Twin Lakes Trail

Twin Lakes Trail is a 13.6-mile out-and-back from Lodgepole Campground to two glacially formed lakes, about 6.8 miles each way. It climbs roughly 3,000 feet; allow about eight hours. This is a full-day choice for hikers who want a quieter lake basin, but the best scenery arrives late. Most of the approach stays in forest, so it can feel like a long way to earn the lakes.

Start at the signed trailhead in Lodgepole, just beyond the Tokopah Valley Trail. The path climbs through open Jeffrey pine and incense cedar, then eases and bends north after about a mile into a dense fir canopy. GPS can be unreliable under those trees. You’ll hear water for much of the walk and cross several streams; Silliman Creek is about 2.3 miles from the start.

A brief view of Cahoon Meadow opens to the left around 2.7 miles. It is also the first allowed overnight campsite, at about 3 miles. From there the trail climbs to Cahoon Gap, then drops a little over 200 feet into a wooded creek valley. A faint track branches left toward J.O. Pass; stay with the Twin Lakes trail. The forested valley makes a useful breather before the final climb.

After the creek junction, the trail turns north and climbs on long switchbacks beside the East Fork. Dense upper-montane forest alternates with thinner, rockier patches; around 5.8 miles, the creek tumbles over fractured granite. The tread is not blazed above the Wuksachi cutoff. Snow can linger into summer and return as early as October, and when it covers the path, route-finding gets difficult.

The trail levels in a wooded strip between the lakes at about 6.8 miles. The larger lake is visible to the right from the tread; the smaller one is partly screened, a short walk through trees to the left. Granite, water and the high basin finally replace the long forest approach, though this is a lake destination rather than an open summit view. The route continues toward Silliman Pass beyond the lakes, but that extension is a different, longer hike.

Day hikers do not need a wilderness permit. Overnight trips do, and permits for this trail are issued at the Lodgepole Visitor Center. Pets are prohibited on park trails. Choose this hike if you are happy to spend most of a day on the approach; if you only want a meadow walk, Long Meadow or Crescent Meadow are easier to reach and give you more meadow scenery for less effort.