Mineral King to Eagle Lake

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Difficulty: Moderate
Length: 6.9 miles / 11.1 km
Duration: Full day

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Overview: The hike from Mineral King to Eagle is short and steep with about 2200ft elevation gain in 3.4 miles. The hike starts at an elevation of about 7600+ and reaches just below 10000ft at Eagle lake.

This is a moderately difficult hike and can be finished in half a day, although it might be more relaxing if you have a full day.

Tips: The 25 mile long road to Mineral King Valley from Three Rivers takes about 90 minutes to drive. So if you are planning to come in hike and get out of the valley, plan accordingly.

Acclimatization at high altitude will definitely help since the hike reaches about 10000ft at Eagle Lake.

This seemed to be a popular day hike in the area and you will find a lot of hikers during the weekend.

Talk to a ranger about the marmot problem during spring and early summer.

Points of Interest

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Parking Lot

The trail starts from the Eagle-Mosquito parking lot. It might be hard to find a spot on a weekend but there are a few turnouts along the road where you can park your car.

Apparently the Marmots of Mineral King chew up your radiator hoses early Spring/summer but is not usually a problem late in the summer.

Talk to a ranger to find out if there have been any recent incidents. The ranger station is located near the Coldcreek campground.

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Spring creek crossing.

About 0.2 miles from the start of your hike, there is a small wooden bridge over the spring creek. Apparently the water to the spring creek is provided by Eagle lake (See sinkholes POI below).

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The First mile

The first mile of the hike is a relatively easy stretch with about 400-500ft of elevation gain. You get to see some beautiful views of the Mineral King Valley and the meadows.

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Trail splits to White Chief Canyon here.

This is the first split of the trail. You need to stay right to head to Eagle lake. This will take you up the Eagle canyon towards the Eagle Sink holes.

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The Second mile.

The second mile takes you up the Eagle Canyon to the Eagle Sink holes. There is an elevation gain of about 1000ft in 1 mile but it doesn't feel that steep. You hike through some beautiful meadows and wildflowers.

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Trail to Mosquito Lakes splits here.

The trail to Mosquito lakes split here. You need to stay on the left trail to head to Eagle lake. The trail is clearly marked. Just after this are the Eagle sink holes where the creek from the Eagle lake disappears into a large sink hole and is never seen above the ground again.

Apparently the creek provides water to the Spring creek that we crossed at the beginning of this trail.

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The Last Stretch

For the most part this trail goes through a huge field of rocks and boulders with some amazing views of the cliffs and the meadows around you. This part of the hike is steep as well with about 800-900ft elevation gain. Shortly after the climb, you will arrive at the lake.

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Around the Eagle Lake

There is a trail along the right hand side of the Eagle lake but the official trail ends there. If you want to go around the lake, you need to scramble the rocks which is fun :)

There are some beautiful spots for backpackers as well.