Echo Lakes to Lake Aloha

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Features Commonly Backpacked · Fishing · Lake · Swimming · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

A beautiful run around both the Echo Lakes leads to the heart of the Desolation Wilderness and Lake Aloha. This is one of the more popular trails in the area, so expect to share it! Consider taking the water taxi (in season roughly July through Labor Day weekend) to make this journey shorter and easier.

If you plan to continue past Upper Echo Lake to the wilderness area and Lake Aloha, you must fill out a free wilderness permit at the trailhead. If you'd like to make this an overnight trip by camping in the Desolation Wilderness, you'll need a separate wilderness permit with an advance reservation. Visit the Eldorado National Forest website for more information.

You can take a water taxi across both Echo Lakes and save about 5 miles of your round-trip run. It's fun and very scenic as well. Taking the taxi makes this much shorter and easier. More Taxi Information.

If you're not taking the taxi, head up the hill to the PCT and start your journey following the banks of Lower Echo Lake. The trail is pretty open and can be quite hot. Echo Lake is lightly developed with vacation homes, but after about 2 miles you hit the wilderness boundary and the setting becomes more serene.

Pass a flower-filled meadow at 4.5 miles and continue past several junctions until you reach Lake Aloha. This lake is especially large and dotted by innumerable islands of polished granite. It's so complex that you really can't see the full expanse from any one point. Scramble up to an elevated perspective to more fully appreciate its scale.

Enjoy the views, perhaps a swim and a picnic, and then take a left at Lake of the Woods Trail to make a little loop and get more views of Lake Aloha. Soon you'll take a left on the PCT to Lake Aloha Trail (17E39). This will quickly get you back to the PCT and your return run back to Echo Lakes.