Rubicon Trail

[rfg9585]

I am planning a west coast tour and I have a chance to pass by the Lake Tahoe area. I noticed this is near the Rubicon Trail, at least I think. Zero knowledge of the area requires me to ask someone in the area or with experience about our planning. Coming from east on I80 we're thinking that we should head toward South Tahoe and find a place. Then from there maybe we can find the Trailhead, permits, etc. I will be in a 40' motorhome pulling a jeep.

Where would you recommend camping for about 3 nights(no issues boondocking if nice), where do you hit the trailhead at and what type of permits, etc should I purchase now?

I also would not like to run it by myself and would hope to find someone to hang with along the way. Anyone going around middle June 2024?

Thanks!

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[chevymitchell]

I am planning a west coast tour and I have a chance to pass by the Lake Tahoe area. I noticed this is near the Rubicon Trail, at least I think. Zero knowledge of the area requires me to ask someone in the area or with experience about our planning. Coming from east on I80 we're thinking that we should head toward South Tahoe and find a place. Then from there maybe we can find the Trailhead, permits, etc. I will be in a 40' motorhome pulling a jeep.

Where would you recommend camping for about 3 nights(no issues boondocking if nice), where do you hit the trailhead at and what type of permits, etc should I purchase now?

I also would not like to run it by myself and would hope to find someone to hang with along the way. Anyone going around middle June 2024?

Thanks!

Fellow NC'ian.

@UNC Rubicon and myself will be out there running the Rubicon from June 25-27 next year.

No permits required. Def don't go alone. Running it East to West is something I haven't done yet. I ran it twice West to East now. You'll be OK either way.

East Trailhead is here: 39.046431000565626, -120.16717294783926

It'll be on the way home during our 3rd week of a 3 week trip. The first 2 weeks will be run in late May/early June.

 

[rfg9585]

Nice.....wish we could meet up, but I have to be in Glacier area 2nd week in July after I do the 101 Pacific Coast.

Where would you camp, any favs?

 

[chevymitchell]

Nice.....wish we could meet up, but I have to be in Glacier area 2nd week in July after I do the 101 Pacific Coast.

Where would you camp, any favs?

Rubicon Springs is a favorite. You'd have to sign up to stay there.

It's a short time to get there if you're going in on the East Side. It's a solid 12 hours of wheeling to get all the way out from there.

 

[Ratbert]

If it wasn't sufficiently clear: do not run it alone.

 

[rfg9585]

Fellow NC'ian.

@UNC Rubicon and myself will be out there running the Rubicon from June 25-27 next year.

No permits required. Def don't go alone. Running it East to West is something I haven't done yet. I ran it twice West to East now. You'll be OK either way.

East Trailhead is here: 39.046431000565626, -120.16717294783926

It'll be on the way home during our 3rd week of a 3 week trip. The first 2 weeks will be run in late May/early June.

So, do I enter the trail near the coordinates and exit somewhere west to avoid having to run a 12 hr day? Sorry for so many ?s, just a little antsy about not knowing anything about this trail before going.

I got the message to not run alone. Will never do that anyways.......

 

[chevymitchell]

So, do I enter the trail near the coordinates and exit somewhere west to avoid having to run a 12 hr day? Sorry for so many ?s, just a little antsy about not knowing anything about this trail before going.

I got the message to not run alone. Will never do that anyways.......

No worries at all.

Yeah, you enter there. There is a dirt parking lot there where you can air down.

After that, there's more of a dirt road trail that takes you down the Rubicon and then you'll start hitting the boulders. You'll wheel for about 4-5 hours and you'll come up to Rubicon Springs. Camp here if you can.

The next day, to get finished with the trail will be the solid 12 hours of wheeling or more. If you want to break this up, you can stop at Loon Lake can and camp or Buck Island lake.

The best advice I can give you is to review and study the map then make camping decisions. A good resource is Trail Roster: https://www.trailroster.com/trails/the-rubicon

I would stop at Rubicon Springs and Camp, myself. The next day will be all the harder stuff.

If you're running this with only two people, you'll eat up a lot of time getting out of the jeep spotting each other so account for out of the seat time the best you can.

It really should be broken up into 3 days. On the second day, as long as you wheel 4-6 hours and find a place to camp, then the next day will be the same. 6-8 hours and you'll be done.

You can call me any time at 3364429463 and we can talk through it. The resources you have for this trail are nearly unlimited. There's a TON of people here that have run it their whole lives and can provide better info than I can only having done it twice.

 

[Tncdrew]

Ha! So as I wrote this @chevymitchell described the reverse direction.... ?

Some would say it's a solid 12 hours from Loon Lake to Rubicon Springs (the largest section of the trail). I would agree with that assessment from the condition I saw the trail in last July. We used to take no more that 7-8 hours to do that section back in the 90's. I really think years of popularity, and weather have exposed the boulders even more from back in the day.
Maybe things have changed? But back then, it was typically ran from west to east, starting at Loon Lake.

To get to Loon, if you're traveling west on 80, you'd take Hwy 89 south in Tahoe City, and follow it along Lake Tahoe to South Shore. Then take Hwy 50 west to Ice House Road, which then winds its way up through beautiful Sierra forests to Loon Lake.
There's camping along Ice House Rd. at Union Valley Res. and also at Loon Lake that should accommodate your RV.

Rewind a bit...Traveling down 89 to get to South Shore, you pass through Tahoma, which is actually where the trail ends on its east end. As others have said, I've never done the trail, from east to west. I believe for the ultimate experience, you want to go west to east starting at Loon, but that likely will be a logistical exercise regarding the RV. Also if you choose the full experience, plan on camping at Rubicon Springs (not to be missed IMO).

I've left Rubicon Springs, gone out (east) up Cadillac hill out to Tahoma, then all the way back to Loon for my tow rig before.
That's a full day in itself.

I hope you can swing the experience of all or part of the Rubicon! I lived 2 hours from it years ago, and we did it many times. Definitely worth the effort!
Enjoy! And, good luck!

Edit: I know... I'm old school with all the directions instead of simple coordinates...
Oh well, it's how I roll ?

 

[rfg9585]

WOW guys, this sounds like a monster trail to say the least. Showing my ignorance again, sounds like you have no choice but to run the full length of the trail, primitive camping somewhere in the middle, to complete it. Primitive camping for me\wife and granddaughter these days (68) is not in the cards. Camping for us is in my 40ft motorhome. Is there a way to find a spot for the MH and run parts of the trail coming in at different locations?

PS Shawn, I will likely give u a call sometime to clarify some of the details....

 

[chevymitchell]

WOW guys, this sounds like a monster trail to say the least. Showing my ignorance again, sounds like you have no choice but to run the full length of the trail, primitive camping somewhere in the middle, to complete it. Primitive camping for me\wife and granddaughter these days (68) is not in the cards. Camping for us is in my 40ft motorhome. Is there a way to find a spot for the MH and run parts of the trail coming in at different locations?

PS Shawn, I will likely give u a call sometime to clarify some of the details....

Unfortunately, unless you own an Ultra4 car, a helicopter, or you have Red Bull intravenously delivered, you're not finishing this trail in one day. Lol.

All primitive camping, for sure.

You could reach Rubicon Springs by lunch, enjoy the afternoon, and then be back to the East trailhead by 6-7 though. Coming in from the West, you might as well plan to make it a 2-3 day adventure.

 

[AcesandEights]

There is no reason to find a partner to run the trail. It is so crowded at that time of year you'll always have someone a few minutes in front or behind you. It'll have traffic like I-80, but going slower and with more rocks.

 

[rfg9585]

Thx y'all!! I added Rubicon Trail to my stops just because I was nearby going to the CA coast. Sounds like I need to be better prepared than I will be on this trip for serious jeeping. Maybe do it another trip with a focus on jeepin.. Thx y'all...

PS Shawn probably c u in URE Sat AM early. (Sarge Green jlur)

 

[Ratbert]

Unfortunately, unless you own an Ultra4 car, a helicopter, or you have Red Bull intravenously delivered, you're not finishing this trail in one day. Lol.

I'd say that it's fortunate that people can't hop on / off the trail at intermediate spots. Imagine how overrun it would be.

@rfg9585: it took about a year and a half of preparation for us to get the Jeep and gear ready. That was with Jeep Jamboree guides. It's not something that most people would do on a whim, at least not the first time.

 

[Old Jeeper]

Rubicon Springs is a favorite. You'd have to sign up to stay there.

It's a short time to get there if you're going in on the East Side. It's a solid 12 hours of wheeling to get all the way out from there.

Depending upon your driving skills and your Jeep assuming you have a Rubicon which in OEM form will do the trip, but I have known folks who spent 3 days trying to make the trail....It's a trail that is more driver skill than Jeep...Note the Jeep Rubicon was not just named after the Rubicon, but rather the Engineers wanted to kick Jeep up a few notches in off-road prowess. So to get approval from Chrysler and Wrangler they needed to have a metric that showed accomplishment. The engineers picked the Rubicon Trails and the rest is history...

 

[rfg9585]

I'd say that it's fortunate that people can't hop on / off the trail at intermediate spots. Imagine how overrun it would be.

@rfg9585: it took about a year and a half of preparation for us to get the Jeep and gear ready. That was with Jeep Jamboree guides. It's not something that most people would do on a whim, at least not the first time.

Good points, and they make sense!


What's with all the IT folks here? Do u have to be an IT geek to run a jeep, LOL. Can say that as I am retired 41yrs+ from IT. Still do a little scripting, but hard to get back to it when I need it.

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