Canyon Creek Lake to L Lake

Hiking in California

Nearby Destinations

Nearby Guides

Viewed 2516 times

(2 votes, 1 review)

Difficulty: Difficult
Length: 3.1 miles / 5.0 km
Duration: 1-3 hours

Download to Phone

View Large Map

View Photos

Overview: This trail is pretty difficult but the views are well worth it if you have the energy. It involves a lot of climbing up switchbacks and even wading through some pretty deep (and cold) water, but once you get to the top you will be glad you fought your way through it because the views of the lakes below and the mountains in the distance is something that you will never forget.

Tips: Bring water with you, this hike takes a while and is exposed for the entire hike.
You may want to carry some tough sandals with you because you will need to cross a river at the beginning and the water will be up to the knees.

Points of Interest

map

River Crossing

The start of this hike involves crossing the river coming off of upper canyon creek lake. Early in the season there may be a lot of water and the river may be quite deep.

The river between Canyon Creek lakes (Globe Mill, California, United States) Photo

map

Switchbacks

After walking around the edge of Upper Canyon Creek Lake the trail will continue up to the right. The next section involves a lot of steep switchbacks and the trail is sometimes full of overgrown shrubs.

map

Great views of the Trinity Alps

Look behind you for a breathtaking view of the Canyon Creek Lakes and the Trinity Alps stretching far in the distance.

Canyon Creek Lakes (Globe Mill, California, United States) Photo

Snow covered mountains in Trinity Alps (Globe Mill, California, United States) Photo

Lower Canyon Creek Lake (Globe Mill, California, United States) Photo

Trinity Alps (Globe Mill, California, United States) Photo

map

L Lake

Finally you hard work has paid off and you have arrived at L Lake. The water can be quite cold (it's runoff from the winter snow), but can also be very refreshing on a hot day.

There are a number of nice spots to stop for lunch before hiking back down the way you came.

El Lake (Globe Mill, California, United States) Photo

Pictures in this guide taken by: chris

How does this work?

This is a great day hike if you are camping near the lakes below. We did it in mid-June and there was some snow up by L Lake, but not enough to get in our way (only to make swimming a bad idea--but we did it anyway). You get some great views of lakes and the valley below.
Visited on Jun 18, 2009

by chris on Dec 19, 2011 at 02:08:44 pm