Sugar Pine Point State Park

About Sugar Pine Point State Park

It was declared a national park in 1969 and added to the National Register of Historic Places of the National Park Service in 1971.

The park is the only US national park with a population of more than 1,000 people and one of the largest state parks in North America.

In 1994 it was declared an underwater state park and is a place where the many boats and barges that use one barge after the other rest. Summer temperatures range from 30 to 40 degrees Celsius.

All campsites have robust food lockers and all food, drinks and toilets must be stored in the lockers provided by law. The internal dimensions of the lock are 1.50 m long, 1.50 m wide and 1.50 m deep.

The beautiful grounds of the Hellman - Ehrman Mansion are home to one of the most beautiful and historic mansions on Lake Tahoe. The grounds offer spectacular views of Lake Tahoes, with the 12,000 square foot property serving as an elegant backdrop.

Unfortunately, mountain pines are a bit rare today and much of the wood was cut down to supply the miners in Comstock Lode with firewood.

In the 1860s, William Phipps farmed what is now Sugar Pine Gate and protected his 160 acres from deforestation with the help of his son-in-law and wife.

Today, the house is known as Ehrman Mansion after its later owner and is open for guided tours in the summer months. Visit exhibits on the natural history of the Tahoe Basin and tours of the Nature Center in the former power plant "Ehrmen Mansion."

The State Park is about two miles from the lake and the paths lead to streams and wooded valleys, but most of the park's best trails are inland along General Creek, as the trees are an attraction for hiking in the National Park. Long-distance hikers often use this park to gain access to the northern part of this desert landscape and to other routes that lead to Lake Tahoe and other parts of California's Sierra Nevada Desert.

Jeffrey pines and stately silver fir trees look like mountain pines, and black cotton trees and trembling aspens are as visible in autumn as in spring.

It's a national park, so how did you forget that, and how long have you been driving to Sugar Pine Point State Park, just a few miles north of Atlanta?

Once in the park, rangers recommend hikers park at one of the two campgrounds, one on the east side of Sugar Pine Road and the other on the west side. The track, a dirt road closed to vehicles, starts at campsite 150 and is about 800 m from the entrance.

At a signposted intersection, you will find a wide path that leads to the west and north banks of General Creek. The trail winds through well-overgrown trees and seasonal meadows sprinkled with lupines and asters. It is a pleasant ride without getting wet, and the path leads up to a bridge that crosses the creek.

Shortly after crossing the bridge, the General Creek Trail becomes a footpath that continues for another 800 meters, and when you reach the second footbridge, you can walk across the creek to the other side. You will come to a signposted junction with a side road leading to the lily pond. There is a small parking lot on the right side of the road, a little off the road, but you have to avoid it.

Geologically interested hikers will enjoy the two large lateral moraines that line the General Creek Valley. Centuries ago, the retreating glaciers and melting ice sheets in the North Atlantic left behind the granite blocks that are so out of place in this scene.

The General Creek Trail winds along the creek for another 800 meters until it crosses the bridge on the other side of the lily pond and then continues through the valley to the end of its path.

After about 3.5 km of hiking, you enter the El Dorado National Forest and leave the national park.

The path now turns south again, but this time it crosses General Creek at the bridge and after another bend the path crosses the stream that feeds Lost Lake and Duck Lake for further miles. After another turn and another bend at a bridge, the paths turn south and cross the creek again at another bridge and again for a mile and a half south of the lake. The flat Duck Lake is surrounded by mountain pine and the flat Duck Lake by a mountain pine. The lake, which is about a quarter of a mile away, is slightly more dramatic than the neighboring duck and offers good swimming opportunities.