makes this a moderate hike is the distance. At the end there are some benches along the shore and a water taxi to bring you back to the start if needed. Also, the trail gets busy as the day goes on so I would start early.

We took the fireroad up. Nothing to see there. Elevation was big, but not to tough. After 4,5km you reach the meadow.
Walk back next to the creek was amazing! Well worth de hike up! Couple of crosses with the water. Loved it!

There is no trail between Dardanelles and Round. You will need GPS. We ended heading around to the back side of Round and connecting to the Pacific Rim Trail. Beautiful but challenging.

Super fun trail (a bit steep and rocky, but short and well worth it!) you get a full panorama of Tahoe. A bit of a busier trail though.

Super mild, definitely want to come back in the summer and go in the lake

The view is amazing and not a hard hike at all

A fantastic Kid friendly hike! Like most hikes, wear appropriate foot wear. Our 7 and 9 year old had a great time and were able to vear off the trail a little to enjoy the area. There are some areas where you will need to use your hands a little, nothing major. Pack a lunch to relax at the falls area. Its beautiful!

Wouldn't say it's an easy trail as while quite short (1.4m/2.2km roundtrip) almost all of it is rocks and boulders. Don't wear flipflops. The views are breathtaking, a must-do/see

The views at the very top was worth the hike. I would say the views are better than Yosemite. You get a 360 degree view of nature’s beauty. I am not sure how the Desolation Wilderness looks without snow, but this time of year with snow on the mountains, it was just jaw dropping beauty. Of course, the Lake Tahoe side is just as gorgeous. My only regret was not bringing my DSLR camera.
The trails are tricky this time of year. Many people turned around instead of attempting to climb the face of the mountain. Snow covered trails make it very difficult to follow the trail. You either “rock climb” on the right or scale the snow.. definitely need gear to go over the snow. It’s very steep and slippery. Coming down is tricky since the views are so different from the top. I would recommend GPS marking where you came up. At the very peak, there will be chipmunks that will attempt to steal your snacks. So don’t leave your food out in the open. This hike took us 6 hours, including getting lost trying to find our way down the face..

Quick scouting trip today - just a couple miles in and back along Echo Lake. Nice trail, fairly flat in this section. We look forward to returning soon so we can hike all the way back into Aloha Lake.

Did this hike on 6/8/18 and will definitely be going back as soon as my body recovers! Like all other recent reviewers, I lost the trail a number of times and ended up doing some sketchy rock-climbing-over-shale hoping I didn’t die until I found it again, but I eventually did! I didn’t start using the all trails app until I got past the “false summit,” but I wish I had because it would have made it easier to know when I wasn’t on the trail and how to get back on it. The paths made in the snow after the false summit do not follow the actual trail!! When I went up I followed the path through the snow and had a really hard time getting to the summit. On the way back down I tried harder to find the trail and didn’t go through the snow as much, and as a whole that was MUCH easier! Not to mention much better for the environment and following “leave no trace” practice. All in all, if you feel you are up to the 3000+ climb/5 miles, absolutely do this hike! But pull up the app as soon as it starts to become more rocky, it will save you a lot of energy and struggle by staying closer to the trail!

Really fun hike! Trail is well marked and easy to follow. There are lots of wildflowers along the trail, not as many in the actual meadow. Easy to complete in a few hours. I would definitely do this hike again.

Adding to Anthony’s post. Also check out my review on Freel, Jobs Sister, and Jobs Peak.

Enter off Forest Service Road 051 — put the following coordinates in Google maps (38.7913412,-119.9328102). Definitely recommend an AWD vehicle with high clearance. If you’re hitting Jobs first (counter-clockwise, I think people recommend that) drive to the very very end. The road does end. If you’re hitting Freel first (clockwise), park at the first round about.

This was a great hike. There was about 3 miles of icey snow. This added huge difficulty to the trail. It also added almost 2 hours to the hike. Other than this it was a great day.

The views are amazing, and it isn't a long hike, but who ever called climbing the boulders in the path an easy hike... Some people aren't that tall!

Really incredible views at the peak. The first 2/3 of the hike is pretty mild. Then you hit a rock patch which is very easy to lose the trail on. This area is what people are calling the false summit. As of today there was snow patches covering sections of the trail and we managed to lose the trail about a dozen times. Fortunately we had service for google maps so we could stay on track. Took us about 10 hours for a very slow and leisurely trip, including an hour or so spent hanging out at the peak. Definitely worth it!

Great trail and views from the.top are breathtaking. A little bit of snow left up top, but nothing that can't be crossed through. Make sure to use GPS. Almost everyone was trying to scale the face, but if they had just turned and stayed on the trail, it was a relatively easy accent. Pro tip, shoes with shanks, it is rocky!

Did this hike on 6/6/18. This was a really fun hike, but don't expect to do it in 5 hours! It took me and my girlfriend about 9 hours roundtrip. We met a few other groups who also took about 8-9 hours. The trail up to the second lake is pretty straightforward. Once you leave the second Lake, the hike gets more technical. We got lost heading up to the false summit and had to backtrack a bit. The path we took was a bit treacherous, as the rocks were unstable and we caused a handful of mini rockslides. Once over the false summit, there's several snow patches to cross. At the final push to the actual summit, we hugged the trail around on the right as opposed to going straight up, and it was significantly easier. Overall it was a great time! We saw lots of chipmunks and marmots. Just don't expect this to be a quick walk in the park, and be prepared for technical climbs over boulder fields and snow patches.

Beautiful trail; just watch where you step

Easy walk/run/bike ride with a gorgeous lake view on Nevada Beach. Evening nature walk will result in stunning Tahoe sunsets.

That was awesome! 6-4-18. Got on trail by 8:15am and was back at my car by 12:50pm.
I was solo, I only stopped once for a quick water break at one of the lakes, and then was at the summit for 20mins or so for lunch.
Yes, the first 3.3mi was cake, obvious trail. When you’re hiking the face to the false summit, that was a lil technical. Crossed a snow patch, but only lasted a couple mins. You’re making your own trail at that point...just head up to the ridge at whatever way you find easiest. Once you get to the ridge (false summit) you’ll have to cross a boulder field which is tricky. Once you’re up on the ridge, the summit is obvious..just keep headin towards it. I crossed the actual trail a couple times..but found it easier to just head straight to the summit...the ridge is clear enough to just make your own trail.
There’s no summit sign...but it’s obvious when you’re there...there’s no more climbing!
Coming down the ‘no-trail’ face was tricky...so
be careful...there were definitely a few rock slides coming down.
Have fun!

Hiked on 6-3-18. No issues with snow or muddiness along the trail. The meadows are green with wildflowers. This trail is a good workout. Bring bug spray

Nice trail, quite rocky in places. Very scenic.