Trip Type: Hike
Near: Cisco Grove
Distance: 7 miles
Elevation: 5800 - 6800 ft
Vegetation: Pine Forest
Last Hike: May 2018
Lock Leven Lakes are a series of Alpine Lakes on the western slopes of the Sierra just west of the Sugar Bowl ski area. The modest climb required to reach them and their ease of access from I-80 make them a very popular destination, particularly in the spring and fall when snow is more of problem at higher elevations. The hike is mostly so-so at first, with some nice open granite sections, but the ambiance isn't great with road noise from I-80 for the first mile or two. But when you top out at the lakes it suddenly turns idyllic and beautiful. Note that while this is not a physically difficult hike, there the trail can be a bit hard to follow at few points, even though it's relatively heavily trafficked for the area. Getting to Upper Loch Leven Lake can be particularly challenging since the route shown on many maps is wrong.
Rules and Regulations
This hike is in the
Tahoe National Forest. Dogs are allowed off leash if under effective voice control. Please pick up after your dog and carry out all refuse. There are no permits required for hiking or back country camping. A
permit is required for campfires or use of campstoves.
Trailhead
An obvious, developed trailhead on Hampshire Rocks Road, just east of the fire station.
Route
There are two trouble spots on this route: an easy-to-lose section of trail early in the climb, and an easy-to-miss stream crossing between the middle and upper lakes.
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The trail starts climbing open rock faces for the first half mile, marked with small cairns.
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| Early in the climb, the trail takes a sharp right turn by a small (maybe seasonal?) pond, This looks a bit like a dead end at first, but if you keep scooting along the pond you'll find where it climbs up some rocks to your right then turns left to make a loop around the pond heading generally southwest. |
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| The trail gets a bit more defined and easy to follow when you cross this bridge and enter the woods a bit higher up in the climb |
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| About halfway to the first lake you cross some active railroad tracks. Pay attention as you cross we saw a couple trains moving pretty fast on the section on the way up and down the trail. |
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| Lower Loch Leven Lake |
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| Middle Loch Leven Lake |
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| As the trail winds around the southern end of Middle Loch Leven Lake you get some nice views south in the the North Fork American River valley. |
After looping around the south end of the middle lake, the trail becomes a bit hard to follow.
This is the second trouble spot on this route. Forest Service maps show the trail staying on the west side of the creek and small pond here, which is wrong. We followed that route once on a hike up here and it did lead us to a nice picnic spot overlooking Middle Loch Leven Lake, but it was a dead end. To reach the upper lake you need to cross the stream about a third of the way back around the lake. Look for some clean-cut logs on the near bank of the creek at the crossing. From there the trail is a bit thin in places, but easy enough to follow up to the upper lake.
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| Upper Loch Leven Lake |
The trail ends at the upper lake, but there are some nice rocky prominences around the lake to explore, which offer some more expansive views of the area.
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| Upper Lock Leven Lake from some rocky ledges to the north. |
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