Loch Leven Lakes Trail –The trail to lower Loch Leven Lake is 5 miles round trip, with an overall elevation gain of 1,120 feet. While that is a fair amount of elevation gain, it is a steady climb with no really steep sections. The trail is rocky and uneven much of the time. Not good if you have bad knees. I recommend continuing to the second lake which is only another .3 miles. It is larger than Lower Lake and is quite lovely.

Access to the trail is from Interstate 80 west of Truckee, CA. Take the Big Bend exit and turn on Hampshire Rocks Rd. You will shortly see a parking area along with a vault toilet. The trail head is across the road from the parking.

I recommend starting this hike early in the day as it gets quite hot in the summer. There is a fair amount of shade off and on, but it can be really hot in the non-shaded areas. On the other hand, it can be deep in snow in the winter months.