TRT Hike Ward Creek to McCloud Falls

Tahoe Rim Trail McCloud Falls

On Fathers Day, Kate, Ben and I started our project of hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail, which is 165 miles.  Doing it piece by piece in day hikes only.  We started on the trail where it intersected Ward Creek Blvd just south of Tahoe City a mile or two, in the town of Sunnyside.  We went counterclockwise to the lake, hiking south.  I used a really sweet app by Guthooks, that shows the trail and tons of waypoints and handy information, plus shows you your location on the map.  Between taking photos of wildflowers, messing with my new app, and checking my Garmin GPS (somewhat redundant), Kate often was way ahead of me, as she kept hiking while I fussed around.  Ward Creek was running nicely and we had lunch alongside it.  The weather was perfect with solid blue skies and nice wind.  Wildflowers were simply outstanding.  It was the absolute perfect time to take this hike.  Prime time.  The pictures just do not capture the glory of this trail.   The grade was pretty easy until we hit switchbacks heading up to the falls, probably about mile number three.  McCloud Falls were at the 4 mile point and we started to feel the beginnings of some aches and pains, so we turned back at that point figuring 8 miles round trip would be plenty that day.  Even Ben’s feet or his ankles were getting kinda sore.

The trailhead was about an hour and fifteen from Colfax.  We were out on the trail for about 4+ hours.   Hiking time to the falls was about 1.5 hours.  The TahoeRimTrail.org has some maps on line of the area we hiked here.

Author: Geoff

Quick rundown: Grew up in Lombard, Illinois, went to Arizona State University, worked as a CPA with Arthur Andersen & Co, then Laventhal and Horwath, then Rolling Stones, then Heron International, then Goodby Berlin and Silverstein in San Francisco. Moved to the foothills in 1990 and traded futures and designed websites. Married to Kate Stewart, now living in Colfax, CA. We have six grandchildren. I enjoy camping in our RV, hiking, kayaking, fishing, droning and cross country skiing Also conga drumming, photography and dogs.

7 thoughts on “TRT Hike Ward Creek to McCloud Falls”

  1. Beautiful pictures; but, your narrative description of the hike really made the photos more meaningful. Why no photos of the flowing creek you mentioned? How will you restart your next phase of the 165 mile hike at the spot you stopped today without having to rehike the trip today? If I’m confusing, maybe we can talk on the phone. Why didn’t you bring your other dog? Overall, it sounds like a terrific day at Lake Tahoe.

    1. Hey Bro… the creek is in the first and last picture. Kate and I are good for 8-10 miles per day right now. Hopefully we will get better. Turns out, to get to the next waypoint I would come in from another trailhead to the south and its a good 7-8 miles away from where we stopped. So there may be some gaps in our goal to hike the whole thing. here is a map of this area. https://www.tahoerimtrail.org/images/stories/TrailMaps/2015_segment_maps/MapBroch_BarkerToTC.pdf
      Barker pass is the trailhead we might do next and hike north, toward where we left off but most likely its too far for one day for us old folks. We didn’t bring Biggs because he wasn’t feeling too good. Also Kate is of the opinion that these hikes hurt his feet. I don’t necessarily agree with that but he is her dog.

  2. Scott… we have some amazing hikes to take you guys on. And by the time you get here we will have even more.

  3. Geoff,

    The little flowers must have made a beautiful landscape. Looks as though you had a cane or rod or walking
    stick as you hiked. Am I seeing right?

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