Fordyce Creek Trail
Tahoe National Forest (near Donner Summit / Soda Springs) · near Soda Springs / Truckee · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Off-Road
At a glance
- Skill level
- expert
- Size
- 27-mile point-to-point · Tahoe National Forest · Elevations above 7,500ft
- Best season
- July–October · Snow closes the trail until mid-summer · Requires early start — plan two days
Permits and booking
- Permit
- National Forest Adventure Pass required. OHV registration required. No special permit but Tahoe National Forest trail access subject to seasonal closure — verify with the Tahoe National Forest Supervisor's Office (530-265-4531) before planning.
What is here
- Terrain
- rock-crawling · mountain-4x4
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
Off-Road detail
- Vehicles
- 4x4-jeep
- Signature routes
- Fuller Lake to Meadow Lake · The Waterfalls · Sierra Trek route (historically)
- Intl tip
- The Donner Summit area (immediately west of the Fordyce trailhead) is home to Donner Memorial State Park, the Donner Pass historical railroad tunnels, excellent rock climbing at Donner Summit crags, and the Northstar and Sugar Bowl ski resorts. A weekend at the trailhead area has options well beyond the 4WD trail itself.
The guide
Fordyce Creek is what happens when experienced Rubicon veterans want something harder. In informal ratings among California 4x4…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Fordyce Creek Trail — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.3178, -120.39