Desolation Wilderness Permit — Triangle

Triangle (Zone 42): what makes it different

Zone 42 covers Triangle Lake and Lost Lake, the closest lakes to the Echo Lakes trailhead that need a zone permit. Its quota is 2 people a night, the smallest in the wilderness, and the trail that climbs to it is steep and, in places, hard to find.^1,5,6

Getting to the start

Recreation.gov says the zone is reached from the Echo Lakes trailhead, and that a primitive route also enters it from the Glen Alpine trailhead. The Forest Service trails table has no row for Triangle, so no agency mileage is printed for this zone.^5,3

The Lake Tahoe Basin page for the Echo Lakes trailhead puts it about 10 miles from South Lake Tahoe and 49 miles east of Placerville, off Johnson Pass Road from US 50. It usually opens mid-May to mid-October, has restrooms only while it is open, allows no camping at the trailhead, and lists 530-659-7207 as the contact number.⁴

The lot fills early. Ted Muller wrote that it was virtually full by 9 a.m. on July 10, 2020, and full at 10 a.m. on August 24, 2023.^7,6

The first leg

The walk starts along Lower and Upper Echo Lake. Muller measured Lower Echo at nearly a mile and a half long and Upper Echo at about half that, with roughly ten islands. In 2023 he took the boat across the lakes, which he said shaved 2.5 miles off the start.^7,6

In 2020 the boat was shut for the pandemic, and he wrote that Triangle and Lost lakes lay about another mile up the trail past where he turned back.⁷

Terrain and difficulty

At a signpost, Muller turned uphill for Triangle Lake in 2023. The way was steep and green for a while. He called the first six tenths of a mile of that branch the worst stretch of trail he had walked, more stumbling than walking.⁶

Near the lake he dropped a couple of hundred feet, watched the tread fizzle out at a small water crossing, and scrambled toward a map waypoint. A 2005 backpacker's page says the trail from Lily Lake to near Triangle Lake is officially unmaintained and, in places, not even a use trail, with no cairns on the rock and talus.^6,8

Recreation.gov asks you to choose a sustainable campsite away from the water in this zone.⁵

Quota at this entry point

• 2026 daily quota at Triangle (Zone 42), overnight: 2 people a day. The Forest Service table lists 2 advance and 0 walk-in, so the whole quota is bookable ahead. It prints no year, so the figure was checked against Recreation.gov, whose daily total for division 301 across May to September 2026 read 2 on most dates and 1 on a few.^1,5

Rules specific to this entry point

The Forest Service table gives zone 42 no walk-in spaces, so plan to book ahead rather than count on a same-day permit. The Forest Service lists its walk-in desks at the Placerville Ranger District and the South Lake Tahoe supervisor's office.^1,2

The Echo Lakes page requires hard-sided bear canisters on every overnight trip and says no campfires are allowed at the trailhead or in the wilderness.⁴

Where it leads

Triangle Lake and Lost Lake are the two named places. Muller's 2023 visit turned out to be a pond near Triangle. He admitted later that the water he first took for the lake was one of several ponds, and he had also seen a larger lake on the way down. He judged the lake nice but unspectacular, and said Lost Lake looked quite problematic to reach from there.^5,6

From the same area, he chose Echo Peak for the rest of the day and wrote that he might not visit Triangle again.⁶

What trip reports say

August 24, 2023. A day of about 6.5 miles listed on the page, with 8 miles walked by the end. Muller hit the stumbling section, lost the trail at a creek crossing, and turned toward Echo Peak without reaching Lost Lake.⁶

July 10, 2020. A 7-mile outing on the shoreline trail between 7,400 and 7,600 feet. Muller regretted turning back before Triangle and Lost, which he had never seen. He found loose gravel on one stretch.⁷

October 2005. A four-night backpacking trip whose write-up warns about the Triangle Lake route: steep, unmaintained and without cairns on the rock. It does not describe a visit to the lake.⁸

When to go from here

The trailhead opens mid-May to mid-October, weather permitting. Muller's two Echo Lakes trips were in July and August, with heat and a crowded lot, and none of the three reports covers snow or shoulder-season conditions here. Call the number on the Forest Service page before an early or late trip.^4,7,6,8

Compare with nearby entry points

• Waca: Waca (zone 38) leaves from the same trailhead but is entirely off trail and holds 5 people a night to Triangle's 2.^1,5
• Aloha: Aloha (zone 33), the big Echo Lakes destination, holds 36 people a night. Triangle shares the trailhead but takes 2 people a night, and its trail is the rougher of the two by the reports above.^1,5

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. Echo Chalet (Echo Lakes Trailhead), Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, USDA Forest Service. Read 2026-10-15.
5. Desolation Wilderness Permit, division 301 (42 Triangle), Recreation.gov. Read 2026-10-15.
6. Echo Peak, almost Desolation Wilderness, Ted's Hiking World. Read 2026-10-15.
7. Echo Lakes Traverse, Ted's Hiking World. Read 2026-10-15.
8. Desolation Wilderness, Stanford personal page. Read 2026-10-15.
9. 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 Triangle permit