Snow Valley Peak Hike - Lake Tahoe

The Snow Valley Hike begins at the Spooner Summit on the North side of Highway 50, 1/2 mile east of the junction with Highway 28.  We started our hike at 8 a.m. The elevation at the trail head is 7199. 

Kathy indicates the hike with her thumb and index finger.  This part of the trail is open to hikers and equestrians.  After hiking this trail, we both question the use of horses on this trail.

After 2-1/2 miles you see a vista sign indicating a 100-yard spur trail leading to a great view of Carson City.  

We took a break 3-1/4 miles into our hike.  The trail rises steeply from the trail head to the Jeffrey Pine Forest.  

This is our first view of Lake Tahoe. 

You can see the snow covered peaks along the California side of the lake.

The views of Lake Tahoe get better and better the higher you go along the trail.

As we travel, we noticed two bikers below us who are riding up a steep bike trail.  The bike trail starts at the North Canyon Campground and ends with great views of Marlette Lake. The ride back to the campground is all down-hill.

Here are three photos of Lake Tahoe from the South to the North.  Our final climb is on a one-mile exposed west-facing ridge.

This is the second photo.  You can see the bikers road along the lower section. 

Here is the third photo looking towards Incline Village.

Finally, we get to enjoy full views of Lake Tahoe and Marlette Lake.  Seeing these two lakes side by side is truly spectacular. 

This is a view of several snow covered areas we had to navigate during our hike.

Here Kathy and I take a break to enjoy our views, snacks and some water.  It took us 3-hours to hike 6 miles to the summit with an elevation of 8974.  The hike was mostly uphill. Our return hike was fairly easy.  We traveled the 6 miles down in 1 hour 59 minutes.  We would recommend this hike to anyone visiting the Lake Tahoe area.  

The six miles we hiked is just a small section of the 165 miles that make up the Tahoe Rim Trail. The Tahoe Rim Trail is one of the world’s premier trails. It passes through two states (California and Nevada), six counties, one state park, three National Forests, and three Wilderness areas as it winds from peak to peak around Lake Tahoe.