Horsetail Falls & Ropi Lake
Photos Maps Summary: This is a hike in which you pass by one of the best, if not the best, waterfalls near Lake Tahoe. Not only that, but you get to pass by a few alpine lakes and finish at another nice waterfall. Horsetail Falls crashes down the glacier-carved canyon along Pyramid Creek just south of Lake Tahoe with its namesake shape. Although the name is pretty bland because of the popularity of giving a waterfall that name, this is one of the best of them at 791' tall and one of the best in the region. Climbing to the top of Horsetail Falls is a bit of an adventure in itself but is not impossible (don't bring your dogs or small kids). Near and at the top of the falls you have a wonderful view looking down the canyon flanked by Ralston Peak. Past this are a couple of small lakes before coming upon Ropi Lake with Pyramid Peak standing tall beyond and finally Ropi Lake Falls as Pyramid Creek enters the lake. Don't be fooled by the low mileage of this hike as the climb to the top of Horsetail Falls will take a lot of energy to finish (you're climbing every one of the 791' from the base in ~0.35 miles).Distance: 5.6 miles round-tripElevation Gain/Loss: 1,525'Season: June through OctoberFees & Permits: Free permit to enter the Wilderness for dayhikers. Wilderness Permits are required for overnighters.
Finding the Trailhead: 38.8117 N, 120.1237 W (parking lot on north side of CA-50, just west of Pyramid Creek). From the US-50/CA-89 intersection just south of Lake Tahoe, take US-50 southwest for ~10.8 miles and turn into the parking area just after crossing Pyramid Creek. There is a $5 day-use fee to park in the trailhead parking lot and it is wise to arrive at the trailhead as early as possible on weekends. However, if the parking lot is full there is room off either side of US-50 to park.
The Hike: When we did the trail (late-June, 2011) we arrived at the trailhead at ~9:45a and got a parking spot with about a third of the spaces still remaining. By ~10a the parking lot was full. From the northeast end of the parking lot you begin walking on the so-called trail. I say this because despite receiving $5 per car in a popular day-use area, the trailmarkers are virtually non-existant after only a few tenths of a mile (at least for the trail to the base of Horsetail Falls). There is a short loop trail that is popular (and well marked) with families and people with small dogs that we did not do, therefore it is not shown on the topo map. Most of the people parked in the parking lot stop only after a few tenths of a mile to find a place for a picnic alongside the creek. As many reviewers of this hike repeat, as long as you keep the creek on your right and Horsetail Falls in front of you, you'll be "fine". This is true, however, there are many places where you can end up in a dead-end of manzanita brush. My best advice to give is to stay close to the creek where the red line on my map shows you should (although my "trail" is not precise). As you continue you will come upon the Desolation Wilderness Boundary (~1.0 miles), where you will need to fill out a permit (free). As you near the base of Horsetail Falls you'll need to scramble up some boulders. At the base are the best views of the falls (~1.45 miles into the hike). After admiring the views from the base we continued up to the top of Horsetail Falls by scrambling up the rock face and boulder fields on the west side of the creek. "Scrambling" is not an appropriate word for at least the first section of this climb. More appropriate would be low-rated rock climbing. However, as long as you have good hiking boots and not a lot of fear of heights you'll make it to the top of Horsetail Falls after ~0.35 miles from the base. The views of the valley are incredible as you climb to the top. From the top of the falls we continued NW towards Ropi Lake and Ropi Lake Falls while staying on the western side of the creek. There was a surprising amount of snow still left up here (~7500 to 7600 ft) when we did the hike (after the big snow winter of 2011) and we were walking on the snow the rest of the way to Ropi Lake. After passing Avalanche and Pitt Lakes (and a view of Pitt Lake Falls) we arrived at the southeastern end of Ropi Lake (~2.5 miles from the trailhead). From here there are two small dams (both have a tree through them) that allow you to cross the creek and continue towards Ropi Lake Falls. We skirted the lake's southeastern and eastern shoreline to arrive at Ropi Lake Falls on the northeastern end of Ropi Lake (~2.8 miles from the trailhead). There was still a lot of snow here when we did the hike, so I don't know if there's a trail here. At the base of the waterfall I found that the best viewpoint was on top of a little rise to the west. However, this meant crossing the creek. Luckily for me there was a large snow drift over a section of the creek that allowed me to get to this small rise (not a good idea if the snow is too thin). Later in the summer, I'm not sure where or if there is a safe creek crossing while the creek is flowing more than a trickle. Also from this small rise I was able to get a glimpse of Pyramid Lake Falls, Toem Lake Falls, Lower Gefo Lake Falls, and Gefo Lake Falls. After enjoying a nice lunch it was time to start heading back the way we came. If you do this hike plan on it taking much longer than ~5.6 miles normally would, because there is a lot of rock scrambling and trail hunting involved. We would only recommend the full hike to experienced hikers and would not recommend it to groups with small children and/or dogs (luckily we did not bring my dog with me on this hike).
