Here are some of the best hikes to catch the area's dazzling blooms.
Slumbering all winter long beneath a thick blanket of snow, warmed by spring’s sunny days, Tahoe’s wildflowers burst forth from the summer earth with a fantastic but brief display of dazzling beauty. Though the memories may linger, the blooms won’t, so read on, grab your boots and head for one of Mother Nature’s short-lived rainbow gardens.
Tahoe’s variety of environments supports a staggering array of wildflowers, owing to an elevation range of 6,200 to almost 11,000 feet, a mix of granitic and volcanic rock, and habitats that vary from deep forests to open, windswept ridges, to snow-fed meadows to dry, sun-baked slopes. The Yosemite Sierra from the south, the Cascades from the north, the Great Basin to the east and California foothills from the west all meet in the Tahoe Basin, resulting in a whopping 1,500 resident species of flora.
"We don’t have the dense lush displays of wetter places like Mount Rainier but we make up for it with an incredible diversity,” says Laird Blackwell, author of Wildflowers of the Tahoe Sierra, and humanities professor at Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village. “Tahoe has almost a third of California’s wildflower species—that’s pretty incredible."
A magnifying glass will assist in "viewing" rather than picking flowers, and drawing or photography tools will help preserve memories of the day. Note that trails can disappear and creeks can dry up, so best to carry a topo map and compass to find your way, and check with local authorities for latest conditions and blooms.
Frog & Winnemucca Lakes (South Tahoe/Kirkwood)
Distance: 0.5 miles to Frog Lake, 2 miles to Winnemucca Lake one-way
Elevation: 8,560 to 8,980 feet
Peak wildflower months: July to early September
Trailhead: Hwy. 88 to Carson Pass parking turnout. Pick up the trailhead in
the parking lot, near the Forest Service information booth.
One of Tahoe’s most spectacular wildflower displays is tucked away between
two lakes in the Mokelumne Wilderness near Carson Pass, and access is easy enough for almost anyone to enjoy. The short walk to Frog Lake, suitable for small children, is lined with many of Tahoe’s most spectacular wildflowers.
Look for the western blue flax, pussytoes, penstemons, gilias and sulphur flowers among the rocks and sandy soil. Long-stalked mountain sorrel, which clings to the rocks, is sour but edible.
From Frog Lake there’s a fascinating vista of Elephant Back (9,585 foot elevation), a round mass of solid lava resembling its name. The lake, though exposed and sometimes windblown, is a lovely turquoise hue.
It’s another 1.5 miles to Winnemucca Lake, the stretch of trail between the two lakes straddled by sloping hillsides flooded with wildflowers, intense in color and diverse in species. From here, Caples Lake is visible in the distance. Crossing a flower-filled feeder creek, you’ll see hillsides of pale yellow alpine paintbrush.
Once at the lake, you’ll find pink-hued bog laurel and mountain heather. The lake’s outlet—as well as waterfall at the southwest end—supports wet gardens of marsh marigolds, shooting stars, monkeyflowers and buttercups. The rocks near the lake’s inlet are covered in nodding, bell-shaped white heather, and rich, rose-colored Sierra primrose thrives on the moisture-laden rocky cliffs above and beyond the creek.
Mount Rose (North Tahoe, State Route 431)
Distance: 6 miles one-way
Elevation: 8,840 to 10,776 feet
Peak wildflower months: July to September
Trailhead: SR431 (Mt. Rose Highway) to summit pullout, just past Tahoe Meadows, east of Incline Village.
The easiest access to an alpine floral environment in the Tahoe Basin, this hike up the area’s third highest peak is an invigorating and rewarding experience. The trail starts on an old, dusty jeep road beneath slopes of mountain mule ear and its relative the saucer-shaped arrow-leaved balsamroot, as well as red wavy-leaved paintbrush and white and lavender Anderson’s lupine. There are views of Lake Tahoe and Desolation Wilderness for the first mile or so, and the minty aromas of the gray woolly sagebrush and mountain pennyroyal. Fireweed’s rose-pink blooms and patches of purple-hued showy and azure penstemon illuminate the hillsides.
A mile or so into the hike, look for the woody-fruited evening primrose. Mount Rose is the only known Tahoe location for this curious eastern Sierra plant that opens at dusk for pollinating moths, then closes for good the next day, turning deep red. A quarter mile along the old logging road will take you to a frog-filled pond, surrounded by nodding pink alpine shooting stars and elephant’s head and glossy yellow water plantain buttercups.
Past the pond, the trail turns right for Mount Rose, where the hard-to-find, large white tubular alpine gentian grows in the rocky wet areas. Corn lilies, great polemonium (Jacob’s ladder) and a profusion of yellow seep-spring monkeyflowers line the trail. Leaving the shelter of the trees, hardy low-to-the-ground flowers such as pink-tinged spreading phlox and lavender dwarf daisies hunker down in rocks all the way to the windy summit, from which on a clear day, you can see all the way to Mount Lassen.
Shirley Canyon (Squaw Valley)
Distance: 3 miles one-way
Elevation: 6,200 to 8,400 feet
Peak wildflower months: June to September
Trailhead: SR89 to Squaw Valley. Turn right before the tram building at the
ski area and park at the end of the road.
Many trails lead up both sides of Shirley Canyon’s granite walls, rushing waterfalls and quiet pools up to Shirley Lake; this is but one way to go. Head straight for Squaw Creek, where tightly packed lavender, creeping phlox, mountain pride penstemon, scarlet gilia and spherical yellow sulpher flowers dot both sides of the creek. As you continue up the creek, keep your eyes open for violets and crimson Columbines. In the shade of the first waterfall and pool, you’ll find thimbleberry, with its large white flowers and delicate red raspberry–like fruit.
Continuing uphill along the sometimes-dusty trail, you’ll pass rounded
granite slabs that line the top of the gorge that channels Squaw Creek.
The trail splits in another half-mile, the left fork leading to more waterfalls, pools and rock gardens, eventually ending at Shirley Lake. For an easier hike, you can take the Squaw Valley tram up to High Camp and follow the hike downhill.
Castle Peak (Donner Pass)
Distance: 1.5 miles to Summit Lake, 4 miles to Castle Peak one-way
Elevation: 7,200 to 9,103 feet (Castle Peak)
Peak wildflower months: July to August
Trailhead: I-80 to Boreal/Castle Peak exit. Take frontage road .3 miles to Pacific Crest Trailhead parking lot.
Hikes to both Summit Lake and Castle Peak start by taking the trail east through the woods, along the freeway, crossing a creek lined with orange tiger lilies and the large, flaring pink and white Lewis monkey flower. Passing the pond next to the Castle Peak Rest Area, pick up the Pacific Crest Trail and hike uphill through rock gardens of yellow sulpher flowers, white mariposa lilies and pink mountain heather. At the sign for Summit Lake, look in the damp areas for the nodding, funnel-shaped Macloseky’s violet, the only all-white violet in the Sierra Nevada.
Crossing several small creeks, you’ll pass granite walls splashed with pink sprays of mountain pride. You might also see shieldleaf, or jewel flower, a striking member of the mustard family with its twisted vase like shape. A short uphill climb leads to a boggy meadow of pink shooting stars, elephant’s head, monkey flowers and dark-purple extremely toxic monkshood. Follow the trail uphill again through the forest to a sign that reads "Summit Lake One-Half Mile" and onto the lake.
To climb up to craggy Castle Peak, instead of turning right at the sign for
Summit Lake, continue straight uphill along the Warren Lake Trail, about a quarter-mile. From there, head west or left, cross-country toward the peak.
In the jagged rocks below the summit, look closely for the hard-to-find small steershead, with its pinkish flowers forming a striking resemblance to a steer’s skull, horns and all. At the summit, hardy flowers like the yellow wooly sunflower, Drummond’s anemone and the silky raillardella hunker down against the wind and weather. On a clear day you’ll be treated to unobstructed views into Desolation to the south, Coast Range and Mount Diablo.
Laird Blackwell’s latest book, Tahoe Wildflowers—A Month-by-Month Guide to Wildflowers in the Tahoe Basin and Surrounding Areas, published by Falcon Guides, is available online and at local bookstores for $14.95. Blackwell also leads wildflower hikes at Kirkwood’s Wildflower Festival every August.
