Hamilton Lakes Trail

Hamilton Lakes Trail follows the High Sierra Trail from Crescent Meadow to Big Hamilton Lake, then returns the same way. The mapped corridor is about 15.1 miles each way, or 30.2 miles round trip. Published distances disagree: the park mileage table lists 16.6 miles to the lake, while trail signs and GPS readings range from 14.4 to 17 miles one way. Plan with the longer figure. Allow about 18 hours of walking, usually split over multiple days; this is a serious backpack for most hikers, not a casual day walk. Start early for the exposed granite and check creek crossings before setting out.

The first half-mile climbs through cool, well-watered forest of red and white fir, sugar pine, and occasional giant sequoias. Then the trail breaks onto Eagle View, a warm, south-facing slope with Moro Rock behind, the Middle Fork Kaweah below, and the Great Western Divide ahead. A nearly level stretch crosses part of the 1980 Buckeye Fire burn. Spring-fed streams cross the path late into the season, and early-summer flows can make them hazardous. After Nine Mile Creek the route drops into Buck Canyon, crosses Buck Creek, then gains about 500 feet in a little over a mile to Bearpaw Meadow, 11.4 miles from the start.

East of Bearpaw, the path descends through pine woods, then greener groundcover as the slope steepens and the trees thin. It runs high above a dramatic canyon before dropping to a footbridge over a sheer-walled granite gorge. The bridge is a popular turnaround: from Bearpaw it is 1.6 miles each way, a 3.2-mile out-and-back. From Crescent Meadow, reaching it already takes 11.4 miles of hiking, so it is only a shorter option if you are staying at Bearpaw.

Beyond the bridge, forest gives way to bare rock. Switchbacks climb the south- and west-facing slopes, then the tread traverses a level section above an unguarded drop. It descends to a flat granite shelf where a creek crosses the path, then climbs again. The open rock can be punishingly hot, and the crossing may be difficult during early-summer afternoon flow. The last approach passes small, algae-filled Lower Hamilton Lake before Big Hamilton Lake comes into view.

Big Hamilton Lake sits in a broad granite basin beneath high cliffs, with a small waterfall entering on the far side and campsites on flat granite beside the water. Give yourself time at the shore after the long approach. For a photo, leave a strip of granite in the foreground and frame across the water toward the opposite waterfall and cliff wall.

On the earlier stretch south of Alta Meadow and Alta Peak, a trail crew spent much of the summer of 1930 using an air compressor and rock drills to blast a one-mile passage through the bluffs. The route still crosses this hard-won section of trail.

Start at the High Sierra Trailhead on Crescent Meadow’s southeast edge. The park shuttle serves Crescent Meadow in summer; normal vehicle traffic may be closed, while backpackers with a wilderness permit can reach the trailhead. Day hikes do not require a permit, but overnight travel on the High Sierra Trail does, with seasonal quotas. Bearpaw Meadow has campsites and a reserved tent camp; meal service for pass-through hikers was not verified, so carry food for the route. Pets are prohibited on park trails.