Trail Report: Hiking Winnemucca Lake via the Pacific Crest Trail on National Trails Day
I spent National Trails Day hiking from Carson Pass to Winnemucca Lake and Round Top Peak via the Pacific Crest Trail. The hike is a fairly easy, 5 mile round trip jaunt to a gorgeous glacial lake.
The fairly easy hike up can be exposed and buggy (especially when passing Frog Lake!), so don’t forget sunscreen, a hat, and bug spray. You’re rewarded with gorgeous views of the surrounding peaks, valleys and lakes during the whole hike.
Round Top “peaks” through the trees less than a mile into the hike.
About 1.3 miles into the trail, the Pacific Crest Trail spurs off to the left. Be sure to follow the trail to right to arrive at Winnemucca Lake. This early in the summer, it’s still a little snowy, and we had to cross a few snow patches. None were longer that 200 yards or so and on flat trail, so not too difficult to navigate. This hike is famous for incredible displays of wildflowers. Unfortunately, we were a little early for the fields of color, but we found a few patches of wildflowers that we tried to identify.
Greyson references the Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada.
It was a perfect sunny day for sitting on the shore of Winnemucca Lake, soaking in the view.
Winnemucca Lake panorama.
I’ve heard this trail can get pretty busy during the height of the wildflower season, but we ran into very few other hikers. From Winnemucca Lake, you can continue on to other beautiful spots, like Fourth of July Lake and a couple of campgrounds. We didn’t end up going any further due to the snow and a high-ish creek crossing, but I’m looking forward to coming back to this spot later in the summer.
Winnemucca Lake Hike // tahoefabulous.com
Trail Stats:
Mileage: 5.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 532 feet of elevation gain
Washoe Land
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