Tent Camping the Sierra Nevada

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Highland Lake Campground Practicalities

Open : June through September (depending on road and weather conditions—be sure to phone ahead)
Individual sites : 36 sites for tents
Each site has : Picnic table, fireplace
Registration : At entrance
Facilities : Well water, pit toilets
Parking : At individual site
Elevation : 8,600 feet
Restrictions :
• Pets—Allowed on leash (no pets on trails)
• Fires—In fireplace
• Vehicles—Large RVs or trailers not recommended
• Other—Reservations not allowed
 
Upper and Lower Highland Lakes Campground
Forest Supervisor
Stanislaus National Forest
19777 Greenley Road
Sonora, CA 95370
 
Operated by : U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

This campground is my favorite campground in the Sierra Nevada. At 8,600 feet, the campsites are by the pretty little Highland Lakes, in a valley full of bright wildflowers. If you can get in on the road to Highland Lakes, it means the snowdrifts have melted. If the snowdrifts have melted, you know the wildflowers are out—this is a short season. To the north, even in late August, Folger Peak has snow fields. Hiram Peak to the south is as big and brown as a warm bear. There are hikes going everywhere. This is off the beaten track. You don't just happen to show up there. Plan to stay for a while.

The Highland Lakes are up on the west side of Ebbetts Pass. This area is notorious for snow. Some years the pass is snowed in until August. In July 1995 the snow at Lake Alpine a thousand feet farther down was drifted 30 feet deep. Pacific storms get sucked in through the Golden Gate and head east to the Sierra Nevada below Ebbetts Pass. At about 7,000 feet the clouds cool down and dump all their moisture as snow. Lots of snow.

Well, it's not much easier going now until the drifts melt, and the county plows the road, and the days get warm, and flowers bloom in the meadows, and planted fish run in the streams. The dirt road in off CA 4 is rough-going but easily managed by even the wimpiest of sedans. Just go slowly and mind the bumps. It takes off to the southeast just 1 mile below Ebbetts Pass (14.5 miles above Lake Alpine). The road (Forest Service Road 8N01) goes down a steep hill, then runs along pretty Highland Creek filled with wonderful places for dispersed camping, if you thought ahead for the requisite permit (free at any Ranger Station) and have a bucket and shovel for fire suppression. Some of the area is designated Rehabilitation Project, meaning you can walk in and enjoy, carry a tent in, and camp, but you can't drive your vehicle in. Of course, where it is not posted you can drive in on existing access roads and camp by your car.

Pass fields of purple lupine and crazy shooting stars and a wonderful old-style line ranch, and after a steep climb, there are the two Highland Lakes and Lower Highland Lake Campground on the right under lightning-blasted pines. The sites are not well designed, but they are pretty and clean. There's one outhouse near the middle of camp and a pump for water across from site 10. Remember to bring a bucket for hauling water from the pump to your campsite.

To reach the Upper Highland Lakes part of the campground, take the dirt road that goes west between the two lakes. It has a confusing sign that appears to advise four-wheel drive only. Ignore this. The road to the camp area (only a few hundred yards long) is just like the road you drove in on. Any sedan can make it easily. These sites are just above the lakes in a stand of pines. Right away, you'll see the pump and outhouse. The campsites are back in under the pines and a short walk from the Upper Highland Lake. If you want privacy, camp up here. If you have kids who want to run around, or if you like the western sun to warm your bones, camp in the Lower Highland Lakes area below, where it is sunnier and flatter.

Bring supplies. The nearest store is at Lake Alpine, or east to Markleeville. Bring an extra cooler filled with ice and duct-tape the top. Leave coolers in the shade. Put a wet cloth over the coolers and let evaporation cool the outsides. Think about buying one of those coolers you can fold up afterward as an extra. Bring water booties for the lake. Think about bringing a little inflatable Sevylor-style boat (at chain stores everywhere for $50 or less) to float around in with a book and fishing gear (brook trout). Buy a Lake Alpine CarsonPIceberg Wilderness map for $1.95 at the Lake Alpine store so you can navigate the trails around the lakes. (Or buy the more ambitious Forest Service map at any nearby Ranger Station.) Remember sunscreen, as the air is thin and the sun strong. Remember to bring Chap Stick and skin lotion, as it is dry. Bring cotton balls (good for stanching the flow) if the kids tend to have nose bleeds. Borrow from the other campers if you forget anything—most campers are friendly and want to help by lending things they prudently remembered to bring along themselves.

Camping at Upper and Lower Highland Lakes Campground requires a little extra forethought and travel time. But it's worth it. Remember, phone ahead to get road conditions, to find out whether the campground is open, and to see if drinking water is available. If there is no drinking water, boil lake water (five minutes at a roiling boil), or buy a water filter from a camping store.

To get there from Arnold, go 29 miles east on CA 4 to Lake Alpine. Continue 15 miles past the Lake Alpine store to Forest Service Road 8N01 (signed to Highland Lakes) on the right. At this point, you will be 1 mile west of Ebbetts Pass. Drive 7.5 miles in on a graded dirt road.

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