Caples Creek Loop Trail

Great hike!

We’re new to the area, so it was good that we came prepared with a gps because we lost the trail a few times. The rivers were absolutely stunning, though, and the peak climb was manageable even with our 8mo old daughter in the backpack. Nice change in scenery too, from old wood forest to rushing waterfalls and plenty of rock scrabbling for young kids. There was a ton of dead wood in the forested areas, which made it easy to lose the trail, but overall, it was a great full-day hike. Oh, be sure to let someone know where you are, no cell phone signal and w only met 4 people on the hike.

very decent, not so steep hike. awesome forest. took us 4 hours

9.6 mike loop. Awesome trail.

Great hike. Just be prepared that parts of the trail aren’t clearly marked, so using GPS can be very helpful.

I enjoyed this hike. I kept track of distance on my Fitbit and it said it was 10.6 miles. For the most part it’s a easy walk. Be prepared for the switch backs. Parts of the trail are a little confusing, but great scenery!

It was 100* plus degrees in Sacramento. So we decided to head up the hill towards Tahoe. We found this trail and truly enjoyed it. Rivers, meadows, beautiful tress with very interesting bark. Mostly shade. We decided to do the loop. 9.3 miles with some very steep switch backs more then half way through. We were exhausted. It took us 4 1/2 hours. We are in pretty good shape but new to hiking.
I think when we do it with friends we'd go out and back. Not do that loop. It climbs to 1700 ft elevation
But this hikes tops our list of favorites

Trip #3

So beautiful - even on a hot day the trail stays fairly cool because it's mostly shaded.

We had an amazing time!! My first backpacking trip and I am hooked!

This loop trail has a little of everything I love about hiking in the lower Sierra. Access is easy, the trail is in decent shape, the views are fantastic, wild flowers are everywhere, and wildlife is abundant. Access to water is plentiful. Backpacking is easy and good camping spots are easy to find. If I had any complaint it would be that horse traffic chews up the trail surface a bit, but this is normal in this area.

This trail is gorgeous! Lots of flowers, can hear the creek the majority of the time and at times take in stunning views of the creek, medows. This trail is mostly in the shade which is a big + on hot days. Happy trails!

Yes Hannah. There is a beautiful place to camp if you take the loop clockwise all the way to Caples Creek 1/2 way through the loop just past Government Meadow. Then follow the creek down stream until you see the down tree to cross and after crossing go back up stream to the sandy beach at the creek's bend. There's also many other great spots along Caples Creek. Enjoy!

Caples and silver fork were huge! We made it to the crossing just past Governor’s Meadow. When you get to the creek you need to head right about a hundred yards. You'll have to scramble over a small side creek before getting the crossing on the huge log to make it to the other side of Caples creek.

Brian Foote, did you see places to camp if we were to backpack and stay somewhere on the trail overnight?

Thanks!

Maybe the best trail I've hiked in the last 25 years. Hats off to the trail maintenance crew with all the down trees from this past heavy winter. Made the 9 mile loop. Water was raging!

Toni MacKinnon, I went clockwise and ended up finding a crossing memorial weekend as I camped out for two days.

Beautiful scenery, great 3-4 hour hike. The crossing at the half way point is a large fallen tree. If you're looking for a second bridge, we didn't find it. Very easy to cross when you find it the log. Came across 3 rattle snakes on the trail. Keep a close eye on the trail. Scenery and water flow is amazing. Little snow left at 6900 ft.

Absolutely gorgeous and so much water!! Be sure you bring mosquito repellent

Bob Williams,

Which direction did you go when you did this? Thanks!

Toni

I've went twice. Loved it. Saw a huge bear in the first meadow. I'm not able to find a crossing at the point where the trail is supposed to come back down. I had to retrace my steps to get back. Maybe during low water you can wade across. In May 2017, no way.

Absolutely amazing hike. This is our second time and we love it!!!!!

solid

We hiked this trail this past weekend. We started at the Caples Creek trailhead near the Fitz Rantz Bridge. From there we hiked to the Jake Schneider Meadow which was beautiful. We continued on the Caples creek trail, past government meadows and hiked up the mountain. The we turned around because we weren't sure if the trail continued or looped back. We went back to the fork and took the Government Meadow trail. Government Meadow wasn't as cool as the Jake Schneider meadow but still great to see. On the Government Meadow trail, we had to cross the water and so it took us off trail a bit to find a log allowed us to cross the water. We had to hike in the direction of the trail and eventually found it. From there we took the Silver Fork Trail. The early part of the Silver Fork Trail is a little difficult as it goes up the mountain, with decent elevation change and switchbacks. (I wouldn't recommend for kids or inexperienced hikers.) The latter part of the Silver Fork Trail runs along the American River which was great. Finally we made it back to the Caples Creek Trail and headed back to the Trailhead. All in all, this was a 15 mile hike. If you have family and kids I would only go to the Jake Schneider Meadow and back, as that is what most of our group did.

Happy Hiking!!!

nice hike. fairly easy. water was flowing good. would definitely do this hike again. bring bug spray. lot of mosquitoes.

This was a great hike sad to see all the dried out trees. The water was very low! Easy hike

Awesome hike, beautiful scenery, even encountered a baby rattler