Rubicon Trail

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1. MI 0.0Loon Lake TrailheadTrailhead6,330 FT

   Granite staging slabs at the dam. Air down to single digits and check the buddy list.

2. MI 0.8The GatekeeperObstacle6,419 FT

   The entrance exam: a stacked granite ramp that turns back anyone who shouldn't be here.

3. MI 1.4Registration RocksViewpoint6,433 FT

   Travelers have painted and chiseled their names on these slabs since the 1880s wagon days.

4. MI 6.4Little SluiceObstacle6,616 FT

   Boulder-choked chute. Historically the trail's hardest line, partially filled but still consequential.

5. MI 10.0Buck Island LakeWater6,443 FT

   Granite-bowl reservoir right off the trail. Filter, swim, breathe.

6. MI 10.4Buck Island CampCampsite6,455 FT

   Slab camping above the lake. Sunset turns the whole basin pink.

7. MI 12.4Big SluiceObstacle6,375 FT

   A downhill mile of ledges and V-notches into the Rubicon River canyon.

8. MI 13.3Rubicon Springs CampCampsite6,068 FT

   The legendary riverside camp: outhouses, swimming holes, and 4th-of-July folklore.

9. MI 16.2Cadillac HillObstacle6,567 FT

   The exit climb: wet roots, off-camber granite, and a wall of switchbacks that earns the name.

10. MI 18.4Observation PointViewpoint6,900 FT

    Look back over the canyon you just climbed out of. Lake Tahoe glitters ahead.

11. MI 22.0Tahoma ExitExit6,820 FT

    Staging area on McKinney-Rubicon Road. Air up. Tahoe pavement in two miles.