Desolation Wilderness Permit — Dicks Pass

Dicks Pass (inside Zone 23): what makes it different

Dicks Pass is a saddle on the Tahoe Rim Trail route through Desolation, not a zone you can book. The Forest Service files it under zone 23 (Dicks), 5.3 miles from Eagle Falls and 5.4 from Glen Alpine, and you reach it from the Lake Aloha side or from Gilmore Lake and the Emerald Bay trailheads.^4,1,6

Getting to the start

The Forest Service table lists Dicks Pass at 5.4 miles from the Glen Alpine Trailhead and 5.3 miles from the Eagle Falls Trailhead, both rated difficult and both in zone 23. It also lists Dicks Lake at 5.3 miles from Bayview and 4.3 from Eagle Falls, so the pass sits about a mile beyond that lake from Eagle Falls.⁴

The Lake Tahoe Basin page for Glen Alpine describes a spur that goes to Gilmore Lake and then on to Dicks Pass. A second route is the Pacific Crest and Tahoe Rim line, which Nick Feller's Tenkara Angler trip crossed from the Lake Aloha side.^5,7

Glen Alpine Trailhead has vault toilets, no water and no fees, and does not allow camping or overnighting. Bayview, the other approach, was described by a ranger in Backcountrycow's report as less steep than Eagle Falls, though still a climb of about 1,500 feet in two miles.^5,8

The first leg

From Eagle Falls, Stephen Berei's 2013 account gives about five miles one way and 2,000 feet of gain. A signed saddle brings the Bayview trail in, a flat rocky mile follows, and then a left turn at a post toward Dicks Lake, up granite switchbacks or slabs, to a final saddle with another post.⁹

Backcountrycow's route from Bayview meets the Eagle Falls trail at mile 2.7 and starts the Fontanillis loop 0.7 miles later. A last steep climb of 300 feet reaches the ridge where the route joins the Pacific Crest Trail, then it drops northbound to Dicks Lake.⁸

Terrain and difficulty

Recreation.gov says the trail from both Emerald Bay trailheads is very steep with many switchbacks at the start, and that campsite selection is crucial in zone 23, which means keeping away from the water and from restoration sites.⁶

The pass is a high point on a long day. Tenkara Angler's trip came over it at 9,390 feet on the second day after passing Lake Aloha, then camped near a smaller lake in the basin below.⁷

Dicks Peak, a scramble off the same ridge, is its own zone with no trails: Recreation.gov calls zone 15 steep, rugged terrain. Backcountrycow puts the summit at 9,974 feet and a 4.2-mile side trip, and says the rock wall on top is for the four people allowed to camp there.^6,8,1

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Dicks Pass (inside Zone 23), overnight, zone 23 Dicks, the zone the Forest Service files Dicks Pass under: 16 people a day. The Forest Service table splits the 16 into 11 advance and 5 walk-in. It prints no year, so the figure was checked on Recreation.gov, where division 328 most often read 11 across June to August 2026, the advance share. The pass itself has no quota. Zone 15 (Dicks Peak) is separate at 4 people.^1,6

Rules specific to this entry point

Because a permit fixes only the first night's zone, you can book zone 23 and cross the pass the next day, or book Gilmore or Aloha and walk over it. For Tahoe Rim Trail thru-hikers the agency runs a separate zone: 10 spaces a night, two nights at most in the wilderness, camping within 300 feet of the trail, and no camping at Lake Aloha.²

Dicks Lake and Fontanillis Lake, on the Emerald Bay side of the pass, are not on the Forest Service's posted-campsite list, so the 100-foot shoreline setback applies. The agency also bans campfires and calls for bear canisters.^3,2

Where it leads

Dicks Lake and Fontanillis Lake are the camp pair on the west side, about a third of a mile apart. Backcountrycow found tents already on the north end of Dicks and camped about halfway along Fontanillis.⁸

On the east side the pass drops toward Gilmore Lake and Lake Aloha. Rec.gov flags heavy bear activity around Gilmore Lake. A 2012 hiker camped at the Gilmore Lake campground to climb Mount Tallac next morning, which is about 1,400 feet above the lake.^6,10

What trip reports say

A 2012 Best Hike write-up of a Bayview-to-Echo trip quotes another writer who calls the Tahoe Rim Trail stretch over Dicks Pass the best leg of that trail. On the day he passed, everyone seemed to be scrambling Dick's Peak as a side trip, and mosquitoes chased him up Tallac from Gilmore.¹⁰

Nick Feller's winter 2021-22 Tenkara Angler report crossed the pass on day two and fished brook trout along the way. He had run the same Tahoe Rim Trail segment the year before.⁷

Backcountrycow describes an August overnight to Fontanillis and Dicks Peak: 10.6 miles round trip plus a 4.2-mile peak side trip, and snow patches still on the shale in late August, including a small ice cave.⁸

When to go from here

Snow lingers on this ridge into late summer. The Berei report is from September and the Backcountrycow one from late August, and Backcountrycow still saw big snow mounds in August. Do not count on a snow-free crossing before July.^9,8

Compare with nearby entry points

• Dicks Lake: Dicks Lake (zone 23) is the zone page you can actually book for this ground. It holds the lake, Fontanillis Lake and the pass, and this page covers only the saddle and its approaches.^1,6
• Dicks Peak: Dicks Peak (zone 15) is a separate off-trail zone with four spaces a night, versus 16 in zone 23.^1,6
• Gilmore: Gilmore (zone 29) is the east-side stop before the pass from Glen Alpine, 3.9 miles out, with 18 spaces a night.^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. Glen Alpine Trailhead, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Desolation Wilderness Permit, divisions 328 (23 Dick's Lake) and 330 (15 Dick's Peak), Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Desolation Wilderness Tenkara: Trip Report by Nick Feller, Tenkara Angler. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Backpacking Fontanillis Lake to Dicks Peak, Desolation Wilderness, CA, Backcountrycow. Read 2026-10-15.
9. Love these lakes and this hike: Dicks and Fontanillis Lakes, Lake Tahoe All Access. Read 2026-10-15.
10. Desolation Wilderness, Bayview to Echo, besthike.com. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Dicks Pass permit