Desolation Wilderness
Desolation Wilderness | |
---|---|
wilderness area) | |
![]() Desolation Wilderness from Mount Tallac | |
Location | El Dorado County, California, United States |
Nearest city | South Lake Tahoe, CA |
Coordinates | 38°55′11″N 120°10′12″W / 38.91972°N 120.17000°W |
Area | 63,960 acres (258.8 km2) |
Established | January 1, 1969 |
Governing body | U.S. Forest Service |
The Desolation Wilderness is a 63,960-acre (258.8 km2) federally protected
History
Before European settlement in the mid-19th century, there is evidence this area was used by the
Access
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Horsetail_Falls_Tahoe.jpg/220px-Horsetail_Falls_Tahoe.jpg)
Desolation is a popular
The Tahoe Rim Trail and Pacific Crest Trail pass through the wilderness. A list of other trailheads that provide access to the wilderness follows.[4]
- Loon Lake trailhead
- Buck Island trailhead
- Van Vleck trailhead
- Rockbound trailhead
- Twin Lakes trailhead
- Lyons trailhead
- Ralston trailhead
- Echo Lakes trailhead
- Glen Alpine trailhead
- Mount Tallac trailhead
- Bayview trailhead
- Eagle Falls trailhead
- Meeks Bay trailhead
- Pyramid Creek trailhead
Permits are required for both day use and overnight camping. In the summer, a quota system is used for overnight trips to limit the number of visitors on any given day in the wilderness. Desolation Wilderness is one of the most heavily used protected areas in the United States. This Wilderness area is split up into 45 different zones, with each having a specific permitting quota. Overnight permits are available online via recreation.gov and at select Forest Service ranger stations for a 'day of entry' permit, first-come, first-served. Day use permits are available at individual trailheads.
Ecology
The Desolation Wilderness provides a home for many species of plants, fish and wildlife.
Desolation Wilderness supports predominantly
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c0/PyramidLakeOutlet.jpg/350px-PyramidLakeOutlet.jpg)
The sparse woodlands of widely scattered western junipers and lodgepole pines are interrupted by patches of montane chaparral species such as pinemat manzanita, huckleberry oak, and mountain pride penstemon clinging to the expanses of barren rock. There are many wet meadows throughout the wilderness, each unique due to the differences in elevation, exposure, soil composition and soil depth, resulting in a wide diversity of annual and perennial plant life. A variety of wildflower species, sedges, and grasses inhabit these fragile wet areas. Aspen and willow are common to these wetland areas.
Mule deer are the largest of the game species found within the wilderness. Black bears are increasingly common, with individuals being displaced from the Tahoe Basin and lower elevation western slopes into the higher country. More common, yet seldom seen, are the smaller mammals like coyote, porcupine, badger, and bobcat. Species of special interest that are very rare in the area are the fisher, pine marten, red fox, and wolverine.
Desolation also provides an ideal habitat for numerous alpine rodents such as the yellow-bellied marmot, golden-mantled ground squirrel and Douglas squirrel. Also found is a member of the rabbit and hare family, the pika. There are also a variety of mountain birds, including the Steller's jay, Clark's nutcracker, mountain chickadee, sooty grouse, mountain bluebird, American dipper, and occasional golden eagle.
Within Desolation's numerous lakes and streams are also a variety of game fish such as the rainbow and brook trout. Less common, but also present are brown and golden trout.
Geography
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Pyramid_Drainage_waterfall.jpg/220px-Pyramid_Drainage_waterfall.jpg)
The
Its largest body of water is Lake Aloha, a reservoir with shallow, clear waters sitting in a wide granite basin carved by glaciers of the last ice age. Many other alpine and wooded lakes of various sizes are scattered throughout the area.
Footnotes
- ^ "Desolation Wilderness". Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. USDA Forest Service. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- ^ "Desolation Wilderness History". Eldorado National Forest. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- ISBN 1-59351-428-X
- ^ "Desolation Wilderness: Trail Destinations". Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. USDA Forest Service. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
- ^ "Pyramid". NGS Data Sheet. National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
External links
Media related to Desolation Wilderness (category) at Wikimedia Commons
- "Desolation Wilderness". Eldorado National Forest.
- "Desolation Wilderness". Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.
- "Desolation Wilderness". Wilderness.net. Archived from the original on 2004-02-22. Retrieved 2005-08-30.
- "Desolation Wilderness Volunteers".