Eldorado National Forest

Recreational Activities: Winter - Cross Country Skiing

Carson Pass Area | Echo to Kirkwood Trail | Echo Lake Johnson Pass Trails | Echo Summit Trails | Loon Lake Trails | Strawberry Canyon Trails

Echo Lakes - Johnson Pass

Placerville Ranger District

Directions:

The Johnson Pass cross-country ski trail system features 3 loop trails and one trail that leads you to Echo Lakes Sno-Park. There are 3.1 miles of trails that are posted. The trails start at Johnson Pass. To get to the trails from U.S. Highway 50, if traveling east, drive 1 1/2 miles past the Sierra-At-Tahoe sign towards Echo Summit. Turn left onto the road that has the Echo Lakes sign. This road is called the Johnson Pass Road. Go about 1/2 mile until you come to the Sno-Park on the south side of the road. The parking lot is part of the California Sno-Park system and requires a permit. Be sure to purchase a Sno-Park permit before your visit.

Echo Lakes Trail Map

Echo Lakes Recreation Opportunity Guide (pdf)

Trail Descriptions

Little Shorty Loop
Distance: 0.4 miles or 0.7 kilometer
Elevation: 7,300 feet
Difficulty: Easy
This loop can be accessed from the southeast corner of the Echo Lakes Sno-Park. The loop trail starts about 100 feet south of the parking lot down a main stem trail that leads you to the other two loop trails. Blue diamonds and blue signs with yellow arrows guide you through this high elevation forest. The predominant trees in this forest are called conifers The trees bear cones to produce their seeds, and their leaves are in the shape of various needles. The variety of tree species includes red fir, western white pine, Jeffrey pine, sugar pine, and lodgepole pine. It is a good warm-up trail to start your skiing with. It takes you over some rolling terrain as you meander through the trees.

Big Shorty Loop
Distance: 0.5 miles or 0.7 kilometers
Elevation: 7,300 feet
Difficulty: Easy
This ski trail loop starts about 200 feet south of the junction with the Little Shorty Loop, and takes you through and around a small basin. This trail will eventually lead you back to the main stem trail, but it will be further south than where the trail first connects to the main stem trail n

Ridge Loop
Distance: 1.1 mile or 1.8 kilometers
Elevation: 7,300 to 7,400 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
This trail involves some steeper terrain than the two shorter loops. It will take you through a forest with three distinct sizes of trees. You will see the saplings grouped together among a fairly open forest of intermediate-sized trees. As the trail gets close to Highway 50, you will encounter scattered large trees.

Echo Lakes Ski Trail
Distance: 1.1 miles or 1.8 kilometers
Elevation: 7,300 feet
Difficulty: Easy
This trail follows the Echo Lakes Road. The terrain is fairly gentle. Views of the glacier-created Echo Lakes await the cross-country skiers of this trail.

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USDA Forest Service - Eldorado National Forest
Last Modified: Monday, 24 January 2005 at 15:35:03 EST