SUBSCRIBE | NEWSLETTERS | MAPS | VIDEOS | BLOGS | MARKETPLACE | CONTESTS
TRY BACKPACKER FREE!
SUBSCRIBE NOW and get
2 Free Issues and 3 Free Gifts!
Full Name:
Address 1:
Address 2:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Email: (required)
If I like it and decide to continue, I'll pay just $12.00, and receive a full one-year subscription (9 issues in all), a 73% savings off the newsstand price! If for any reason I decide not to continue, I'll write "cancel" on the invoice and owe nothing.
Your subscription includes 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
Or click here to pay now and get 2 extra issues
Offer valid in US only.
CLICK HERE TO LAUNCH FULL SCREEN MAP

Lake Tahoe, CA: DL Bliss State Park to Rubicon Point

ca

Star Star Star Star Star

Distance: 4.3 miles


This moderate 4.3-mile lollipop-loop leads to a stunning overlook above the emerald blues of Lake Tahoe. Don't miss: The wooden lighthouse perched on a granite ledge above the lake.
  • South Lake Tahoe
  • Swimming
  • Blue Jay
  • Lighthouse
  • Tahoe
  • South Lake Tahoe
  • Lake Tahoe
  • Snow in May? Sure why not
  • Lighthouse
  • Narrow Trail
  • Looking down below

From parking lot, hike 0.9 miles on paved roads into DL Bliss State Park. Turn left onto the Rubicon Trail. The next mile passes overlooks, hillsides littered with boulders, and traces a steep, exposed rim above the south end of Lake Tahoe. Break at Rubicon Point, a stunning overlook above the second deepest lake in the United States (more than 1,600 feet deep). This geological icon isn't a lake, but more a giant fracture in the Earth's crust that, over the eons, has been filled with snowmelt and rain.

Take photos--lots of them.

Head back to the parking lot on the Lighthouse Trail, passing a cliffside lighthouse (and one of the highest placed lighthouse's in the world).  At the trails end, turn left, and retrace the road back to the upper lot.

Season alert: This trailhead can be accessed in any season when other nearby trailheads are closed in winter.

Hiking during the summer season? Try out this longer route, which starts from Emerald Bay.

Mapped by Kari Bodnarchuk

Post a comment

ADD A COMMENT

Your rating:
Your Name:

Comment:

Get 2 FREE Trial Issues and 3 FREE GIFTS
Survival Skills 101 • Eat Better
The Best Trails in America
YES! Please send me my FREE trial issues of Backpacker
and my 3 FREE downloadable booklets.
Full Name:
City:
Address 1:
Zip Code:
State:
Address 2:
Email (required):
Free trial offer valid for US subscribers only. Canadian subscriptions | International subscriptions