Desolation Wilderness Permit — Aloha

Aloha (Zone 33): what makes it different

Zone 33 holds Lake Aloha, Heather, Leconte, Jabu, Lucille and Margery lakes, and its quota of 36 people a night is the second largest of the 45 zones. Two doors lead in, Echo Lakes from the south and Glen Alpine from the east, and Recreation.gov flags Aloha for high day use.^1,5

Getting to the start

Recreation.gov says access is through the Echo Lakes Trailhead and that the Pacific Crest Trail runs through the zone. The Forest Service table also lists Lake Aloha from Glen Alpine at 5.8 miles one way, rated difficult, and Heather Lake at 4.9 miles. Aloha is listed across zones 33, 15 and 22.^5,4

From Pyramid Creek (Twin Bridges), the Forest Service lists the Pacific Crest Trail in zone 33 at 4.3 miles, rated difficult.⁴

At Echo Lakes, a 2024 write-up gives the trailhead at 7,445 feet with free parking that fills fast in peak season. The Echo Chalet water taxi crosses to Upper Echo Lake and cut about half a mile when the author used it, at $20 a person each way. A 2012 couple paid a lower $10 per person and found the upper lot full at noon.^6,9

The first leg

From Echo Lakes the 2024 write-up logged 12.5 miles out and back with about 2,321 feet of gain. The lower trail is well kept. Past Upper Echo Lake it turns rocky and slick when wet. The writer rated trail condition four of five.⁶

The 2012 couple counted Lower and Upper Echo Lakes at about 3 miles, then uphill to Lake Aloha for about 5 miles in all, in roughly 3.5 hours with full packs.⁹

From Glen Alpine, The Outbound logs 11.76 miles out and back with 1,811 feet of gain, past waterfalls, meadows, Grass Lake and Susie Lake. A July 2025 reviewer called it mostly flat with steady climbing, and said parking at Glen Alpine is plentiful.⁷

Terrain and difficulty

The lake sits above 8,100 feet in a bare granite basin, according to The Outbound. A 2006 trip journal describes a small peninsula camp on the south side among pools and granite ledges. Old stone walls, said to date to the 1920s or 30s, let the lake hold more water.^7,11

The shoreline is hard to walk. A reviewer on The Outbound's Waterfall Camp page says the western lake shore looked easy on a map and was not, and the page describes scouting around water fingers that force backtracking.⁸

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Aloha (Zone 33), overnight: 36 people a day. The Forest Service table splits the 36 into 25 advance and 11 walk-in. It prints no year, so the figure was checked on Recreation.gov, where the daily total for division 343 across June to September 2026 most often read 25, the advance share.^1,5

Rules specific to this entry point

The Forest Service tells Tahoe Rim Trail thru-hike permit holders that camping along or around Lake Aloha is prohibited. That rule is on the thru-hike permit; it is not printed for ordinary zone 33 overnight permits.²

Aloha is not one of the posted-campsite lakes. Eagle, Grouse and Hemlock lakes and Lake of the Woods are, so the general rule applies: camp 100 feet back from the shoreline, with no campfires.³

Your permit pins only the first night to the zone. Rangers do check. A ranger questioned the 2012 couple about whether their tent was 90 feet from the water, and they measured it as right on the edge; the ranger let them stay and went over no-trace rules.^2,9

Where it leads

Heather Lake is in the same zone, 4.9 miles from Glen Alpine. Leconte, Jabu, Lucille and Margery are named by Recreation.gov as part of zone 33. The Outbound's Waterfall Camp page describes an off-trail alpine pool camp reached from Aloha's dam and says a reviewer was told a Mount Price zone permit covers it.^4,5,8

The 2006 journal left packs at Aloha for a day on a nearby summit and Pyramid Peak before moving on to Leconte, using the lake as a base camp.¹¹

What trip reports say

Late August (2024 post): two nights, the first at Tamarack Lake because a member fell ill, the second at Aloha, where strong overnight wind kept them from sleeping. Rangers checked permits on the trail, and bear scat showed near the lake.⁶

June 30 to July 3, 2021, from Bayview: the writer reached Aloha on day two after 10.7 miles, found the water not cold, and said evening wind was strong but dropped by night. The wind also kept mosquitoes away.¹⁰

July 2012: Aloha was mostly free of mosquitoes thanks to a breeze, and the couple swam to a small island. They stayed three nights on a point surrounded by water on three sides.⁹

July 24, 2006: the journal writer found mosquitoes in force at sunset and put up a tent. He advised a midweek trip because Desolation is busy on weekends.¹¹

When to go from here

The Outbound says stream crossings are safe once snow has melted, roughly late June to early October. The Forest Service warns of snow into late June and heavy mosquitoes after snowmelt. Wind at Aloha was the consistent theme in the reports, and it cut the bugs.^7,2,10

Compare with nearby entry points

• Susie: Susie (zone 34) is 3.8 miles from Glen Alpine and holds 8 people a night, against Aloha's 36. Susie is the closer, quieter lake.^4,1
• Halfmoon: Half Moon (zone 28) holds 5 people a night and is 5.5 miles from Glen Alpine. Aloha is 5.8 miles and has seven times the room.^4,1

Sources

1. Desolation Wilderness Overnight Quota, Eldorado National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
2. Desolation Wilderness Permits, Eldorado National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
3. Desolation Wilderness rules and regulations, Eldorado National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Desolation Wilderness Trails & Trailheads, Eldorado National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Desolation Wilderness Permit, division 343 (33 Aloha), Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Backpacking to Lake Aloha in Desolation Wilderness, Another 100 Feet. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Lake Aloha via Glen Alpine Trailhead, The Outbound. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Waterfall Camp in Desolation Wilderness, The Outbound. Read 2026-10-15.
9. Matt and Sarah's Adventures: Desolation Wilderness, Matt and Sarah's Adventures (blog). Read 2026-10-15.
10. Desolation Wilderness, Tahoe, Dreams of Infinity. Read 2026-10-15.
11. Backpacking in Desolation Wilderness from Echo Lakes to Emerald Bay, Tahoe Trail Guide. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to an Aloha permit