Mt. Tallac Trailhead

The Mt. Tallac trail is an amazing trail to hike in Lake Tahoe. It isn't easy, about 4.5 miles from the trail head to the summit with about 3,300 feet of elevation gain. The second half of the trail is mostly all rock and is very steep in parts. The first half or roughly first two miles are still beautiful to the small lakes/ponds along the trail and offer decent views of Fallen Leaf Lake and Lake Tahoe before the trail becomes steeper and climbs further in elevation. The 360 degree view from the peak is amazing.

Great hike, but be prepared for the elements to change if going late in the season.

I ran into many individuals who did not take it as seriously as they should have, and they did experience a significant amount of trouble with the hike.

The road to the trail head is currently closed to drive in, so you will have to park just off the main road or on the side of the main road as there are not many spots available and then walk about 15 min on paved road to the trailhead.

There are a good amount of rocks and uneven surfaces, so mind your steps for the initial part of the ascent.

As you gain altitude, the temperature gets cooler, and the snow gets deeper as you climb, so be sure to have proper attire for the cold weather, especially later in the day as the sun goes down.

Once you reach the top/end of the trail, you may want to continue hiking/climbing to get to the final summit. Just know that when going off the trail, the snow will get to be waist high at some points with uneven surface under the snow. This will also add a good amount of time(1-2 hours) to go this extra distance and get back down, so watch your time and the sun as it can be easy to get off route.

From the top and along the way, the views are spectacular of Fallen Leaf Lake, Lake Tahoe, and the mountain scapes.

Wonderful day hike. Moderately challenging though. Roughly 10-mile out and back. I would not recommend for novice hikers or little kids. Trail is in good condition but definitely use AllTrails app to stay on track.

I found this trail on All Trails and it was just as hard as everyone says on the app. This trail is rocky from start to end. Top three things to complete this trail; food, water and pace. The elevation is a steady climb until cathedral lake and it really amps up. I recommend starting at 7am. You will have to scramble to get to the stop and it's the hardest part. It's kinda easy to lose your trail so take your time.

The scenery is well worth it and there are plenty of photo ops. We started to see snow in the higher elevation around 8500ft in july. So keep that in mind if you plan on hiking later in the year when it is cooler.

We're a family of hikers (including our kids that summited Half Dome with us when they were 7 & 8 in Aug 2021 and will do it again Aug 2022) so this review will not be indicative of average family hiking. However for kiddos that have a happy place out on the trail, this hike to both Floating Island and Cathedral Lakes was not bad at all...pretty moderate incline. Our entire group including a 1yr old made that trek with time resting at both lakes.

Parking during the week wasn't too bad, but had to park along the side of the road. I recommend hitting the trail earlier than 11am for parking and ample time to make it up to the summit. Based on parking signage, this must be an extremely popular hike on the weekends.

Once past Cathedral Lake up to the summit, the incline really begins. You're met with absolutely stunning views of both Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake as well as mountain wildflowers, but with unexpected altitude "sickness" (mild dizziness & had to focus to get a deep breath) for 3 of our crew of 4, the alpine first and rocky ridgeline were not able to be enjoyed as much as on other hikes. When we reached the Tallac summit, it was indeed beautiful (posted our panoramic pic) but the one person not affected by the altitude was the only one excited/ enjoying the view. The other 3 were glad to make it but pretty much ready to go back down, which is rare...one person (me) even took a nap in the summit which helped the dizzy feeling. (But "me" is also now technically 40.5 with 5 ACL reconstruction/medial meniscus repair surgeries on both knees, breast cancer survivor, recently healed broken big toe, and a destroyed thyroid...but a determinationto stay active and "use it or lose it.")

With a 10.29 mile RT hike to the summit and back and 3,162' of elevation gain (according to my tracker), this is a fantastic training hike to prepare for Half Dome that we're doing in 3 weeks @Matlock.Rock!

Very secluded place. No cell service so tell people where you are going. Watch for bears. Have fun. See photos.... amazing views.

After spending a considerable amount of time capturing the breathtaking scenery with our cameras, our Mt. Tallac hike adventure took a full 9 hours. However, every moment was worth it, as the panoramic 360-degree view from the summit left us in awe. The view at the top was nothing short of incredible.

This is a challenging hike, but if you make it to the top, you are awarded with a once in a lifetime 360° view of Tahoe and surrounding area!

Get there early if you want to reach the peak! It took us 3.5 hours to reach the top, where we spent an hour eating lunch and enjoying the views. It took us 2 hours and 50 minutes to descend.

Even if you don't make it to the top; the first half you will have amazing views along a ridge of Fallen Leaf Lake, and will will also have stops at two small beautiful and serene lakes. This first half is not difficult.

Highly recommend!

Amazing view of Fallen leaf lake and Lake Tahoe in just about a mile and a half through the trail. The trail to the Mt. Is about 10 miles round trip with 3222 ft elevation gain. There are multiple alpine lakes on the way where you could take stops or turn back if needed. This place has limited parking so arrive as early in the day as possible. Not fully shaded so be prepared for hot weather depending on the time of the day and year visiting.

Best views in Tahoe.
Tough, long climb, but lots of rock/scrambling toward the top, but you’re rewarded highly with the views you’ll get.
According to my GPS, out-and-back was close to 12 miles from parking lot to absolute peak.

Long uphill hike, very rocky. Definitely intense than we initially thought but worth it. It's a 14 mile round trip with a great view of Lake Tahoe and some of the other lakes. Recommend you start a little early like 8 or 9am. Plenty of parking, probably going to have to park along the road (not a lot of dedicated spots). Strongly encourage good hiking shoes and a headlamp since it's a 6 hour trip and safety first.

Awesome views! Hands down one of the best hikes I've done! An amazing reward getting to the top!

Looking for some of the best views in the area? The Tallac trail provided it! Even the short hike to Crystal lake gives a great view of Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake.

It's an extremely dog friendly trail also. Everyone on the path wanted to say hello and pet our dog, so bring your dog up there. ( Please follow all instructions and clean up after your pooch).

The trail is easy to follow and very few questionable path choices. The path was mostly broken rock.

There were lots of mosquitos and sun so be prepared for each.

Mt. Tallac is a beautiful hike with stunning views in all directions. Go early for parking (gotta be there before 8 for a spot, ideally before 7:30) and to avoid the worst of the afternoon heat. Lots of marmots and chipmunks on the trail that are not afraid of humans - they want your snacks, but please don't feed them!

Lots of unsheltered trail so bring plenty of water and sunscreen!

Great trail with amazing views! It's not the easiest incline, but well worth the effort. You can see all surrounding lakes and wilderness from the peak.

I am not an experienced hiker, I am from the flat lands of MI, I am however athletic. We (me and husband) hiked to the summit and back in 5 hours and split 50oz water between us. While it was not an easy-peasy hike it was not horribly difficult either. We rested on the way up at Cathedral Lake, just before the final ascent up the brown metamorphic rocks leading to the top and for about 10mins at the top.

It was a solid 10 mile out and back and we did some light running in parts on the descent. The temp was cool at about 65 and sunny at the trailhead at 12:30pm (I wore a short sleeve tech w a long sleeve tech I donned as needed and was comfortable).

We were planning on only going to Cathedral Lake (a great place to stop for a very pretty 5. 2 mile out and back hike, btw) and maybe a bit more but decided to continue to the top and I'm glad we did!

Had a great day on the trail. On the way out, I saw National Forest employees going out to clean up the trails a bit before the summer weather. Trails were hard to follow, ended up going up most of Mt Tallac by following someones foot steps, completely off of the normal trail. Proceed with caution, still very snowy above ~7000 ft.

This hike is definitely challenging but you can do it! It’s around 10 miles and doesn’t get difficult until you start really going up the mountain. Me and my husband did it and we are 25 and 26 and workout a good amount but are not in amazing shape and were able to complete this without any issues (definitely some heavy breathing but we also aren’t used to the elevation). Make sure to pack plenty of water (more than you think you’ll need),snacks and maybe even a meal to eat at the top and definitely sunscreen and a hat, and layers (although I really only wore my jacket at the top, but I was wearing long sleeves and long leggings). You really need to start earlier in the day around 9 or so because it will take a good amount of time especially if you are wanting to stop for water/snack/sunscreen breaks and pictures. I would not recommend starting too late in the day because you wouldn’t want to be coming down the mountain in the dark. There are quite a few people on this trail but it wasn’t annoying, people are very friendly. The views are fantastic and I definitely recommend this hike!

Paved road up to the trail head.

Maybe 10-15 spots but overflow parking off the road before the actual parking lot.

Have to fill out a free Day Use permit to hike.

Challenging trail and lots of rocks. About 10 miles out and back with 3500ft gain.

What an amazing trail to hike! Non-stop views and the most quintessential outdoors experience. Be prepared for a workout if you're going to the top - 8 miles round trip and roughly 3500 feet of elevation gain.