Fabulous day riding with old friends and a wide open road! I’ll be taking this trip again sometime.
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This is a great horseback ride to a lovely little lake. The views are fabulous and there were well spaces water sources along the way. Oh and every horses dream- lots of green grass
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It was a nice hike, easy elevation nice trail. Lots of people lots of dogs and lots of noise from I 80 all the way to the lake. Probably a nice day on a weekday.
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Hiked this on 12/28/23. It was pretty much packed snow the first two thirds of the way and snowshoes were not needed (but microspikes and trekking poles kept the slippage to a minimum). The snow was not particular deep, either.
Once you turn off the road to the Castle Peak trail you will likely soon want snowshoes with heel lifts. The way becomes increasingly steep and its difficult to find the right path to the top. There is one stretch that is steep enough to slide but I didn't see any avalanche run out areas (I could have missed them)
But once you do you are rewarded with some great views (and a lot of wind). We did not make it to Castle Peak itself, judging the finally bit of path there to be a touch too difficult and maybe a bit risky
There were not a lot of other snowshoers, skiers or snowboarders along the way, but there were a few.
Coming down was a bit of a challenge with lots of sliding falls (trekking poles with snowbaskets really helped) until the slope eased a bit.
New storms coming this weekend so conditions will likely be a lot different in a few days.
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Great ride! Grunt climb up 1,600ft straight up but worth it on the downhill.
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We attempted the trail (from the bottom) with horses and although they were surefooted and sensible, this trail is too bouldery to safely take horses on. Ended up abandoning the hike-a-ride after less than half a mile (and had a hard job getting the horses down again). Very sad because it looked beautiful. May attempt to get there via the Salmon Lake trailhead another day (or just come back and hike it on foot :) ).
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Drive from Meadow Lake to Jackson Meadow Reservoir is very rough. I have a 2” Dobinsons IMS lift on 33’s on my Sequoia with full skids and rock rails and I’m surprised I made it. The rear diff skid has a few new hits. Outside of Meadow to Jackson the roads are fine.
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Lots of steep climbs, some on loose scree, through woods, meadows, and open granite hillsides. The views are worth it!
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Good hike, moderately aggressive at points. Almost all downhill to the second bridge, where there are quite a few places to camp. Then reverse to get back to the trailhead. Waterfalls were gushing; more so on the way back due to rain all night Saturday and most of the day Sunday. Beautiful area, only saw two other groups of two on the trail.
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Very pretty hike through granite and forest land, over exposed saddles and ending in a rocky overlook. The trail is great. Today there was a good amount of snow covering about 40% of the trail. I lost the trail a few times, but not for long. Cold! I was glad to have layers and gloves.
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Excellent training hike. 1900 feet of ascent. Dirt road and overland hiking.
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Motorcycle ride to the Placer Co Big Trees grove. Amazing ride along Mosquito Ridge Road and beautiful hike in the grove. Hidden treasure!
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Frog Lake exit up by Castle Peak then down a nice face and then through the Castle Peak highway (which sucks).
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Day one of a 4 day hut trip. Entered by Castle Peak and did the north side to get to Frog Lake. Then did a quick lap on a south slope.
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This is a great place to ride for a good workout! It’s often said riding 50 miles here is like riding 80 miles anywhere else. Constant switchbacks.
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My daughter and I and our dogs hiked this trail on Saturday. Got there around 8:30 so not very many people there. By the time we finished there were quite a few people out. Really pretty trail which is fairly easy to follow. First time tracking with the Gaia app and it worked great! The trail starts out steep but nothing too bad. Definitely rocky and some parts only marked by cairns. The lakes are beautiful so it is certainly worth the time. Looked like some really nice camp sites so we will come back soon for an overnighter. We did see a very large rattlesnake that someone had killed beside the trail. I wouldn’t have expected to see them at this altitude?
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I hiked this trail on July 4, 2021. Trail has a suspension bridge over the North Fork of the American River and then runs along the River upstream. Ascent is 1,700 feet not 1,017 feet. I would recommend going in spring, fall, or early morning in summer to avoid ascent from bottom of the canyon to trailhead on south facing slope during hot part of the day.
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Travelled to High Loch Leven L from Big Bend trailhead 7-21 to 7-23. Trail is good but rocky. Hike is harder than the 4 miles (8 RT) advertised. Lakes are beautiful and VERY swimmable (warmest water I’ve felt in the Sierras). Very few bugs. Light crowds (High LL Lk probably can handle about 6 groups with reasonable privacy. Best campsites on SE side. No bear issues while we were there.
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Awesome hike to the summit of the Buttes. Steep, but it’s a great reward.
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Great Lakes. This time of year, there is still a ton of snow run off. The trail is often under water so plan to take extra time. Snow also forced a couple go around a near the summit
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I love being in the woods. The trail is in not maintained, but can still be found. You just have to watch where your going.
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This was a ok hike. The views are not the best. It is close to my house. New trails are being built as old trails are being destroyed by forest raking.
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Although, we enjoyed the hike, the information is very misleading and this hike is not considered a moderate but in fact it is difficult! The loop was not 7.48 miles, it was actually 10.93 miles and took us 8.5 hrs to complete. If you plan to hike this in may be prepared for snow as we encountered for almost half the hike. I wouldn’t recommend to bringing children on this hike, our 8 yr couldn’t finish and I had to carry our child for the last 1-1.5 mile.
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This was a a great winter hike with snowshoes. Snow was good above 5k elevation and the view was incredible at the top
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Love Castle Peak, but the north chutes looked like frozen crust today, so we bailed.
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I left late and did not hike up to the third Lochleven lake. The lower and middle lakes were beautiful with many people fishing. The weather was excellent - clear skies, a gentle breeze and temps in the low 70s.
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Loved this nice 7-8 mile (out and back total) hike to the rocky overlook of Frog’s Lake.
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Hot and crowded at this time of year, but the lake at the top of the trail was the perfect temperature for swimming.
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It’s a really popular hike with lots of trail traffic. The alpine lakes at the top are worth it. Pretty hot at this time of year, but the temperature of the lake water was perfect.
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Wonderful hike. The well used trail displayed abundant wildflowers. Can park .1 mile closer down gravel road to trailhead.
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I road a demo full suspension Niner bike from Blue Zone Sports. It was very fun!
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Well marked trails several lakes and not any people. I hiked this loop midweek.
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Currently closed for the entirety of the 2020 season. Access to the road ends right at Lake Valley Reservoir. Only current way to access Loch Leven Lakes currently is from the trailhead at Big Bend Fire Station.
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This was an out-and-back on the PCT to the Peter Grubb Hut, on the flanks of picturesque Castle Peak.
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Awesome views! Snow I shaded areas. Very few people past castle pass and peak. Heavy traffic below castle pass to the peak.
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Easy hike to pools. A lot of snakes at spillway crossings. Very beautiful!
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This is a fun snow run in the winter. The snow can get deep so DO NOT DRIVE ALONE! We drive this trip every year with our Jeep club.
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This is a great drive and 4wd is not needed. Plenty of great views along the way. Groundhog Rock was a cool little excursion as well.
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Hike is a steep down hill along deer creek. Signs say no outlet. Forest ends at private property. But you can go pretty far I think. I saw bears.
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Lots of water still in lacy creek, not safe to cross. I saw geese, a bald eagle, and two sand hill cranes.
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Nice hike today. It was 50% snow, but my keen boots did the job. No snowshoes needed. Muddy is a few spots.
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This is a road not a trail, but it has a nice steady incline with several vertical rise spots that are challenging.
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Great hike!! Moderate difficulty. Quiet. No one else on the trail.
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Great hike!! Moderate difficulty. Quiet. No one else on the trail.
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Great hike!! Moderate difficulty. Quiet. No one else on the trail.
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This hike was very beautiful. It gives you a great workout and the result at the top is fantastic!! I highly recommend!!
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Hike was amazing. No trail for the most part. Old Jeep road about the first 1/4 mile then granite with some evidence of people path and some rock stacks.
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Road to Andersson mine is fun. But can’t drive all the way to fordyce lake, it is gated
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It’s a nice hike & doable for most folks. Dusty in the fall & I have found that this TH is best for getting to lower Loch Leven Lake as it’s TH is very steep, rocky, tree roots, wash outs, etc. caveat is drive out to TH from Yuba Gap. Google doesn’t take you to far enough. It’s about 7.5 miles from the Yuba Gap exit/I80 to Salmon Lake TH. Close to 5.5 miles of it is unpaved. I have a 4-Runner so no problem & I saw a Crosstrek, Highlander & a few other cars at TH so…
Go .3 mi south from Yuba Gap exit, turn right toward Lodgepole campground. At about 1.1 mi further go left on road 19 (unpaved). Drive 4 miles & go left on 38 (I never saw a sign). In about 2 more miles there will be a TH. You must pass Huysink Lake 0.5 mi. TH on left & about 4 parking spaces next to it. Loch Leven & Salmon Lake trails intersect. From that point Lower Loch Leven is only about a mile or so further & better for swimming. Hikers don’t like to swim with the catfish in Salmon Lake & there are a lot of them-small ones however.
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One of my favorite roads to drive my Jeep when it opens August 1. Not to hard but fun and very beautiful. I love to hike to Tinker Knob from the ridge.
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Wonderful moderately difficult hike in the Sierra which which is largely in a moderately dense pine forest passing through some small creeks that are easy to cross and then ascends in the last mile above the treeline for the ascent to Castle Peak which is fairly steep and covered with sand and scree near the top. Trrekking poles are helpful here The snow was almost completely gone, mosquitoes were bad in the lower elevations and the wildflowers were incredible, likely near their peak.
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