Sugar Pine Point State Park - Yellow and Orange snowshoe trails - California, United States

I like being able to hike on New Year's Day. This year, I was in Tahoe, and snowshoeing was the way to go. After Meeks Creek the day before, I decided to explore a small part of the Sugar Pine Point SP. Reading the "Tahoe Snowshoe Trails" guide book, it seemed that I would be able to hike both the Yellow and Orange trails.

It was snowing (the wet kind of snow) when I arrived. I stopped at the entrance to self register. As I was ready to leave the station, a ranger came by and greeted me.

There is ample parking in this area and it seemed I was the only one around. Probably because it was early, and because of the weather.

The guide book says that it's impossible to miss the trail markers but I have to disagree. While sometimes, you can see 3 or 4 markers ahead, it can get confusing and I went off trail twice.

I was a little bit disoriented on the parking lot, mostly because the start of the Orange trail was not where I thought it was supposed to be. But it was right by the parking lot so I followed it. It took me a while to realize that it was actually the Yellow Trail. At each junction there is a sign showing the global area and the track of all the trails. Unfortunately, there is no "you are here" marker. I had to compare the sign with my GPS track. 

I noticed only at the first junction that the markers were little stripes of plastic tape tied to the trees along the trail. But the trail was easy to follow. So easy in fact that I quickly forgot about the markers and just followed the trail until I reached Hwy 89, which I was not supposed to meet. Realizing that I must have missed a turn, I backtracked until I found a yellow marker. Still, I didn't find the turn. So I turned back, hoping to find new markers, in vain. I hit Hwy 89 again. 

I decided to hike along it for a while, but then convinced myself that it was not right. I had to find the Yellow trail back and for this, I reluctantly cut through the woods.

I stumble upon a relatively fresh human track coming from somewhere in the direction I needed to go. I followed it for a while, and just as I was hoping, I ended back on the Yellow Trail.

After a while, I reached the north-most point of the loop (I continued past it but quickly noticed my mistake) and the trail started going back towards the parking lot, but closer to the lake shore. It was quite nice walking along the water, although the views were not at their best due to the low ceiling.

The trail then quickly took me back to the parking lot where I "caught" the Orange Trail.

This trail is shorter but I preferred it to the Yellow one. It quickly went down to the shore and hugged it very closely, even reaching Meeks Bay. I really enjoyed this "lake shore" section of the trail. It was nice to take a quick break by the snowy rocks and pebbles and listen to the small waves.

The trail then went back up and I was quickly back to the parking lot.

I saw the old buildings and structures along this hike but lots of the signs were under a more or less thick layer of snow, and because of the weather, I didn't bother spending too much time reading about those.

I'll probably come back to this park. Those two trails should be nice as well in Summer. 

Sugar Pine Point State Park has two entrances. To hike the Yellow and Orange trails, use the South entrance (Day Use entrance).

The Day Use fee is now $8. Take cash as the booth might not be manned.