From the Woods Lake trailhead, follow the trail past a small stream crossing and up an old road grade. At an unsigned trail junction, go right through a gate and up the hill through open aspen groves. Cross a small meadow, following the rock and post cairns. The trail continues to switchback up through aspen groves and meadows, filled with wildflowers in early summer. It passes an old logging area as it crosses a ridge. Follow the signs past junctions with old logging roads and trails.. After traversing across the trail, the trail begins a descent into the Elk Creek drainage.

After a few switchbacks down, the trail reaches and crosses a ditch. It follows the ditch to the south for a mile or so and crosses it again. It then climbs up a small grade and through some open meadows before dropping down to a crossing of Elk Creek. From the creek crossing the trail climbs up a ridge through thicker conifer forest to a junction with the Elk Creek trail. Go left at the junction and follow Elk Creek road for 2 miles to Silverpick Rd. At the junction with Silverpick Road a new bulletin board and trailhead parking area mark the access to the Wilson Mesa trail, which continues from the parking area. From the trail follows a gentle grade downhill to a small stream crossing. After crossing the creek, the trail heads down a small meadow before beginning a rolling traverse, crossing several small drainages in a mixed aspen-conifer forest. After continuing around the ridge and crossing through a gate, the trail crosses a major tributary of Big Bear Creek. Eventually, the trail climbs a ridge to a large meadow with views of Wilson Peak. The wilderness boundary is close to the trail on the right. The trail then drops steeply down the other side of the ridge onto a bench with a small pond.

From there the trail crosses the dam for the pond and heads left down into the Bilk Creek drainage. Eventually it drops all the way down to a junction with the Lizard Head Trail at Bilk Creek. Follow the Lizard Head trail up the Bilk Creek drainage to a signed junction just where the trail enters the spruce-fir forest. Go left to follow the Wilson Mesa trail, which crossed a riparian area to a new bridge across Bilk Creek, built to honor American Hiking Society volunteers and James Taylor. From there, the trail begins to switchback as it heads up the ridge onto Sunshine Mesa. It follows an old stock trail up through small meadows and aspen forest, passing a few small ponds along the way. It finally reaches an old road grade and a signed junction. Go right at this point to reach the wilderness boundary and the Lizard Head/Bilk trail. Go left along the old road grade for another mile to reach a locked gate and the Wilson Mesa trailhead. From this point you can follow the road down several switchbacks and across some private land to a junction with a now private road, which was the old Wilson Mesa trail. It is now the Sunshine Ranch road, and only pedestrian, bicycle, and horse traffic are allowed. From this point, a county maintained road leads down off Sunshine Mesa into the South Fork/Ilium valley.

Access: Follow Fall Creek Rd. (#618) eight miles up from the turnoff from Hwy. 145 two miles southeast of Placerville. At eight miles there is a junction with the Beaver Park road. Continue straight past the junction for about 3/4 mile to the Wilson Mesa trailhead. There are other access points to other sections of the trail. One is to follow Silverpick road up 6.9 miles from Highway 145. The other is to take the Ilium forest access (Rd. #625) to the Ilium church camp. Then turn right across a new bridge to Rd. #623 and follow it up onto Sunshine Mesa and a signed junction for the Wilson Mesa Trail.