Lake Alpine & Ebbetts Pass Backcountry
Hwy 4 / Bear Valley · near Bear Valley · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Nordic & Snowshoe
At a glance
- Best season
- Dec–Apr; dependable snow (~7,300–8,700 ft)
What is here
- Activities
- backcountry · snowshoe
- Setting
- summit
- Amenities
- Snowbound-road touring · Wild Ebbetts high country · Lake Alpine objective · Uncrowded backcountry
- Best for
- Remote backcountry touring
- Features
- Winter-closed Hwy 4 touring · Wild Ebbetts backcountry · Lake Alpine destination · Deep solitude
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Avalanche terrain — check the forecast · Winter navigation & remoteness · Cold, storms, whiteouts · Carry the ten essentials
- Good for a first timer
- No
Guides, rentals and operators
- Rentals
- No
Nordic & Snowshoe detail
- Venue
- backcountry
- Ability
- advanced
- Snow
- 4
- Trail notes
- Where Highway 4 closes for winter, a snowbound road and wild high country open for backcountry Nordic touring and snowshoeing toward Lake Alpine and Ebbetts Pass
- Terrain note
- ~7,300–8,700 ft; ungroomed backcountry; dependable snow
- Intl tip
- Beyond Bear Valley, Hwy 4 closes for winter and the snowbound road and high country open for backcountry Nordic touring and snowshoeing. From the closure gate, the buried highway climbs gently toward frozen Lake Alpine (~7,300 ft); ambitious parties push toward Ebbetts Pass. Deep snow, silence, grand scenery, and solitude — but genuine backcountry: avalanche terrain (check the Sierra Avalanche Center forecast), remote, so carry navigation, rescue gear, and the ten essentials, and expect cold/storms/whiteouts. Go with a capable partner.
The guide
Beyond Bear Valley, Highway 4 closes for the winter, and the snowbound road and surrounding high country become a wild playgrou…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Lake Alpine & Ebbetts Pass Backcountry — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.48, -119.98