If you’re looking for a place to hike (with or without dogs) in Alpine County, California with absolutely breathtaking mountain views, I would highly recommend checking out Highland Lakes! Although some locals may complain that it has become “way more crowded” due to the good ol’ interweb letting people research locations previously enjoyed by locals only, our experience was not indicative of high numbers of people. In fact, we only saw one other couple on our entire three-plus hour hike, who also noted that we were the first people they had seen all day.
Having said that, our trip to Highland Lakes was just after the peak visitation season in that we waited until after Labor Day weekend to make our trek up there. At an elevation of 8,600 feet, choosing the correct time of year to enjoy Highland Lakes is essential. The late winter we experienced this year (2018/2019) led to snowy conditions throughout the early summer, so heading up in September proved to be an excellent choice when it came to ideal hiking weather. There were a few small patches of snow still left in certain spots, but the trail was clear of snow, the sun was shining, and the temperature was ideal for hiking (low sixties).
The drive to get there is a bit of a trek; it took about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the trailhead from our house in Arnold, but the majority of the drive is on the beautiful, scenic Highway 4 where you can average 50+ mph (as long as you don’t get stuck behind a slowpoke).
The last section of road is the slowest, as the majority of the road to the lakes and trail head once you turn off of Highway 4 is a rough dirt road, and for that section we wished we had driven our Jeep Wrangler instead of our little Ford Fiesta. However, after a bit of bouncing around and a lot of dust, we arrived at our intended trail head.
It is worth noting that in order to get to the trail head and parking lot we chose, you are able to follow the Google Maps directions up until the very end (navigate to Highland Lakes Campground). It is National Forest (Stanislaus), so when you first turn off the highway you’ll see many camping areas dotted along the dirt road, but pass those and continue nearly all the way to the lakes. We also passed some permanent structures at the end and saw some people tacking up horses at a large hitching post just outside of one of the cabins, and for a moment I wished we had brought our horses. However, we continued on past the cabins, and eventually came to a fork in the road, in which the main road (and Google Map directions) went to the right towards the main camping area and the two lakes, and we stayed left to get to the day-use parking and Gardner Meadow Trail Head.
Now, in regards to the trail specifically: there are miles and miles of different trails to explore in the Highland Lakes area. The AllTrails app (I would highly recommend) shows 11 different trails in the area with helpful descriptions and photos of each. You can download the map for the trail you pick BEFORE you arrive and lose cell service, which is super handy. HOWEVER… the best laid plans of mice and men do often go awry, and despite our original plan of sticking to the trails and making a nice loop, we ended up taking a wrong turn and consequently making our own path straight up a ridge to connect with the trail that was part of our original plan. SO… this will be a description of such. And I will say, sometimes taking the path less traveled leads you to some incredible views!
Vista from our off-trail adventure up a ridge to connect with the trail.
The trail starts off relatively flat and meanders gradually downhill through grass and pine trees. We brought our dog, Tesla (or Tess), along with us and had a leash at the ready but decided to let her have a little freedom off leash since we were the only ones around at the time and knew we could call and leash her at the first sight of other hikers if need be.
As we continued downhill, the path became slightly steeper and rockier, but still mild enough for the amateur hiker. One thing I really enjoyed was the presence of beautiful rock formations and views of close-by and distant mountains throughout the hike. Wildflowers of various colors abounded at many points on the hike, and I made a mental note to be better about learning plant names so I could identify the purple, orange, and yellow splashes of color. At no point was it boring or plain.
The trail lead us down into an open meadow with impressive views of some mountains on the East. A herd of cattle stood under a grove of pine trees on the East side of the meadow, swishing their tails at the gnats and grazing lazily.
It was a peaceful, quiet walk, and aside from the cattle we didn’t see an overwhelming amount of animal life. At one point we were convinced we saw a Bald Eagle perched in a tree near the cattle, as we had seen a pair of Bald Eagles just down the hill at Lake Alpine about a week earlier, but upon closer inspection we realized it was just wishful thinking turning a broken-off top of a tree into a Bald Eagle-like shape and color. However, we did see several Red-Tail Hawks and of course some turkey vultures throughout the hike, as well as a variety of squirrel species. We didn’t see any bears or mountain lions, and that was okay with us (but we have heard of sightings of both of those species in the area).
It was shortly after our passage through the meadow that we realized (after checking our path to our intended path on AllTrails) that we were not going the direction we wanted to go. At this point we had to make a decision: turn around and try to get back on the trail we should have gone on, continue further on the existing trail and try to connect further up (making the hike much longer than intended), ORRRR… making our own trail straight up a ridge and therefore making a “shortcut” to the trail that would lead us back down between the two lakes and back to the parking lot. We chose Option 3.
The climb up the ridge was arduous, and I would not recommend it for everyone, but OH MY GOODNESS the views were INCREDIBLE! I will say though, if you aren’t used to hiking at high elevation, your lungs are definitely going to feel it. We took several “oxygen breaks” on our way up since all three of us (two humans and one dog) were panting. Also, I cannot stress enough how important it is to bring enough water, especially if you are hiking with a dog. As it was, we had packed plenty of water for both us and the dog, but the dry air will make your throat parched and the sweat will sneakily and quickly evaporate off your skin, leaving you dehydrated if you’re not careful.
On an important side note: when hiking with a dog, keep in mind that their "cooling system” isn’t always as efficient as ours, since they only have the surface area of their tongue to provide cooling through evaporation whereas we have our whole body which is able to sweat, so even if you’re not feeling too hot, tired, or thirsty, keep an eye on your canine to make sure they aren’t either. And if they are, take a break and offer them some H2O. We stopped in the shade several times to let Tessie catch her breath and re-hydrate, even though the two of us humans could have kept plugging along up the hill if we had needed to.
We passed through different “layers” of types of ground as we went up in elevation, from the pine tree and grass area, to areas of loose rock, and through big leafy plants whose leaves were turning from green to yellow and brown. There was one section with plants full of burrs that stuck in our socks, pants, and fur which was inconvenient and annoying more than anything, but not actually harmful or debilitating.
As we crested the final ridge we were able to then dip down into an area with green grass, trees, and best of all, several small bodies of water! Tessie was all too happy to check these out, and even Jeff and I considered going for a dip ourselves but decided to just enjoy watching Tess and the many tadpoles swim around instead.
After our respite at the water, we met back up with the trail and started our descent back down to the camping area and main road, which provided a new, Northwestern view of the surrounding mountains. This is the only section of trail in which we saw other hikers: a kind, middle-aged couple who was just as surprised to see us as we were to see them after our several hours of solitude.
The path led us down through the campground and along the Northwestern side of the larger lake; a pleasant stroll after our intense climb. As we walked I imagined what it would look like at different times of the year here; the changing colors of Autumn, the white silence and softness of Winter, the bright greens of a late Spring. While I want to see this stunning place in its different seasons, I was thankful for the time of year we had picked and the ease with which we had been able to drive up and hike with minimal provisions. A backpack full of water and granola bars, leggings and running shoes, a light flannel and a baseball cap, and a leash with some poop bags were all we needed for an afternoon of incredible views, a good cardio workout, and an adventure we’ll remember for years to come.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this article (or if you have some constructive criticism), feel free to comment below or email me at ka.ander.photo@gmail.com. Also, be sure to check out some of my similar posts, like Hiking at New Melones and Experiencing Joshua Tree National Park!