Kit Carson Pass - South Lake Tahoe (CA)

5 /5 Ryan Stephens: This is a beautiful spot to hike. From the parking lot to Winnemucca Lake is an easy 2.5 miles with little elevation change. Part of the trail is shared with the famous PCT. If you come during the right time of the year you will be treated with amazing high Sierra meadows full of wildflowers. Snow can last long into summer, although the trail is normally clear by July.

5 /5 Michelle S.: The Rangers at the Carson Pass rangers station are all volunteers and are so enthusiatic, helpful, and clearly love this area and what they do. The ranger station has maps and guidebooks, as well as misc supplies (sunscreen, bug spray, snacks, etc.) available for purchase. Fire burn and wilderness camping permits can be picked up here as well. They also lead interpretive walks during the summer season. Love that they have hiking poles and leashes available for you to borrow!

3 /5 James Kopperud: Beautiful location, heavy foot traffic, avoid some of the office staff.(7/22/17) I entered the office for information, perhaps water and a map. I was fully prepared to spend money for any of those things. Volunteer informed me that I had to be a member of some club that she wouldnt tell me about. No, I couldnt make a donation for water. Staff was being coached on what products to pressure people to buy to maximize profit. Not what I expected :( Ive been here before and people have been nice in the past. This time, Im not sure why I was treated with disdain? I didnt stink from camping yet :)

5 /5 Charles Schallhorn: I returned from Utah and wanted to avoid I-80. I let google maps take me this way. Stunning view, spectacular sights. I had never heard of this road prior. It was mostly downhill coming from Nevada. I can imagine the uphill challenge headed east. Lots of places to stop for viewing the sites including parks and a couple lakes.

4 /5 Marcus Lodwick: The marker states: "On this spot, the summit of the Kit Carson Pass, stood the Kit Carson Tree on which the famous scout Kit Carson inscribed his name in 1844 when he guided the then Captain John C. Frémont, head of a government exploring expedition, over the Sierra Nevada. The original inscription was cut from the tree in 1888 and is now in Sutters Fort, Sacramento." Apparently, Kit Carsons carving is no longer on display at Sutters Fort but kept securely elsewhere. Kit Carson was a famed frontiersman, trapper and scout. He was the first EuropeanAmerican to cross the mountains on what was then an Indian trading route. When Carson discovered the pass, he marked his name on a tree, returned to camp and brought the Fremont party back over the pass to Sutters Fort in the Sacramento Valley. Only a few years later, during the California Gold Rush, 250,000 immigrants followed Carsons footsteps over the hills into Golden California.