Near: Tahoe City
Trip Type: Hike
Distance: 10 miles
Elevation: 7,000 to 8,700 feet
Vegetation: Pine forest
Martis Peak fire lookout is an easily accessable spot for fine veiws of Lake Tahoe. In late summer, a narrow but paved road gives access to a trailhead less than a mile from the lookout. So you can pop out for a quick view, or use it as an appetizer for a full day-hike further up the Tahoe Rim Trail to Mt. Baldy to the east. In the winter, the road should provide a nice ski route up the the lookout.
When we visited after a bomber snow year in 2017 there was still lots of snow over 6,000 feet in early June, keeping the road closed for a few more weeks. So we took the Tahoe Rim Trail, which parallels the Martis Peak road up from Brockaway Summit on CA267. We were hoping the south-facing aspect of the trail would have sped the snow melt enough that we'd only have to spend a litte bit of time playing find-the-trail. Alas, the snow remained quite deep on all aspects above 7,500 feet and we ended up getting shunted off the TRT onto a more easily followed fire trail. We made it, but I would suggest following the Martis Peak Road when trail isn't appparent because even our fire road petered out near the summit. Also note that at just 1 mile east of Brockaway Summit, a spur trail leads to a great lookout spot over lake. At about 500 feet of climb this spot would make for great easy hike for small kids or a group without a whole afternoon to spare.
