Big Pine Lakes

Trail description

A 7.9 km climb of about 700 m from the day-use parking by Glacier Lodge, at the end of Glacier Lodge Road west of Big Pine, up the North Fork Big Pine Creek Trail past First Falls and Second Falls to First Lake and Second Lake, at about 3,040 m in Inyo National Forest. The John Muir Wilderness boundary is marked at Second Falls, and higher up a log cabin built by the actor Lon Chaney stands beside the trail in a clearing in the pines. The lakes are a bright turquoise, coloured by fine rock particles ground by the glaciers above, with Temple Crag towering over the lower lakes. Farther up the canyon lies the Palisade Glacier, the largest in the Sierra Nevada; no permit is needed for a day hike, only for an overnight stay in the wilderness.

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