Lakes Basin & Gold Lake Highway
Sierra Buttes / Lakes Basin · near Sierra City / Graeagle · Shasta Cascade
Gravel & Bikepacking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- advanced
- Best season
- Summer–early fall
What is here
- Terrain
- mountain
- Amenities
- Basin of glacial alpine lakes · Sierra Buttes backdrop · Rustic mountain lodges · Lakeside camping
- Best for
- Scenic alpine-lake riding beneath the Buttes
- Features
- Dozens of glacial alpine lakes · Beneath the Sierra Buttes · Rustic lakeside lodges · Big high-country scenery
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- High elevation, cool weather · Short season (snow) · Rough forest-road sections · Limited services between lodges
- Good for a first timer
- No
Gravel & Bikepacking detail
- Ride types
- day-gravel · adventure
- Surface
- mixed
- Remoteness
- 3
- Riding
- High alpine riding around a basin of glacial lakes beneath the Sierra Buttes — mixed pavement and forest roads linking granite lakes, lodges, and big views
- Terrain note
- 5,000–7,500 ft alpine basin; mixed surfaces; short high-country season
- Camping
- Yes
- Intl tip
- A granite basin of dozens of glacial alpine lakes beneath the Sierra Buttes (Gold Lake Hwy, Sierra City to Graeagle). Mixed pavement and rough forest roads link jewel-like lakes, rustic lodges (pie & coffee), and big-view climbs. High country (5,000–7,500 ft): short snow-free season, cool weather, rough sections. Lakeside camping. Classic Sierra lodge culture. Stunning alpine-lake scenery for capable riders.
- Trip lengths
- day
The guide
The Lakes Basin, cradled beneath the Sierra Buttes along the Gold Lake Highway between Sierra City and Graeagle, is one of the …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Lakes Basin & Gold Lake Highway — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.65, -120.65