California · Hiking · Desolation Wilderness · Near Sunnyside-Tahoe City

Eagle Meadows Trail

Eagle Meadows TrailPhoto: Don Graham from Redlands, CA, USA - God bless it!, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
2.0 mi
round trip
609 ft
climb
8,780 ft
high point
Out and back
route
May–Oct
best months

Is Eagle Meadows Trail open right now?

Closure in the area

There's a closure order in Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. It doesn't name Eagle Meadows Trail, so check the source for the area it covers.

As of · Source: USFS · Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Agencies don't list every closure — check before you go.

Eagle Meadows Trail is a 2-mile out-and-back hike in California's Desolation Wilderness, within the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. The Forest Service manages the land, and the trail rises from about 8,160 feet to about 8,780 feet, a climb of 609 feet, on a route rated easy. Summer is the most comfortable time to go. Typical averages from a nearby weather station at Dagget Pass, Nevada, show July highs around 75°F with lows near 49°F, and the trail sits higher than that station, so temperatures on the ridge run cooler. Phipps Lake Trail starts just 0.1 mile away. Eagle Lake Buttress and Eagle's Nest offer climbing within about a mile and a quarter, and Bayview Campground is about 2.5 miles off.

Around this trail

Add any of these when you start a trip
  • Sleep close

    Boat Camp

    Campground

    Campground · 2.4 mi from the trail

Places © OpenStreetMap contributors

More in Sunnyside-Tahoe City

Local outfitters

Not on Roamze yet. Their page has how to reach them.

  • Best time to go · May–Oct

    Best time to visit Eagle Meadows Trail

    Best months: May–October. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.

    1. Jan

      36° / 23°

      9 wet

    2. Feb

      37° / 23°

      8 wet

    3. Mar

      42° / 26°

      7 wet

    4. Apr

      48° / 29°

      5 wet

    5. May

      56° / 35°

      4 wet

    6. Jun

      66° / 42°

      2 wet

    7. Jul

      75° / 49°

      2 wet

    8. Aug

      74° / 49°

      1 wet

    9. Sep

      67° / 44°

      2 wet

    10. Oct

      55° / 36°

      3 wet

    11. Nov

      43° / 28°

      5 wet

    12. Dec

      35° / 23°

      7 wet

    Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Dagget Pass, NV, 13.5 mi away at 7,334 ft. The station sits about 1,400 ft lower than this place, so expect it a little cooler here. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.

Keep exploring — more trails worth the drive

Phipps Lake TrailPhoto: Don Graham from Redlands, CA, USA - God bless it!, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

Phipps Lake Trail

Next door

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Climbers Trail to Eagle Lake ButtressPhoto: Adrian Farwell, CC BY 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

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~3 min drive

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BAYVIEW TRAILPhoto: MARELBU, CC BY 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)

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