Sixty Lakes Basin Out and Back

Dogs No Dogs

Features Commonly Backpacked · Fall Colors · Fishing · Lake · River/Creek · Swimming · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

The Sixty Lakes Basin is bordered on the west and south by the rugged, nearly 13,000-foot-high King Spur. Many of the lakes in the basin are arrayed near the main stream, which the trail follows down the gently sloping valley. However, the most beautiful lakes are a short distance above the trail and closer to the King Spur.

Sixty Lakes Basin has far fewer visitors than the nearby Rae Lakes. Those that do make it here are usually on a day hike from Rae Lakes, or they spend just one night camped in the basin. With so little time, it is difficult to visit more than one of the higher lakes. You may not see anyone if you camp at a higher lake.

Overnight travelers need to acquire a wilderness permit. It is easiest to acquire online here: recreation.gov/permits/445857/. No campfires are allowed above 10,000 feet in this area.

This is a rewarding trail run for those looking for vert and views in one day. Glen Pass and Kearsarge pass twice? Nice. Rae Lakes and Kearsage Lakes Basin? Worth it.

The easiest way to reach the Sixty Lakes Basin by trail requires a run from Onion Valley. Climb from Onion Valley Trailhead and conquer Kearsarge Pass. Then, contour above the Kearsarge Lakes basin toward Glen Pass and once there, descent into the Rae Lakes Basin.

The trail branches from the JMT just before crossing the stream between the two upper Rae Lakes. It passes around a swampy area near the northern Rae Lake and then climbs about 600 feet over the ridge that separates Rae Lakes from the Sixty Lakes Basin. Throughout this climb, there are sweeping views back over Rae Lakes toward the main Sierra Crest. There is a small, beautiful lake just before the top.

Once over the ridge, the trail drops about 400 feet over the next half mile while passing small lakes -- samples of the more beautiful lakes only a short distance above the trail. Views over the basin are best in the morning. The trail follows the main stream gently down the shallow canyon for a little over a mile and ends near the point where the stream drops steeply down to the South Fork of the Kings River.

In the other direction, there is a spectacular and relatively easy off-trail route from Glenn Pass to the Sixty Lakes Basin. This is significantly shorter and has somewhat less climbing than going down to the Rae Lakes junction and climbing back up on the Sixty Lakes Trail.

Leave the JMT in the lake basin that you reach at the bottom of the switchbacks. Head northwest between the lakes toward an obvious low point in the ridge. Once over the ridge, scramble down to Lake 3353 and onto the Sixty Lakes Trail.

- Originally shared by Lee Watts, edited by Ethan Fichtner.