Castle Valley North Road and Castle Peak Trail
5.9 mi
Distance
2 hrs 50 min
Time
terrain
1,759 ft
Elev Gain
Overview
This is a moderate out and back trail in Tahoe National Forest.
This trail goes by Castle Pass.
Sights to See
Rate this Hike
★★★★★
Hiked this on 12/28/23. It was pretty much packed snow the first two thirds of the way and snowshoes were not needed (but microspikes and trekking poles kept the slippage to a minimum). The snow was not particular deep, either.
Once you turn off the road to the Castle Peak trail you will likely soon want snowshoes with heel lifts. The way becomes increasingly steep and its difficult to find the right path to the top. There is one stretch that is steep enough to slide but I didn't see any avalanche run out areas (I could have missed them)
But once you do you are rewarded with some great views (and a lot of wind). We did not make it to Castle Peak itself, judging the finally bit of path there to be a touch too difficult and maybe a bit risky
There were not a lot of other snowshoers, skiers or snowboarders along the way, but there were a few.
Coming down was a bit of a challenge with lots of sliding falls (trekking poles with snowbaskets really helped) until the slope eased a bit.
New storms coming this weekend so conditions will likely be a lot different in a few days.
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