Some of the other activities that can be enjoyed along the trail include dog-friendly biking, picnicking, fishing, and swimming. However, you will need a SNO-Park permit to participate. In winter, the trail offers cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. The Fallen Leaf Lake Trail has a lot to offer visitors, including a wide variety of sporting activities all year round. It is well worth the adventure to explore the different trails and find your way around if you have some time on your hands. Parking is available on the shoulders.įallen Leaf Lake Trail is generally flat and runs right along the lake’s shoreline, which is about 15 minutes in to the hike. Note that the main trail juts out into several smaller trails, so bring a map with you to stay on course. Then follow the road past the campground to the Fallen Leaf Lake Trailhead. More specifically, to access the trailhead, drive north on Highway 89 and turn left on Fallen Leaf Lake Road. The trail is also dog-friendly and easily accessible through a parking lot that is just off Highway 89. Today, there is a remnant building at the site.Fallen Leaf Lake Trail loops about eight miles around a picturesque landscape that features the beautiful Fallen Leaf Lake which is the second-largest body of water in the Tahoe Basin. In 1921, fire destroyed the hotel and was later rebuilt by Bernard Maybeck a famed architect. In 1884, Gilmore built a 16 room hotel at the springs and bottled and sold the spring water. In 1863, Nathan Gilmore discovered mineral springs (then called “Soda Springs”) further up the canyon. Up the headwaters of the Lake, is the beautiful Glen Alpine waterfall. John Steinbeck, Mark Twain, and others came here to write and the motion picture Bodyguard, starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, was filmed here. You will come out at the Lake, near the Dam, turn left and you’ll reconnect your loop back.įallen Leaf Lake has been a popular retreat for the wealthy, adventurous and artistic. Turn right on the pavement as it winds through the campground and you’ll see Moraine Trail sign on the right and enter this single track that travels along the creek’s edge. Cautiously cross the highway and just behind the sign is a trail post for the single track that takes you Fallen Leaf Lake Campground. Continue on the bike path about ¼ mile with a look out for the brown US Forest Service Visitor Center sign on the other side of the highway. The Taylor Creek Bridge is a great scene during October when the Kokanee salmon in the thousands come to spawn. Exit to Hwy 89 and cross the Hwy to the bike path and turn right. You will come out at Sno Park parking lot.

In the fall the Aspen trees are a brilliant golden and yellow. stay to the right on the single track and it serpentines through the forest. Walk your bike across the Taylor Creek dam and turn right on the single track. You’ll ride through the forest, lush meadow, and alongside the Lake – a perfect spot to enter the water or gaze at Mt.

Share with hikers on this popular trail near the Lake. ¼ mile further is a small parking area and a single track entrance on the right. Ride up Fallen Leaf Road and you’ll pass the campground entrance. Predominately a level smooth single track with some short elevation gains and small rocks.

Fallen leaf hike