Well this was another great weekend for the family. It all began when one of the hiking groups I belong to posted that they had scheduled a day trip to the Enchanted Falls at Wrights Lake near Kyburz. This looked like a fun hike and we had never been before. This weekend we had the kids and they typically like doing things with just the six of us and not having to work with a schedule, so we decided to go on our own.
So off we went bright and early on Saturday the 23rd, when I say bright and early I mean around 11:30am. We actually never seem to leave early no matter how much we plan ahead. We went on a whim and once again we didn't have reservations at any campground and for that reason we packed light but prepared just in case.
Wrights Lake is located just North of Kyburz off Hwy 50. We took 50 east toward South Lake Tahoe. As you get close to making your turn off 50 you will pass on the right a Totem pole, the Silver Fork Cafe and the Silver Fork Store. All in that order. Next you will look for the 5000' elevation marker on the right, 1.5 miles past this marker on the left you will see Wrights Lake Rd. This road is a little windy at first but after a couple of miles it gets better. There are some great vistas to the left as you drive up the mountian. My passengers were not very fond of me driving anywhere near the edge of the road. This is a good place to make friends. Not really. At this point you are very close to your destination, from Hwy 50 you should only be about 8 miles from the lake and campgrounds. You will turn right towards Wrights Lake Campground, when you get to the visitors center you will need to go right over the bridge to Twin Lakes Trailhead. Parking here is very limited, so beware. We got really lucky and found the only spot available.
So now that you know how to get the Enchanted Pools trailhead I'll share our adventure with you and our journey along the way.
We packed light for the six of us. And what that means is we brought our Coleman 6 person tent (we usually take an adult and a kids tent), our small cooler (just big enough to hold two 1 gallon containers). For food we brought six large cup-o-noodles, banana's, spits, apples, peanut butter and a couple of jellies, bread, water, granola bars, oatmeal (most of them were the ones nobody ate during previous trips) this didn't go over well with the kiddies. Heck, we didn't even pack coffee!
As we got closer to Kyburz we kept a lookout for any campgrounds hoping to find one that had sites available. About a mile before Silver Lake Store we saw a sign for a campgound so we pulled in. The name of the campground was Sand Flat Campground. This campground is run by American Land and Leisure and our experiences with them have always been super. We drove by the hosts campsite but no one was there so we drove around to see if there were any availabilities. We drove through the main area and as far as we could see they were all taken but as we looked over to our right we saw a bridge and noticed there were tents on the other side of the South Fork of the American River. As we drove over the bridge we came across Diamond, she was the camp host. We asked if there were any availabilities and she said she wasn't sure because she hadn't made all of her rounds yet. She turned around and walked us over to campsite 29 to see if the previous campers had left. It appeared as if they had left, so we walked the site and told Diamond we'll take it. I forgot that these campgounds only charge $18 a night! What a deal, from what we saw of the rest of the campground we probably had the best site around. There was a little creek on the backside of the site and there were at least two good places to put up a tent, the fire pit and the table were both clean. We were also told we could use any wood that was lying on the ground. To be honest all of the sites on this side of the river were all pretty decent. I would recommend checking this side first for availabilities. This campground is on a a first come basis so you never know what is available. We emptied the van and set up camp before leaving for Enchanted Falls.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/documents/rogs/rog_pvl_sand.pdf
The town of Kyburz is named after Albert Kyburz who was a former postmaster for the area. The Slippery Ford post office opened in 1861; the name was changed to Slipperyford in 1896, and to Kyburz in 1911. I just thought I would share some "Useless Information" with you. I don't think they have have a "Sierra Edition" of Trivia Pursuit at this time.
So we drove up Wrights Lake Rd. and on the way we drove over a couple of streams that had people wading in the water and basking in the sun on the shoreline. The first one of them was called Lyons Creek and for the life of me I can't recall the name of the second one. Both looked like good places to cool off in the water and kick it with the family for a bit. We decided we would come back tomorrow to test the waters. We made our way to the Wrights Lake Visitors Center and made a right towards the trail head. We seem to be lucky lately because just before we headed to the trail head one of the Park Rangers told us there wasn't any available parking spots at this time. We showed her! Hehe. After parking the van we put on our backpacks and sprayed ourselves with a little bit of Deet. Insect repellent is definitely a must up here. No foolin.
Before our trip we did our research a got directions to the Enchanted Falls from the parking lot. I will make it a goal of mine to get a GPS device before summers end because the directions are only as good as you are. And on this trip I was not so good at directions, we found our way but we asked just about everyone we passed if we were heading the right direction. Walk down the trail a ways and you will come upon an intersection and a message board with all the trails and lakes available to you. You will see a bridge infront of you, this goes to Chapel Island. We didn't explore the island so I don't have much to share on it. We did though go to the middle of the bridge and enjoy the view of the lake and while we were standing there a woman was cruising down the waterway in a kayak. It looked so peaceful and the water was so clear and calm, I was a tad jealous. At the bridge we went right. Walking from here you will come across a couple of stream crossings and some beatiful meadows with wildflowers. There was a little snow on the ground in a couple of places as well, the kids sure thought it was cool to see snow at this time of the year. Our next intersection is where it got a little foggy. I have added some pictures below to give you some visuals.
Picture (A). At this sin the trail goes to the left and the right. You actually need to go up and over the granite behind the tree. There were a lot of cairns so keep an eye out for those buggers.
Picture (B). As you walk up the granite you will see this boulder all by itself. You need to pass on the right of it and look for a trail that goes down through some scrub brush. You should be able to hear rushing water at this point.
Picture (C). You will follow the trail and the sound of water to some lovely little falls that you have to cross. We saw some people going through the trees below. We were wearing our Keens so we walked through the water to the other side. Continue down the trail and you will go over more granite and then some more trees.
Picture (D). Once again you will come out of the trees and you will have more granite infront of you. Look across the way, there is a trail that goes up throught the trees. On the other side of the trees you will come to rolling fields of granite. At this point you will see more cairns. They are definitely more present at this point. Just continue climbing the granite, at this point you really can't get lost.
Along the way up the mountian you will come across this cool Sierra Juniper tree that people have stacked rocks for a bench underneath it. Good place for a photo.
You can hear the roar of the falls get louder the further you go, as you get closer the anticipation of what lies in store is almost too much to bear. Then all of a sudden all you come upon these beautiful cascading falls and pools of water. So amazing how much water there is at this time of the year. We wadded in a couple of the pools on our way up to the Enchanted Falls. The water was breathtaking! Did I say breathtaking? I meant shockingly cold. When you get close to the falls once again you will go into a wooded area. At this point we crossed to to other side by wadding through thigh high water. From what I read there is a tree somewhere that you can walk across to the other side. We did not find this route. Going through the trees remember to look up towards the falls, there are a couple of good spots close to the river where you can see the water flowing over and down the face of the mountian to the falls. I was unable to get a good picture of it, I regret not getting one. The kids walked up this slow moving stream until we came to where the trees opened up and the Enchanted Falls appeared. My baby and I took the dry route and used some rocks to cross. This is a truly magical place, there where three falls flowing of the face and a rainbow coming off of the mist one on the far left. We only stepped into the water a couple of feet, it was way too cold to even think of taking a dip.
We enjoyed some snacks, took some pictures and then turned back down the trail. If you plan on continuing further up the rocks you will have to get a permit to do so. We didn't but it's not a big deal. They have them by the Chapel Bridge board area.
No sooner did we get down to the lake area, someone let out all of the mosquitoes. It was a mad dash to the car. I had my key fob in hand so no time was wasted opening doors to the van. The bugs come sunset are another wonder and a site to see. Did I mention bug spray?
When we got back to the campsite we split into two groups, the wood gatherers (the kids) and the dinner makers (the adults). The adults had the hard part of setting up the Coleman stove and boil water for our noodles, while the kids scoured the hillside looking for fallen trees and such. To our suprise there were still hot coals from the previous tenant. All we needed was a little paper, some kindling and some blowing on dad's part. Presto! After enjoying our dinner we sat fireside to chat about the day and discussed what everyone would like to do the following day. It was decided we would go back to one of the creeks we passed on the way to Wrights Lake and go from there. Just a little bit after our plans were set the kids went and got changed for the night and hunkered in their new bags to get some shut-eye. We followed the kids to bed after taking a walk across the bridge to dispose of our garbage. There are no bear boxes here so you need to make sure anything other than clothes needs to either be hung up high or put behind metal and glass in the car.
The following morning we woke up and went for a short drive to grab a small container of milk to have with our unwanted oatmeal, hehe. After KP duty we then wrapped up the sleeping gear and took the tent down. We gave the kids a little demo on how to stuff their new bags, this was too cool. Finally the kids were able to get the hang of it, and it was good, no more having to roll up the bags for the kids! A step towards our adult independence.
We drove up Hwy 50 to Kyburz Lodge and made a right onto Silver Fork Rd. to see if there were any other campsites in the area. To our suprise we found a great campground on the river called China Flat Campground, this another of the American Land and Leisure run campgrounds. The sites looked very tidy and there were kids everywhere. If you drive further down the road there are many places to stop and enjoy the river and I believe you can camp there with a permit as well. I believe we may try and camp here the next time we come for a weekend. When you go back to Hwy 50 look up to your left, the granite out cropping is pretty cool.
Lyon's Creek was a great place to stop. The water was slow enough for the kids to cross back in forth without any problems. My son was the brave one, he actually dove into the the water where it was over his head and swam to the other side. It made me cold just watching him. Brrrrrrrr. We stayed here for about an hour and a half and decided we would like to explore the area and find other destinations for our next trip up here.
After creeking we drove a little further up the road, about two miles before Wrights Lake and made a left towards Ice House. We drove through the Ice house campgrounds to see what they were like. They were clean and right on the lake. This place is very difficult to get reservations for, you have to reserve them six months out. Oh, we had stopped at another campground along the way but I can't remember the name of it. This campground had only twelve or so campsites though. I'll have to do some research and update this at a later date.
From Ice House we drove over to Loon Lake and spied the campsites there as well. The only way I would stay here is if I had some sort of watercraft, be it a boat or kayak. After driving to the far side of the lake we decided to head home. We went west towards Georgetown to Hwy 193 and then right towards Hwy 49 to Auburn and got on Hwy 80 west towards home.
What a long weekend. Time to clean up and get ready to do it all over again. Hope to see you out enjoying Northern California. If you have any suggestions or questions please leave a comment, we would like to hear from you.
Uncle Leo
Copy and paste the URL below for a map of the location.
Wrights Lake: http://g.co/maps/7z73
Sand Flat Campground: http://g.co/maps/2qdv
I grew up camping at Wright's lake lonnngggg before a visitor center or camp host, Kyburz had a population of 10 at that time!!
And the road up sure seemed longer than only 8 miles!!!
Lots of fond memories made there with all my aunts, uncles and cousins EVERY august.
To this day, over 30 years later and 1800 miles away I am still chasing those experiences and teaching my kids and grand-kids the wonders of the wilderness.
Thank you for the beautiful pictures and wonderful write up of my favorite place to camp, hike, swim, fish and explore.
Ps...
We never knew the falls & pools had an actual name but Enchanted Pools fits them perfectly!!
Posted by: James | 11/21/2017 at 06:45 PM