Details
Features
About this place
Solitude and pristine blue waters surrounded by glaciated Sierra Nevada granite beneath the shadow of Devil's Peak, Long Lake and its rope swings await.
The story goes that twenty or so years ago, long before the advent of the Royal Gorge Cross-Country Ski Area, some local Truckee boys decided to put a couple rope swings up on Long Lake near Soda Springs, CA, and they remain there to this day.
Long Lake sits amongst a cluster of both man-made and glaciated lakes on a ridge between the Yuba and American River canyons. To get there, take the I-80 exit for Soda Springs i.e. Donner Pass Road. Go right on Soda Springs Road and then right again on Pahatsi road, which turns into Kidd Lakes Road.
You will see signs for both Camp Winthers and that you are entering the Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort. Keep going on Kidd Road until it dead ends.
From the parking area take the Palisade Creek Trail down, across the damn, and stay left until you reach Long Lake. You can't miss the rope swing on the north side of the lake and there is a second on the large pine tree on the south side that you can swim too.
The lake sits at an elevation of 6,700', so even late in the summer the waters can be chilly. Early in the year mosquitos can be a nuisance.
Leave No Trace
