The Granite Chief Wilderness is a 19,048 acre (77 km²) federally designated

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural) are Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human activity, or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally ...

of the Tahoe National Forest. Created by the

California Wilderness Act of 1984 The California Wilderness Act of 1984 is a federal law (Public Law 98-425), passed by the United States Congress on September 28, 1984, that authorized the addition of over within the state of California to the National Wilderness Preservation ...

, it is located in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

mountains west of

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest a ...

in the U.S. state of California. It is managed by the

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

Tahoe National Forest. Elevations range from to at the summit of

Granite Chief Granite Chief is a mountain located in the Sierra Nevada near Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between ...

. Events such as the

Western States Endurance Run The Western States Endurance Run, known commonly as the Western States 100 or Western States, is a 100.2-mile (161 km) ultramarathon that takes place on California's Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada Mountains trails each year on the last ...

and the equestrian

Western States Trail Ride Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

, (popularly called The Tevis Cup) cross portions of the wilderness. The

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

also passes through along the east edge of the wilderness. This region is extensively glaciated and has features such as

hanging valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a ve ...

cirque A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...

s and U-shaped valleys, but few lakes. Just outside the wilderness boundary there are two large recreation reservoirs,

Hell Hole Reservoir Hell Hole Reservoir is an artificial, crescent-shaped lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range west of Lake Tahoe in California, United States. The lake is about long when at full capacity. The lake was created in 1966 wi ...

to the south and French Meadows Reservoir to the west. The

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

had maintained the Bradley Hut, which was a ski hut located at the Five Lakes Basin, but in 1994 the Sierra Club was asked to remove the hut by the Forest Service as it was now inside the newly created wilderness. The hut was dismantled and relocated four miles (6 km) away. Because no mechanical equipment can be used in a wilderness, the dismantling of the Bradley Hut took until the fall of 1996 to finish.The Sierra Club's webpage on the Bradley Hut

Lakes and waterways

The principal drainages are the Middle Fork of the

American River The American River is a List of rivers of California, river in California that runs from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range to its confluence with the Sacramento River in downtown Sacramento. Via the Sacramento River, it ...

and Five Lakes Creek. The small lakes within the wilderness boundary are the Five Lakes, Mildred Lake and Little Needle Lake. Fish such as

rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

, brook and brown trout can be seen in Whiskey, Picayune, and Bear Pen creeks as well as the largest lake of the Five Lakes group.

Flora and fauna

Rich, volcanic soils support a range of plant life, from fields of mule ears to conifer forests including

whitebark pine ''Pinus albicaulis'', known by the common names whitebark pine, white bark pine, white pine, pitch pine, scrub pine, and creeping pine, is a conifer tree native to the mountains of the western United States and Canada, specifically subalpine ...

at the highest elevations. Along the creeks grow black cottonwood,

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

and

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

Rare plants

The three bracted onion ('' Allium tribracteatum'') is a native perennial bulb

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to California. The California Native Plant Society lists the three bracted onion as " rare, threatened, or endangered ... " and there are only 10 counties with either specimens obtained or a verified observation made. Near the North Forth American River is Whitney's milk vetch ('' Astragalus whitneyi'' var. ''lenophyllus''). Typical of the high Sierra Nevada Mountains, the wildlife includes

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

s, and

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

. The Granite Chief Wilderness provides important fawning areas for mule deer, so visitors are prohibited from bringing dogs into certain areas of the wilderness from May 15 to July 15.

Recreation

Activities include day-hiking,

backpacking Backpacking may refer to: * Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel * Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness * Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

mountain climbing Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

and horsepacking. The Five Lakes basin is the most heavily used area in the wilderness due to the close proximity to both

Palisades Tahoe Palisades Tahoe is a ski resort in the western United States, located in Olympic Valley, California, northwest of Tahoe City in the Sierra Nevada range. From its founding in 1949, the resort was known as Squaw Valley, but it changed its name in ...

and

Alpine Meadows Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...

ski areas. Two commercial outfitters offer horsepacking trips into the wilderness.

Trails

There are of trails with eight trailheads. The most used is the Granite Chief trailhead located at Squaw Valley Ski Area parking lot. Talbot campground is located near the Talbot trailhead, four miles (6 km) north of French Meadows Reservoir and is the only trailhead with a no-fee campground.

Notable peaks

Footnotes

External links

Text of the California Wilderness Act of 1984

Tahoe National Forest - Granite Chief Wilderness

Wilderness.net

TopoQuest map
* {{cite summitpost , id=152880 , name=Granite Chief , accessdate=2011-08-19 IUCN Category Ib Protected areas of Placer County, California Protected areas of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Wilderness areas of California Tahoe National Forest