Desolation Wilderness Permit — Stony

Stony Ridge (Zone 7): what makes it different

Zone 7 is the Meeks Bay side of Desolation: Shadow Lake, Stony Ridge Lake and Rubicon Lake, entered from the Meeks Bay Trailhead on Lake Tahoe's west shore. The Forest Service sets the quota at 20 people a night, and Stony Ridge Lake is 6.3 miles in by its own table.^1,4,6

Getting to the start

Recreation.gov says the zone is accessible from the Meeks Bay Trailhead and that a section of the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail passes through it. The Lake Tahoe Basin page for Meeks Bay puts the trailhead on the western shore of Lake Tahoe and lists it as day use only, with no fee, no camping or overnighting at the lot, and no drinking water.^6,5

The same page says parking is seasonal and bans fires of any solid fuel at the trailhead and in the wilderness. Sierra Rec Magazine describes a small lot with roadside parking as the back-up, advises arriving early, and says the trailhead has no bear lockers, so food and trash should come out of the car.^5,10

The first leg

The Forest Service table lists Lake Genevieve at 4.6 miles, Crag Lake at 4.9, Hidden Lake at 5.7, Stony Ridge Lake at 6.3 and Rubicon Lake at 8.1 miles from Meeks Bay. Genevieve, Crag and Hidden are Zone 3. Stony Ridge and Rubicon lakes are Zone 7. Shadow Lake lies between and is not listed in the table.⁴

Sierra Rec says the first mile follows an old, flat dirt road before the trail climbs the ridge, and the first 3.5 miles run through forest. Its writer puts Stony Ridge Lake about 6.5 miles in, and a Tahoe to Whitney guide gives 6.62 miles. The Forest Service figure of 6.3 is the one this page uses, and the three differ by up to a third of a mile.^10,9,11

Terrain and difficulty

The Tahoe to Whitney guide puts Stony Ridge at about 7,800 feet, 1,201 feet above the trailhead, and says the south end is marshy and boggy. Its next stretch to Phipps Pass is 2.26 miles and about 1,000 feet of climbing on switchbacks.^6,11

Sierra Rec calls the Meeks Bay route less steep than Bayview, with more forest and less granite. It describes Shadow Lake as more meadow than lake and hard to camp beside, and Rubicon Lake as the highest lake of the group, a long but not especially hard climb above Stony Ridge, at about 8,400 feet.^10,9

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Stony Ridge (Zone 7), overnight: 20 people a day. The Forest Service table splits the 20 into 14 advance and 6 walk-in. It prints no year, so the figure was checked against Recreation.gov, whose daily total for zone 7 across May to September 2026 most often read 14, the advance share.^1,6

Rules specific to this entry point

The permit fixes the first night to the zone. Genevieve, Crag and Hidden are Zone 3, so a backpacker who wants Zone 7 for the first night has to carry past all three lakes. Sierra Rec spells the split out: Zone 3 for the first three lakes and the trail up to Genevieve, Zone 7 for Stoney Ridge and Rubicon lakes and the range to the east, including Rubicon Peak.^2,4,10

Stony Ridge is not on the rules sheet's list of lakes with marked campsites, so the 100 foot rule from the shoreline applies.³

Where it leads

Stony Ridge Lake is the largest of the group. Sierra Rec says camping is good on the west shore and best on the north shore across the dam, and the Tahoe to Whitney guide notes a well-used campsite area between the trail and the water, about half way along. A dam crossing leads to granite climbing on the east side, and a stream west leads to Cliff Lake for people who want to go off trail.^10,9,11

Rubicon Lake, 8.1 miles from the trailhead, is the quieter choice: camping is on its north shore against boulders. Past it, Phipps Pass is rugged, exposed and not as steep as other Desolation passes, and views reach Mount Tallac and Fallen Leaf Lake. Backpackers often carry on to the Velma Lakes or Dicks Lake from there.^4,10

What trip reports say

In late August 2019 a hiker with a partner walked in from Meeks Bay under five miles to Genevieve and camped both nights at Stony Ridge Lake. On the layover day they went on to Rubicon Lake and tried to reach a saddle for a view over Emerald Bay, but thunderclouds turned them back, and a heavy hailstorm and rain caught them on the way down. They moved camp a few hundred feet and had a clear, moonless night after the rain stopped.⁷

A July 2010 poster on Backpacking Light who went in from Meeks Bay to Stoney Ridge Lake found the mosquitoes average and manageable and said an enclosed tent for the evenings and a meal that needs no cooking helped. Another poster that month called mosquitoes horrid in other, snowier high basins.⁸

Sierra Rec says Genevieve gets busy early in the day and is quiet after sunset, Crag is the busiest lake, and Stony Ridge is a popular place to camp and not a good choice for solitude. Hidden Lake, Rubicon Lake and the northeast side of Shadow offer the most quiet.⁹

When to go from here

Sierra Rec notes streams keep water on the route early in the season. The 2010 mosquito thread and the August 2019 trip bracket the choices: July with average mosquitoes, and late August with afternoon thunderstorms and hail. A smoky day also showed up on the Sierra Rec author's trip.^9,8,7

Compare with nearby entry points

• Genevieve: Genevieve (Zone 3) is the zone before this one on the same trail, with Lake Genevieve at 4.6 miles. Its quota is 20 people a night, the same as Zone 7, and it covers the lower three lakes, so it is the easier first-night walk.^1,4
• Rubicon: Rubicon (Zone 6) is a different place with a similar name: Rubicon Reservoir, 8.3 miles from Loon Lake on the west side. It has a quota of 23 people a night. Rubicon Lake, in this zone, is 8.1 miles from Meeks Bay.^1,4

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. Meeks Bay Trailhead, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Desolation Wilderness Permit, division 300 (07 Stony Ridge), Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Sunshine and Hail in Desolation Wilderness, crimdom.net. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Current Desolation Wilderness Trip Reports?, Backpacking Light. Read 2026-10-15.
9. A Great Five Lake Day Trip into Desolation Wilderness, Sierra Rec Magazine. Read 2026-10-15.
10. Meeks Bay Trail in Desolation Wilderness leads to five trail side lakes, Sierra Rec Magazine. Read 2026-10-15.
11. Stony Ridge Lake 2, Tahoe to Whitney. Read 2026-10-15.

Safety & planning

Alternatives to a Stony permit