Located in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, the chain of lakes known as the Big Pine Lakes is a legendary hiking spot. This hike had been on my bucket list for years, but at over 15 miles, I knew that I would have to be in really good shape to complete it all in a day.
Finally, in June 2021, I got down to the Eastern Sierra and hiked the Big Pine Lakes! This has definitely become one of my all time favorite hikes, and if all you are looking for is incredible views, this honestly is one of the best trails I’ve ever done! Even if you aren’t interested in the hike, the pictures alone are jaw dropping!
Miles/Elevation:
15.2 miles
3,982 feet vertical gain
About Inyo National Forest:
At nearly 2 million acres, Inyo National Forest is a massive area of soaring peaks, desert, ancient forest, and incredibly rugged alpine terrain. Not only does Inyo contain the Big Pine Lakes, it also houses Mt Whitney, the lower 48’s highest peak, along with some of the world’s oldest living things, the ancient bristlecone pines.
Covering large swathes of the Eastern Sierra Nevada and White Mountains, as well as much of the Owens Valley, Inyo National Forest actually is one of the least forested national forests in the country. First protected by president Theodore Roosevelt in 1907, the forest was initially created to facilitate the creation of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
Nowadays, Inyo National Forest is much more well known as a world class outdoor destination. With renowned wilderness areas such as the Ansel Adams Wilderness, the Golden Trout Wilderness, and the John Muir Wilderness, many of the best backpacking routes in the country pass through Inyo.
In addition to backpacking, there are many other amazing locations in Inyo National Forest that can be easily accessed in a day, either by hiking or by car. These include Mammoth Lakes, Convict Lake, the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, June Lake, and Mt Whitney.
Much of Inyo National Forest does not require fees for day use, though some limited access locations may require fees. There is no fee to park at the Big Pine Lakes Trailhead.
Getting To The Eastern Sierra:
The first challenge in getting to this trailhead is to get to the Eastern Sierra. The closest town with real facilities is Bishop, though the very small town of Big Pine is a bit closer.
Located in the desert of eastern California, Bishop is a surprisingly remote place considering it’s in California. The closest sizable city is Reno, about three and a half hours to the north. Los Angeles and Las Vegas are both a bit over 4 hours away, and the Bay Area is about 6 hours away.
The main highway to access Bishop and the broader Eastern Sierra area is highway 395. 395 runs from just north of the Los Angeles area all the way north to the Canadian border. Reno to Bishop is a straight shot down 395, and Los Angeles is a straight shot north on 395.
There are a couple of small airports in the area, namely Bishop and Mammoth Lakes. However, commercial flights are either sporadic or non-existent. Driving from a larger metro is the easiest way to access the Eastern Sierra for most.
Roadtripping to the Eastern Sierra? Check out all of our road trip planning tips!
Getting To The Big Pine Lakes Trailhead:
Once in the Eastern Sierra, wherever it is, take highway 395 to the small town of Big Pine. Once in Big Pine, turn onto Glacier Lodge Road and follow it up into the mountains. Continue on Glacier Lodge Road until you reach the end. There is a small parking area at the end of the road used to access the Big Pine Lakes Trail. If you are backpacking, there is an overnight parking lot a bit lower down the road.
Big Pine Lakes Trail:
To First Falls:
From the day use parking area, the trail begins by heading past a few cabins along the North Fork of Big Pine Creek. The road is actually paved here, but you won’t be spending much time on pavement from here on out!
After leaving the road, the trail takes an uphill turn. You will have a tight group of switchbacks that take you a couple hundred feet up quite steeply, but before you head up the switchbacks, make sure you are not on the South Fork of the Big Pine Creek Trail. You want to follow the North Fork, and this south Fork takes you in a completely different direction! Follow the switchbacks up, and again, avoid turning onto the South Fork Trail at the top of the switchbacks.
Always be sure to follow the 7 Leave No Trace Principles when in the outdoors!
After ascending the switchbacks and crossing a bridge over the North Fork, you’ll leave the trees and enter an open valley. There is one trail that follows the bottom of the valley, and another that hikes along a ledge about 100 feet above the valley floor. It doesn’t matter which one you take. I took the valley floor trail down, but I headed up the side of the valley on my way up!
This trail hiking up the side of this valley gives you your first true alpine feel. Looking down the valley, you’ll get views of the mountains all the way down and across the valley you started the hike in. Things really open up here!
The one issue with this section of the trail is the fact that there is essentially no shade whatsoever. The elevation is high enough that even in the afternoon it shouldn’t be too bad, but it gets hot! I highly recommend an early start because I managed to do this whole section of the hike in the shade because the sun hadn’t made it over the mountains yet!
At the head of the valley, you’ll eventually come across a tight group of switchbacks that take you back into the forest, and up past First Falls. The top of the falls mark a big change in the trail as you leave the desert-y valley behind and enter the high altitude Sierra pine forest!
To First Lake:
Once in the forest, the next two miles of your day will be a gentle climb up into the basin which contains the Big Pine Lakes. The hiking isn’t super remarkable through here, but you will get some peeks at the high peaks beyond. The trail is very straightforward, and just keep going up!
You’re in bear country, so be sure to always be bear safe!
Eventually, you’ll come to an intersection. This is the beginning of the “lollipop” portion of the hike. You could go either left or right here, but I personally think it makes more sense to go left. Going left takes you past the Big Pine Lakes in order, which really doesn’t matter, but maybe I have mild OCD.
Anyway, I went left, and almost before I knew it I was on top of First Lake!
First Lake really sneaks up on you because the trail doesn’t actually go to the lakeshore. Instead, it climbs up above the lake, so my first view of it was looking back down towards the water’s surface!
To Second Lake:
First Lake is awesome, and it honestly could be the highlight of it’s very own awesome dayhike, but keep going for the real star of the show! From the overlook of First Lake to Second Lake is a few hundred feet, and that’s where you really want to be!
Second Lake is a place that I’ve been wanting to see for years, so I knew from the jagged spires in the distance that I was almost on top of it. Sure enough, as I rounded a granite outcropping, Second Lake emerged below me while the 13,000 foot spire known as Temple Crag pierced the sky above.
Nothing I can write here can adequately describe the view, and it was one of the most incredible places I’ve ever seen. The pictures don’t do it justice, and it was one of the few places I’ve hiked to that honestly blew me away and shattered my greatest expectations.
I chilled for a while at Second Lake and took in the view. Eventually I had to keep moving because there was so much more to do and see, but man that view was something.
To Third Lake:
Second Lake To Third Lake is a quick half mile. Again, the trail actually passed by the lake on a ridge above the water’s surface, so you won’t really hike to the water’s edge.
The view over Third Lake is unsurprisingly awesome, and you get another crazy view of Temple Crag. The perspective from Second Lake very much has the super imposing head on view, but at Third Lake you get to see it from the side. Rather than just being a vertical spire, you actually see that it’s more of a fin!
To Fourth and Fifth Lakes:
After leaving Third Lake, you head further into the forest and continue to trek onto Fourth Lake. You’ll do a fair bit of climbing during the mile or so it takes to reach Fourth Lake, and you mostly leave the big views behind as you journey back into the trees.
After a mile or so in which you gain about 500 vertical feet, you’ll reach Fourth Lake. Fourth Lake is nice, and if it was just about anywhere else in the world it would be epic, but here it seemed a bit outclassed! The view across Fourth Lake looks to the north side of the basin where the peaks aren’t as high, and the ridges aren’t as jagged. Still nice though!
Always follow basic trail etiquette when on trail!
From Fourth Lake, Fifth Lake is very close, but it’s a bit of an adventure to reach it. There is an intersection just past Fourth Lake that isn’t very well marked, but you need to turn left at that intersection and climb up an unmarked trail to reach Fifth Lake.
Again, the trail doesn’t really go to the water’s edge. It instead climbs up a small knoll above the lake. Here, you really get a sense of scale.
Temple Crag is a big mountain. It’s almost 13,000 feet high! But, here above Fifth Lake, you get your first views of the behemoths that lie beyond. Beyond Temple Crag, 14,000 plus foot peaks North Palisade and Mt Sill make their first appearance, along with a series of other 13,000 plus foot peaks!
Make sure you have our ultimate road trip playlist if you’re driving to Bishop!
That view is breathtaking, but then you look over and past Fifth Lake itself and there’s another insane view! Beyond Fifth Lake stands a group of mountains just as prominent as those behind Temple Crag. Two Eagle Peak is the most visible just beyond and directly behind Fifth Lake, but also in the skyline are Aperture Peak, Gendarme Peak, and Picture Puzzle. All near or over 13,000 feet high!
To Sixth and Seventh Lakes:
From your perch above Fifth Lake, drop back down to the trail intersection just beyond Fourth Lake and continue uphill. You still have another 400 feet of climbing or so, which isn’t much, but by this point you’ll have climbed over 3,000 feet!
The trail to Sixth Lake and Seventh Lake climbs up one more mound in the basin, which again opens up to some absolutely insane views looking back towards Temple Crag and the peaks beyond.
From the top of the mound, you actually will descend a bit to reach Sixth Lake. It’s not even a 100 foot descent, but I was groaning as I went down knowing I’d have to climb back up. I was officially getting tired!
At the bottom of the descent, Sixth Lake lays out even further beneath you. You could continue all the way down to the water’s edge, but I thought I’d keep with the theme of staying above the water at nice viewpoints rather than going down any more!
Again, the view was incredible. From up here, Temple Crag far in the distance looks like a minor hill compared to the mountains behind, and for that to happen, you have to have some pretty huge peaks in the background!
Seventh Lake was a bit of a conundrum for me. I could see it from the top of the mound before Sixth Lake, but when I descended I couldn’t find the trail. I honestly had no interest in bushwalking through the forest, and I was officially tired, so I called it good since I had seen all seven! Maybe someday I’ll go back and fight my way through the forest to get to Seventh Lake!
Down To Summit Lake:
From the viewpoint above Sixth Lake, begin your hike out by climbing back up and then back down the mound you just traversed. Continue back down towards Fourth Lake for a bit until you reach an intersection.
The intersection here offers a short side trail to yet another lake, Summit Lake. It’s only about a quarter mile to reach the shores of Summit Lake, so I think it’s worth the detour. You made it this far, might as well see them all!
Summit Lake is one of the less impressive lakes on this hike, which again is crazy since it’s really nice! Most other places this would be a highlight itself! Here it’s another one to check off!
To Black Lake:
When you’re ready, head back to the main trail to continue to Fourth Lake. Once back at Fourth Lake, you have a choice. Option one is to head back the way you came around the far side of the lake. The other option is to take a different trail that is on the closer, northern, side of the lake. That’s what I choose to do.
It started great, and very quickly I was on top of another small little hill with some more insane views. Seriously, the views don’t quit!
From here, I almost immediately got lost. I was following the Alltrails GPS map which seemingly took me the wrong way considering I was quickly nowhere near a trail. It was all good because I knew which direction the lake was, and I was able to easily reach where I needed to go. The only issue was a little sandy cliff I had to scramble down!
Back on the trail below Fourth Lake, I decided to complete the “lollipop” and hike towards Black Lake, the last lake I would see on the hike. You could hike back along the trail to Third and Second Lakes, but there’s really no reason not to check out Black Lake. It’s downhill either way.
Black Lake was cool, but the views were looking towards the less impressive side of the basin, so it didn’t quite match the best of what I had seen so far. It was worth seeing since you have to hike out anyway, plus you get to say you saw 9 alpine lakes now!
Back To The Trailhead:
From Black Lake, the descent begins in earnest. You actually leave the forest for much of the next mile as you drop down the side of the valley. The views are again awesome as you now get a really cool view looking over First and Second Lakes right at Temple Crag. I honestly don’t think I can communicate how many crazy good views there were, but I’m doing my best!
After a mile descending down the side of the valley, you will reach the main trail just below First Lake. From here, it’s a simple descent back down the main trail to the trailhead.
The next two miles are through the woods back to the top of First Falls, and are pretty unremarkable, but make for nice hiking.
Once I got back to the valley below First Falls, I decided to take the trail that goes down through the bottom of the valley instead of hiking along the side again. I thought I might find some shade because there are some trees in the bottom of the valley, but it was more sun and sunshine, and by now it was pretty hot!
After an uneventful final few miles, I made it back to the parking lot and was done! I can honestly say that no trail I’ve ever been on had more incredible views at seemingly every moment. The one downside for me was the arch support in one of my shoes almost totally collapsed on the descent, and it messed up my ankle pretty good. I would go on to deal with that injury for the next month plus, but this trail made it 100% worth it!
Topdown Lifestyle Rating: 10/10
In terms of views, this is right up there in the conversation for the best I’ve ever seen. From the beginning hiking up through alpine valleys, to Temple Crag, to all the other jagged peaks and lakes surrounding you, the views are non-stop, and world class.
I also think this is an amazing place to hike because it’s incredibly versatile. Can’t handle the full loop? The hike to Second Lake with the iconic Temple Crag view is only around 9 miles. Want to backpack? You could easily do a 2 night trip here. Want to go even further? Continue up to Palisade Glacier for a tougher hike. There are so many ways to make this trail work for you.
I will admit my only knock on this hike is the fact that there isn’t any truly exposed cliffside trail. Yes there’s lots of sun exposure, but when it comes to real alpine exposure, that is being close to big drop offs, there really isn’t any. I love when a trail is on a cliff edge, or has a massive drop, but you don’t really get any of that here. I can forgive it though because everything else is astonishingly good!
Pros:
- Incredible views
- Up to 9 alpine lakes
- Potential for backpacking
- Ways to make shorter or longer
Cons:
- No really exposed trail or drop offs
- Lots of sun exposure
Alternative Hikes:
When To Hike The Big Pine Lakes:
The Eastern Sierra in general have an excellent climate for hiking, and that holds true for the Big Pine Lakes area. Most days from spring until late fall you will have tons of sunshine, and storms are pretty sporadic, possible, but not daily.
The limiting factor with this hike is snow. You’ll be hiking all the way up over 11,000 feet, so snow can linger well into the summer, and early winter storms could snow this area in early in the year. As a general rule, I’d expect this area to be passable between late June and sometime in October.
In terms of the ideal time to visit, I would probably lean towards earlier in the summer, just after the trails are clear of snow. Most years, that will be in late June or early July. For one, the waterfalls will have more water running through them. The environment will also be a bit more vibrant than later in the year, though fall colors could be very nice.
I think the big one though is that early season fires are much less common than fires in late summer or fall, so you are more likely to have clear, sunny days that are not choked with smoke early in the summer!
4 Comments