Desolation Wilderness Permit — Rockbound

Rockbound (Zone 1): what makes it different

Zone 1 surrounds Rockbound Lake at the north end of Desolation Wilderness, and the walk starts at Loon Lake, not at the Rockbound Trailhead that shares its name. The Forest Service sets the zone at 25 people a night, and the first 6 miles of the trail run outside the wilderness boundary past Buck Island Lake.^1,5,3

Getting to the start

Recreation.gov says the zone is most often reached from the Loon Lake Trailhead. The Forest Service table lists Rockbound Lake 6.7 miles one way from Loon Lake, rated moderate, and 1.5 miles from the Buck Island Trailhead, rated easy to moderate.^5,3

Loon Lake Campground sits at about 6,500 feet on the south side of the lake. The Forest Service gives the drive as 23 miles east of Placerville on Highway 50, then 29 miles north on Ice House Road. The campground has vault toilets and a boat ramp. On the day it was read, the page marked the campground closed while also listing a late June to October season, so call the Placerville Ranger District before you plan around it.⁴

A 2024 blog says parking at the trailhead cost $10 when the author went, and a 2019 family report found the lot busy with Jeeps heading for the Rubicon Trail. Neither number comes from the Forest Service page.^7,9

The first leg

The Forest Service table stacks the stops on the Loon Lake trail in order: Pleasant Campground at 4.1 miles, Spider Lake at 4.5, Buck Island Lake at 6.1, Rockbound Lake at 6.7 and Rubicon Reservoir at 8.3. Pleasant Campground, Spider Lake and Buck Island Lake carry no zone number, which puts them outside the wilderness.³

A 2024 report from another100feet describes the start as easy along the lake, with the climbing beginning just past the Pleasant boat-in campground. It gives the first climb as 1.4 miles at roughly a 4 percent grade, and says the trail gets hard to follow once it reaches bare granite, where the author leaned on cairns and a downloaded GPS track.⁷

Recreation.gov's zone text adds that the walk is approximately eight miles to the wilderness boundary. That does not match the Forest Service table, which puts the lake itself at 6.7 miles. A July 2021 hiker estimated about 7 miles from Loon Lake to Rockbound, closer to the table. Treat the lake as 6.7 to 7 miles and the boundary figure as unresolved.^5,3,6

Terrain and difficulty

A 2009 overnight report called the hike very easy, with a second half on an exposed old road covered in ankle-rolling rock. It was hot and shadeless, and the writer says to carry extra water. About 600 feet of gain was the estimate for the stretch to Buck Island Lake.⁸

Past Buck Island Lake a hiker in July 2021 climbed gently for about 35 minutes to reach Rockbound Lake. The same hiker rock-hopped the Rubicon River twice farther on and found a pond dry that his GPS flagged as a crossing, which he put down to a dry winter.⁶

Recreation.gov warns that early in the season the route can involve a high-water crossing of Highland Creek.⁵

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Rockbound (Zone 1), overnight: 25 people a day. The Forest Service table splits the 25 into 18 advance and 7 walk-in. It prints no year, so the figure was checked against Recreation.gov, whose daily total for zone 1 across May to September 2026 most often read 18, the advance share.^1,5

Rules specific to this entry point

The permit names this zone for your first night only. Because Buck Island Lake and the stops before it have no zone number in the Forest Service table, a night there is not a night in Zone 1, and two reports describe the lake as just outside the wilderness line. Rockbound Lake is the first lake on this trail where the zone applies.^2,3,8,7

Where it leads

Rubicon Reservoir, in Zone 6, is 8.3 miles from Loon Lake and 3.0 miles from the Buck Island Trailhead. Camper Flat, in Zone 11, is 13.7 miles from Loon Lake and 8.5 from Buck Island, both rated moderate to difficult from Loon Lake.³

A 2019 family trip walked from the Loon Lake lot past Spider Lake, Buck Island and Rockbound to a reserved camp near Rubicon Reservoir, about 9.5 miles in over more than four hours, crossing streams and small waterfalls. They called the stretch away from the Jeep road peaceful.⁹

What trip reports say

The July 2021 hiker camped at Buck Island Lake and walked up to Rockbound the next morning. He found far more backpackers and day hikers at Rockbound, and wrote that he would have camped there to avoid the loud music from off-road campers at Buck Island.⁶

The 2024 Buck Island report heard Jeep users on the far shore run engines and play music until about 2 a.m., met fierce mosquitoes at dusk, and advises against a weekend trip. The same blog recommends summer and fall and notes no cell service on AT&T.⁷

A 2009 overnight at Buck Island Lake found waterfalls and cascades between that lake and Rockbound. A reader added in 2010 that the west side of Buck Island, past the tube inlet, is quieter than the shore facing the four-wheel-drive road.⁸

When to go from here

The Forest Service lists Loon Lake Campground for late June to October. The reports here cover July, mid-summer heat and fall, and the 2024 blog names summer and fall as best. Expect Jeep and day-hiker traffic on summer weekends and plan the night in the zone for midweek if you can.^4,7,6

Compare with nearby entry points

• Rockbound Pass: Rockbound Pass (Zone 26) is the other zone with the word in its name, and it is on the opposite side of the wilderness. Its quota is 6 people a night against 25 here, and its Forest Service distances run from the Rockbound Trailhead at Wrights Lake: Rockbound Pass at 6.4 miles and Doris Lake at 6.6.^1,3
• Rubicon: Rubicon (Zone 6) is the next zone down the same trail, at Rubicon Reservoir 8.3 miles from Loon Lake. Its quota is 23 people a night, close to this zone's 25, so a full Zone 1 date is a reason to look at it.^1,3

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 Trails & Trailheads, Eldorado National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
4. Loon Lake Campground, Eldorado National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Desolation Wilderness Permit, division 294 (01 Rockbound Lake), Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Desolation Wilderness Northeastern Loop, kevingong.com. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Backpacking to Buck Island Lake in Eldorado National Forest, another100feet. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Buck Island Lake Has No Fish, Calipidder. Read 2026-10-15.
9. Rubicon Reservoir overnight backpacking with the family, my-races.com. Read 2026-10-15.
10. Desolation Wilderness rules and regulations, Eldorado National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Rockbound permit