Tahoe Rim Trail
Circumnavigates Lake Tahoe · near Tahoe City / South Lake Tahoe · Sierra Nevada / Yosemite
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- strenuous
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 165 miles
- Elevation gain
- 27,000 ft
- Time needed
- long-haul
- Best season
- Late July–September
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- Yes
- How the permit works
- Most of the loop needs no permit, but the Desolation Wilderness segment requires a TRT Thru-Hike Permit (a dedicated quota zone, 10 spaces/night, released each spring on Recreation.gov). Bear-resistant canisters required system-wide since Jan 2024. Campfires prohibited on the entire trail.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 3 of 5
What is here
- Features
- 165-mile loop around the lake · Constant lake views · Two states, six wilderness areas · 165-Mile Club
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Nights
- 10–14
- Resupply
- Resupply in Tahoe City, South Lake Tahoe, Kingsbury, or Tahoe City. The trail passes near several towns, making resupply relatively easy for a long-distance route.
- Intl tip
- The eastern (Nevada) side has the longest dry stretches — the Marlette-to-Spooner and Kingsbury segments can run 15+ miles between reliable water in late season. Study a water report before you go. Doing the loop clockwise is the traditional direction and keeps the best Desolation scenery for a strong finish.
The guide
The Tahoe Rim Trail is one of America's great loop trails — 165 miles encircling the entire Lake Tahoe basin along the ridgelin…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Tahoe Rim Trail — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.0968, -120.0324