Hike to Upper Sardine Lake

Lee Vining, California

Description

Elevation gain: 2900 ft (Upper sardine lake: 10,740 ft, Walker Lake: 7,840 ft). Distance: 13 miles roundtrip. Amazing views and great solitude. Trout fishing, overnight camping and great day hikes.

Directions (from south of June Lake):

395 north
Turn right onto the 158
Keep right at fork onto Parker Lake Rd and go about 0.5 miles
Turn right at first right and head all the way to the top until you hit a parking lot/camping ground/trail head

From North of June Lake:

395 south
Turn left at 158
Keep right at fork onto Parker Lake Rd and go about 0.5 miles
Turn right at first right and head all the way to the top until you hit a parking lot/camping ground/trail head

Trail head:

The trail head begins just above Walker Lake (7850 ft) which is a great lake for fishing. Once on the trail it will descend fairly rapidly until you are walking alongside Walker Lake through beautiful lush forests and tall grass. The trail is conveniently marked so there is no concern of heading the wrong direction. After a couple of miles of hiking through forest and crossing creeks, you will begin to ascend, and will continue ascending until arrival. Along the way, you get great views of Walker Lake and Mono Lake while passing several beautiful waterfalls. Just before getting to lower sardine lake, the trail gets very steep. Once at lower sardine lake you can continue to follow the relatively small trail along the right side of the lake. Again the trail will get very steep until you reach upper sardine lake. Upper sardine lake has many more options available for camping and is a much better choice in my opinion. If you would like, you can continue your hike to summit lake, about another 2 miles up the trail. Here you will come across several abandoned mining cabins.

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Features

Camping

Fishing

Backpacking

Hiking

Forest

Lake

Scenic

Waterfall

Wildlife

Swimming Hole

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