Desolation Wilderness

Campfires are prohibited in Desolation Wilderness to reduce human-caused fires, impacts to vegetation from firewood collection, and to reduce the visual impacts of fire rings and surface scarring. Your wilderness permit is also your campfire permit for your gas camp stove while visiting the Desolation Wilderness.

Travel is restricted to horseback or foot only. All means of mechanical transportation, including bicycles, carts, and snowmobiles, are prohibited in the wilderness. Wheelchairs are allowed. Stay on trails and do not shortcut switchbacks or create parallel ruts by walking alongside the trail.

Visitors are required to bury human waste 6 to 8 inches deep and at least 200 feet away from water, trails, and campsites. Toilet paper must be buried or packed out. Garbage must be packed out.

Maximum group size is 12 people for both day and overnight use.

Domestic pets are allowed in the Desolation Wilderness at this time. You are responsible for their actions as well as their welfare. Pets should either be leashed or under direct voice control. Dogs can disturb other campers, get in fights with other dogs along the trail, and scare wildlife away. The Eldorado County leash laws will be enforced inside the wilderness boundary where dogs off leash are an impediment or hazard to the safety of any person, or where dogs are harassing or molesting wildlife.

Livestock is limited to two livestock per person, or 12 livestock in one group. Do not hitch, tether, or hobble a horse or other saddle or pack animal within 200 feet of a water source or within 100 feet of a campsite.

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Desolation Wilderness provides a home for many species of fish and wildlife.

Mammals - Mule deer are the largest of the game species found within the wilderness. Black bears are increasingly common, with individuals being displaced from the Tahoe Basin and lower elevation western slopes into the higher country. More common, yet seldom seen, are the smaller mammals like coyote, porcupine, badger, and bobcat. Species of special interest that are very rare in the area are the fisher, pine marten, red fox, and wolverine. Please report sightings of these animals to the Forest Service to help us learn more about their distribution and abundance.

Rodents and Birds - Desolation also provides an ideal habitat for numerous alpine rodents such as the yellow-bellied marmot, golden-mantled ground squirrel, Douglas squirrel and the pika. There are also a variety of mountain birds like the Steller's jay, Clark's nutcracker, mountain chickadee, blue grouse, mountain, bluebird, American dipper, occasional golden eagle, and others.

Fish - Within Desolation's numerous lakes and streams are also a variety of game fish such as the rainbow and brook trout. Less common, but also present are brown and golden trout. Fishing clubs stocked most of Desolation's waters historically, and many lakes continue to be stocked by the California Department of Fish and Game. California Department of Fish and Game licenses and regulations for fishing and hunting apply in the Desolation.

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Desolation Wilderness supports predominantly red fir and lodgepole pine forests with associated species such as Jeffrey pine, mountain hemlock, western juniper, and western white pine. Most forested areas occur between 7,400 - 9,000 foot elevations, becoming patchy to rare at higher elevations. These hardy trees take root in excessively rocky and often nutrient-poor soils. As much of the ground surface in Desolation is bedrock granite, soils are limited. Decomposed granite accumulations are often shallow deposits within glacially scoured basins. The most extensive forested areas are found on moist soils bordering lakes, streams, and meadows. The limited tree cover in Desolation is valuable for watershed protection, wildlife habitat, and esthetics.

The sparse woodlands of widely scattered western junipers and lodgepole pines are interrupted by patches of montaine chaparral species such as pinemat manzanita, huckleberry oak, and mountain pride penstemon clinging to the expanses of barren rock. There are many wet meadows throughout the wilderness, each unique due to the differences in elevation, exposure, soil composition and soil depth, resulting in a wide diversity of annual and perennial plant life. A variety of wildflower species, sedges, and grasses inhabit these fragile wet areas. Aspen and willow are common to these wetland areas.

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Native Americans used the area now known as Desolation Wilderness. There is evidence of temporary Washoe Indian encampments at Wright's Lake and other areas, made as groups moved through the area on their summer migration from the Carson Valley. Artifacts such as obsidian arrow points and other evidence, while not abundant, have been documented throughout the area. It is illegal to collect or remove any historic artifact. These artifacts are critical pieces in solving the puzzles of the past. Remember to leave any artifacts you find, record the specific location, and report your find to the nearest Ranger District's archaeologist.

Desolation has a history of European American use dating back to the 1800's. Gold miners explored the granite mountains of the wilderness, but found only a few low-grade ore deposits. From the 1850's to the 1930's cattle were grazed in the Haypress Meadows area and in many other locations in the wilderness. In 1875, the first dam was built on what is now known as "Lake Aloha". From 1934 to 1955 other dams were constructed to stabilize seasonal water flows and provide better year round fish habitat. These "non-conforming" activities were incorporated into the wilderness area when Congress designated it in 1969.

In the earliest days, the area was known as the "Devil's Basin," or "Devil's Valley." Most of the land area that is now wilderness was originally protected from development in 1899 when the General Land Office set the area aside as a Forest Reserve. In 1910, this area became part of the Eldorado National Forest. In 1931, the area was formally designated by Congress as a roadless "Primitive Area" and was called the "Desolation Valley Primitive Area." Finally, in 1969,the 63,690 acres of the Desolation was incorporated into the National Wilderness Preservation System and became Desolation Wilderness.

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The granitic mountains of the Desolation are part of the massive Sierra batholith, the combined masses of granitic rock that have been uplifted by tectonic action to form the 400 mile long Sierra Nevada range. Extensive glaciation has shaped the surface of the Desolation Wilderness. Ice sheets over 1,000 feet deep covered the western slopes and all but the highest peaks of the Tahoe Basin during the last ice age over 200,000 years ago.

The sheer mass and grinding action of the ice packs scoured out the basins where Emerald Bay, Cascade Lake, Fallen Leaf Lake, Echo Lakes, and nearly 130 other smaller lakes formed throughout the Desolation area. When the glaciers receded 10,000 years ago, they left behind massive deposits of unconsolidated rock and sediment. Glacial features of special interest include glacial polish, erratics, and roche mountonnee. In the last 10,000 years, some areas have grown over with forests and meadows, but most of the Desolation clearly shows its icy heritage.