Sagehen Creek

<-Emigrant Lake

Mt Rose->

The Hike: This trail parallels the northern side of Sagehen Creek until it reaches Stampede Reservoir. It begins by skirting the southern edge of a small hill before heading northeast. The first couple of miles of the trail moves in and out of the mixed forest of incense cedars, Jeffrey pines, junipers, lodgepole pines, and white firs. Mule Ears and Arrowleaf Balsamroot frequent the open spaces. Interspersed throughout the first few miles is a large variety of wildflowers. Besides the Camas Lily, in four years of doing this hike we have identified the following wildflowers: Brown's Peony, Arrowleaf Balsamroot, Mule Ear, Shooting Star, Death Camas, Dwarf Waterleaf, Buttercup, Squaw Carpet, Western Serviceberry, Squaw Currant, Yellow Violet, Lupine, Antelope Bitterbrush, Agoseris, Hoboell's Rockcress, Manzanita, Rosy Everlasting, Low Phacelia, Northern Suncup, Woodland Star, Lewisia, Larkspur, Indian Paintbrush, Lomatium, Columbine, and Snow Plant. At ~1.85 miles the trail enters the first meadow. Shooting Stars and Buttercups frequent this meadow with Larkspur crowding the western edge of it where the trail briefly leaves the meadow to the west. There is a nice first view of Stampede Reservoir from the northern end of this long and skinny meadow. At ~2.2 miles the trail crosses over the western fork of Sagehen Creek (the creek splits upstream from here). If the creek is running particularly high (as in 2011), you will have to get your feet wet to continue. From here, the trail heads southeast and reaches a wooden plank over the eastern fork of Sagehen Creek at ~2.3 miles from the trailhead. Immediately after crossing over this fork we leave the trail to the south to view the meadow of Camas Lilies. Be careful to avoid tromping on the delicate plants in the meadow. There is an abundance of small andesitic rocks scattered in this meadow, so we do our best to step on those instead of the plants. We generally walk ~0.15 from the trail to see the Camas Lilies, but the meadow continues another ~0.25 miles to the southwest. A hidden treat (literally) of this meadow is wild onion. You can find plenty of onion plants in the meadow but they are not the easiest to extract, so please do not destroy the ground trying to get at them. Back on the trail, the hike continues to the northeast towards the reservoir. At ~2.35 miles from the trailhead is another small wooden plank over a small spring that is lined with Shooting Stars. The trail then enters a small stand of trees before intersecting with a dirt road at ~2.5 miles. Follow the road to the east (either the northern or southern curve) before leaving the road to the north at ~2.6 miles, just after you pass through a nice aspen frame of the reservoir. Depending on the amount of snow received in past winter (and previous winters), the edge of the reservoir may be anywhere from ~300 to 1,000 feet from the road. In 2011, it was only a little more than 300 feet away. Here, there is another nice patch of Camas Lilies. Although it is much smaller than the main display, it has the added scenic feature of the reservoir. It is much easier to find a nice sandy/rocky place to rest along the edge of the reservoir when it is not full but you do have to watch out for a lot of goose droppings.