Baldy Lake Trail Out and Back

Dogs Unknown

Features Fall Colors · Fishing · Lake · Views · Wildlife

This trail links up to the Colorado Trail, and it is a nice choice for a remote day hike to a lake. A quick jaunt up Long Branch Baldy Peak adds a summit with 360 degree views of the upper Tomichi Valley.

As you're heading towards Sargents, turn right for Forest Service Road 780. The road is unmarked, so look at your GPS to see when you turn off the highway.
Follow the gravel road for a few miles. You can either park by the guard station and hike, or there is parking and camping right next to the trailhead. The trailhead is 1.25 miles from the guard station.

Stay right at the junction at the start of the Baldy Lake Trail around 9,000'. The trail starts in a pretty dry environment with lots of sagebrush and some sparse pine trees in the hills to your right, and a dry, mixed pine and aspen forest on your left. You'll see and hear a nice little creek flowing right by the trail. Due to the shrubby nature of the trail here, there is no shade in the first few miles.

At around 2.4 miles, finally enter the forest with some dappled shade. At 3 miles, find the ridge with a nice viewpoint, turn left to stay on the trail.

The slope increases quite a bit after this point. Continue climbing uphill through the forest for several miles. You can catch glimpses through the trees of the expansive view that shows you how far you've come.

As you start to get a bit closer to the lake, the trail flattens out a little bit, and once you've gone about 6 miles, you should reach Baldy Lake. The lake is pretty and is in a somewhat protected basin. There are several camping options here.

The trail goes about half a mile further than the lakes, but there's no real reason to go, unless you're connecting to another trail or just really want to see the end of the Baldy Lakes Trail.

Deer, elk, and moose. Sage and mixed dry forest.