About this permit
The National Park Service calls the Rae Lakes Loop one of the most popular hikes in Sequoia and Kings Canyon. It runs 41.4 miles and climbs from 5,035 feet at the trailhead to 11,978 feet at Glen Pass. Hikers most often start at the Woods Creek trailhead and go clockwise, or at the Bubbs Creek trailhead and go counter-clockwise.
The route
From Roads End, the loop can be hiked in either direction. Most choose clockwise via Woods Creek for more gradual elevation gain.
The first miles follow the South Fork Kings River, passing thundering Mist Falls at mile 3.9, a preview of Sierra splendor. Paradise Valley opens beyond, a wide meadow where the river slows and bears patrol the willows. By mile 15.7, you've climbed to the Woods Creek crossing, the swaying suspension bridge marking your entry into the high country.
Dollar Lake appears first, then Arrowhead, then the main event: the Rae Lakes themselves, strung like pearls at 10,500 feet. The climb to Glen Pass begins in earnest: sixty switchbacks of rocky trail culminating at 11,978 feet, the highest point you can reach on a maintained trail in Kings Canyon.
The descent through Vidette Meadow and down Bubbs Creek returns you to the realm of waterfalls and towering walls, completing one of America's great backpacking loops.
Why it matters
The Rae Lakes Loop is widely considered California's finest backpacking circuit outside the JMT. It traverses some of the most spectacular alpine terrain in North America, crossing Glen Pass at nearly 12,000 feet and passing through the stunning Rae Lakes basin, a string of turquoise gems set against granite towers. For many Sierra hikers, completing the loop is a rite of passage.
The feeling
The first glimpse of the Rae Lakes basin stops you in your tracks. Three lakes stair-step up a glacial cirque, their impossible blue waters framed by the Painted Lady and Fin Dome. You've earned this view: the long climb through Paradise Valley, the crossing of roaring Woods Creek, the relentless switchbacks to Dollar Lake. And tomorrow, Glen Pass awaits, the highest point on the loop, where the entire Kings Canyon spreads below you like a topographic map come to life.
