Caples Lake trail to Emigrant Lake trail is a refreshing and fun hike. The trailhead starts a Caples lake dam and you follow the trail around the lake. You can find Caples Lake trailhead heading west on Hwy. 88. From Kirkwood ski resort it is only 0.07 miles to the parking lot. There is a decent-sized parking lot with restrooms.

We got an early start (06:30) which paid off with having the Emigrant lake to ourselves for about 20 mins!. Caples lake trail was nice because the first few miles are in the tall trees, along the lake which offers stunning views. Once you start the short incline up of 921 ft. elevation gain you get some awesome hiking in the beautiful pines.

You will come across a few water crossing, which was very low because of the time we went. If you go in spring or early summer you might have to scramble a little to get across. After you start your incline almost to the top of the mountain you will start to hear a loud waterfall. There is a very well-marked trail off to the right you can take to view it. This would be a great place for backpacking to camp if the lake is all full.

Sorry that the views didn't show how beautiful this place is due to all the fires in Northern California at this time. I plan on revisiting this trail in the future.

If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below. Happy Trails!

⏱️Timestamps⏱️
00:00 Intro
00:34 Caples Lake Damn/Trailhead
01:10 Caples Lake
02:41 Trail to the falls
03:42 Emigrant Lake
04:50 Thanks for watching!

Hiked: August 23, 2020
Rated: Moderate
Miles: 8.2 miles~ but we did 8.6 taking a short trail off to the left to see the waterfall. It was not flowing that strong this time of year. I think it will be gorgeous in the springtime!
Type: Out and Back
Elevation: 7800 ft. ~ with a 921 ft gain
Dog-Friendly trail


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