Reverse Peak Trail, CA

The Reverse Peak Trail is located in the June Lake Area of the Eastern Sierra Nevada. The trail is just a quarter mile from the June Mountain Ski Area. The trail leads to several small tarns (small unnamed lakes of ponds). I like the trail for a couple of reason. 1) If the snow is a little too deep in Mammoth Lakes for hiking, this trail may be a good alternative ( I stress “may be”, because there is no guaranty ). 2) The climb to the tarns is steep, so that although the hike is not all that long, the steepness makes for a strenuous workout.


Parking is off road as there is no parking allowed on Northshore Rd. If there is no parking near the trailhead (unlikely), consider parking at the baseball field at the corner of Northshore Dr. and Mountain Vista Dr. It’s a short walk south on Northshore Dr. to the trailhead.The hike starts out by heading up a double track dirt road. The road switches back twice before dead ending into a trail. The trail quickly passes from brush to pine and juniper forest. It you are hiking the trail during the winter months like I usually do, you will likely run into snow once the tree cover begins. This is the most slippery part of the hike if there is snow on the ground.

As the trail reaches a saddle at the top of the hill the first tarn will come into view. The trail travels along the east side of the tarns. I generally go off trail and visit one or two of the tarns and then turn around at this point. However, the trail does continue on past these tarns and past several large junipers before reaching a flat brushy section. To the right is a hill and the trail wraps around the far side of this hill before heading down a ravine toward the baseball field described earlier.

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