Desolation Wilderness Permit — Schmidell

Schmidell (Zone 14): what makes it different

Zone 14 surrounds Lake Schmidell, the far end of the Rockbound Pass trip out of Wrights Lake. The Forest Service puts it 8.4 miles from the Rockbound Trailhead, past a pass at about 8,650 feet, and its quota is 10 people a night, only 7 of them reservable.^1,4,6,9

Getting to the start

The agency table lists one trailhead for this zone: Rockbound. From it, Lake Schmidell is 8.4 miles one way and rated moderate to difficult. On the same table Maude Lake is 4.7 miles, Rockbound Pass 6.4, Doris Lake 6.6 and Lake Lois 7.6.⁴

The Rockbound Trailhead page gives the drive as 39 miles east of Placerville on Highway 50, then north on Wrights Lake Road. It has a vault toilet and a $10 day-use parking fee, and it is day use only unless you hold an overnight Desolation permit. A 2020 report says the trailhead has no drinking water, and that the tap is at the Wrights Lake Campground nearby.^5,11

Rockbound and Twin Lakes trailheads join about 2 miles in, so either start reaches the same trail to the pass, according to the 2020 report. Use the one named on your permit. Recreation.gov lists Rockbound as the access point for the zone.^11,6

The first leg

Most of the climbing comes early. A 2015 Labor Day account puts the walk from Twin Lakes at about 8 miles with about 1,500 feet of gain, gradual at first and steep near the pass, and notes the way back felt easier for it. A 2024 party counted about 5 miles and 1,000 feet to Maude Lake on day one.^9,7

Past Maude Lake the trail crosses open granite where the tread is hard to see and cairns carry you, says a 2017 NorCal Hiker report, and the pass was windy. One 2024 hiker timed the pass as 20 minutes of flat ground followed by about an hour of stair-like rock.^10,7

Terrain and difficulty

After the pass the trail drops about 2 miles past Lake Doris and Lake Lois, then falls roughly 500 feet more to Lake Schmidell, according to a 2020 loop report. The author crossed the dam at the outlet and ate lunch on the southeast shore.¹¹

Recreation.gov warns you to allow enough hiking time to get from the trailhead, over Rockbound Pass and on to the zone for your first night. A 2015 hiker called the trail rocky and rugged, with narrow sections and brush growing over the path in places.^6,9

Beyond Schmidell the route steepens and gets harder to follow, and the 2017 NorCal Hiker author called that stretch impassable for stock. The Forest Service lists the next zone on the same trailhead, Camper Flat, at 10.2 miles.^10,4

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Schmidell (Zone 14), overnight: 10 people a day. The Forest Service table splits the 10 into 7 advance and 3 walk-in places. It prints no year, so the figure was checked on Recreation.gov, where division 297 (14 Schmidell) read 7 on 44 of the dated May to September 2026 days that showed a number, the advance share, and 6 on another 20. Dates not yet released read a placeholder total and were ignored.^1,6

Rules specific to this entry point

Schmidell is not one of the special management lakes with marked posts, so the general lake rule applies: camp 100 feet back from the shoreline. Stock may not be hitched or hobbled within 200 feet of water or 100 feet of a campsite.³

With 7 advance places a night, a party of 8 or more cannot book this zone ahead of time, and a party of 11 or 12 cannot fit under the total of 10 at all. The Forest Service says a group may not split and still camp together at one destination, so larger parties need another first-night zone.^1,2

Where it leads

The zone is the staging point for the interior loop. A 2017 route leaves Schmidell for Leland Lakes, McConnell Lake and Horseshoe Lake, then 4 Q's Lakes and Camper Flat, and returns over Rockbound Pass, for about 24 miles in all. The Outbound lists a steep 0.75-mile climb from Schmidell to Leland Lakes and 2.5 miles back to Schmidell by the Blakely Trail from the Mineral Spring near Camper Flat.^10,12

Only the first night's zone is fixed by the permit, so a party can sleep at Maude, Doris or Lois on the way in. Recreation.gov sells Lois (zone 21) and Rockbound Pass (zone 26, Lake Doris) as separate zones with their own quotas.^2,6,1

What trip reports say

A July 2024 four-day trip from Wrights Lake camped on a granite bench about 30 feet above Schmidell, with a granite beach and room for three hammocks. The party had the site to itself, met a few hikers on day two, and lost time following Lois's outlet down the wrong valley before crossing glacial channels back to the trail.⁷

A mid-June 2020 pair found a locked gate about a mile before Twin Lakes, parked by the Wrights Lake equestrian camp, and added about a mile each way. Snow lay down to about 8,300 feet, the trail to Schmidell was buried and swampy, they lost it after the slope and found a wooden sign by following small streams, and mosquitoes were bad near the water. They covered 16 miles and about 2,800 feet in two days.⁸

The Labor Day 2015 hiker stood about 20th in line at the ranger station at 7:15 a.m. for her permit and started walking at 10:30. She called it a busy holiday weekend and expected many people on the trail, and she noted the chilly nights and mornings at camp.⁹

Reviewers of The Outbound's western edge loop call it quiet. One 2016 reviewer named the stretch from Camper Flat to Schmidell a favorite and a way to get away from Desolation's crowds.¹²

When to go from here

Snow decides the start date. A 2020 report says Rockbound and Dicks Passes can hold snow in June and early July and suggests late July for anyone not at ease on snow. In 2020 the pass slopes were still snowy in mid-June, and a 2019 commenter found snow at the Schmidell side pass.^11,8,10

The Desolation Wilderness Volunteers trail page, updated 28 September 2026, listed the Rockbound trail as dry from the trailhead to Maude Lake. Its June 2026 report found five blowdowns, a fast Jones Fork crossing, three small snow fields before the pass and heavy snow below it down to Lake Doris.¹³

Compare with nearby entry points

• Lois: Lois (zone 21) is the nearer first night over the same pass, 7.6 miles from Rockbound, but its quota is 8 people (6 advance), smaller than Schmidell's 10. Pick Lois for a shorter day and Schmidell for the interior loops.^4,1
• Maude: Maude (zone 25) is the gentle option, 4.7 miles from the same trailhead on the near side of the pass, with a quota of 12 (8 advance). A party that cannot reach Schmidell in a day can sleep at Maude and cross the pass on night two.^4,1
• Lelands: Lelands (zone 10) is the next zone on, along the primitive McConnell Lake Trail past Schmidell, and holds 19 people a night (13 advance). Recreation.gov says horses are not recommended there.^1,6

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. Rockbound Trailhead, Eldorado National Forest, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Desolation Wilderness Permit, division 297 (14 Schmidell), Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Backpacking Rockbound Pass, Desolation Wilderness, Jeremy R.. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Lake Schmidell, Desolation Wilderness, Easy Fifth. Read 2026-10-15.
9. Backpacking to Lake Schmidell, Active to Athlete. Read 2026-10-15.
10. Rockbound Pass: Desolation's Desolate Side, NorCal Hiker. Read 2026-10-15.
11. Lake Aloha via Rockbound Pass, Backpackers Review. Read 2026-10-15.
12. Desolation's Primitive Western Edge through Rockbound Pass Loop, The Outbound. Read 2026-10-15.
13. Trail Conditions, Desolation Wilderness Volunteers. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Schmidell permit