20 Attractions to Explore Near Wheeler Lake

Duck Lake lies in a glacial cirque, surrounded on three sides by peaks with its outlet on the far side. As a result, camping around Duck Lake is limited. Reflections across the expanse of Duck Lake are mesmerizing when they happen. You can continue backpacking from here by heading towards Purple Lake and Lake Virginia, or you can day hike around the area or simply enjoy being lakeside in the wilderness for awhile.

Lake Alpine is a popular recreation area along Highway 4 in the Stanislaus National Forest. With 180 surface acres of glistening mountain water, Lake Alpine attracts anglers and boaters, campers and hikers, swimmers and sight seers. At an elevation of 7,350 feet, summer temperatures are mild.

The Lake Alpine Sno-Park is located at the winter closure gate on Highway 4 in Alpine County, within the Stanislaus National Forest near Ebbetts Pass and the Bear Valley Mountain Ski Resort. It is a great place to go for family friendly snow play. Great for cross-country skiing, dog sledding, snow play, and snowmobiling.

Stanislaus National Forest is a U.S. National Forest which manages 898,099 acres of land in four counties in the Sierra Nevada in Northern California. Stanislaus National Forest contains 1,4303.3 square miles of land within the Sierra Nevada Range. Most of the forest is within Tuolumne County, though it extends into parts of Alpine, Calaveras, Mono, and Mariposa counties. Two ski resorts, Dodge Ridge and Bear Valley, operate here under a special use permit.

The Mosquito Lakes are popular roadside waters located on Highway 4 between Arnold and Markleeville. The Mosquito Lakes have a campground across the highway that can be busy during the peak summer holidays. visitors can enjoy camping, hiking, and fishing.

Bear Valley is a friendly and relaxing High Sierra escape located in the beautiful Central Sierra Mountains. The alpine ski area and a portion of the real estate in the village of Bear Valley was owned by an investment partnership led by a Canadian company. Winter activities include downhill and cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding, snowmobiling and backcountry adventures.

The 105,165 acre Mokelumne Wilderness straddles the crest of the central Sierra Nevada, within the Stanislaus, Eldorado, and Toiyabe National Forests. It encompasses an area of the Sierra Nevada mountain range between Ebbetts Pass to Carson Pass. There are two sections separated by the Blue Lakes Road and an Off-Road Vehicle corridor. With landscapes ranging from deep canyons to alpine heights and more than two hundred ice-scoured lakes and tarns, fishing and hiking are popular activities.

Bull Run Lake is a reservoir, an impoundment of the Bull Run River in the U.S. it rates highly as an oligotrophic lake, a very clean source of water. The lake basin receives more than 110 inches of rain annually due to its location in the Cascade Range. Water from the reservoir first flowed into the Portland water system on January 2, 1895. President Theodore Roosevelt restricted entry to all but government agents and water company employees and banned stock grazing on April 28, 1904.

Bear Lake is a lake in Alpine County and has an elevation of 7,267 feet. The lake is formed by snow melt, so the water is very cold until well into the summer. It’s regularly planted with trout – making for some great fishing here on 180 surface acres with an average depth of about 40 feet. Hikers enjoy the four-mile trail around the lake.

Union Reservoir is a 736-acre body of water providing recreational opportunities all-year round for visitors and residents alike. Originally called Calkins Lake, the reservoir was carved out during the last glacial age and is one of only a few natural lakes in Colorado.

Utica reservoir is the sister to Union Reservoir, and is located just off Ebbetts Pass National Scenic Byway. Small and very picturesque, it has a rocky, wooded shoreline and many islands that are fun to paddle to and explore. Only non-motorized boating is allowed here. Being forest service land, camping is allowed almost any place that is not marked as no camping, including a few islands.

Mokelumne Peak is a peak in the Mokelumne Wilderness, Sierra Nevada, Amador County. This Peak has the largest body of metamorphic rock in the region, called the Mokelumne Peak roof pendant, extending over an area of 15 square miles. The pendant has concentric zones of different metamorphic rock types around a central core of highly folded and contorted gneiss. The granite of the batholith surrounding the roof pendant is the granodiorite of Caples Lake.

Deadwood Peak lies in the center of Mokelumne Wilderness across Summit City Creek from Round Top. It is also situated on the shared border of Pierce County and Yakima County in Washington state. Deadwood Peak is set on the crest of the Cascade Range, immediately north of Yakima Peak and Chinook Pass, with the Pacific Crest Trail traversing its east slope.

A wonderful lake and a put-and-take fishery in Alpine County in the Blue Lakes Recreation Area. There are abundant campsites at Lower Blue Lake, Middle Creek, and Upper Blue Lake Campgrounds. A boat launch area exists for Upper Blue Lake near the dam.

New Spicer Meadow Reservoir is a reservoir in the Sierra Nevada. It has a surface area of 2,000 acres when full. Visitors enjoy camping, fishing, hiking, and horseback riding. Boats on Spicer are limited to 10 MPH. The lake has 22 miles of shoreline, several islands, and numerous inlets. The upper part of Spicer is limited to non-motorized boats.

Lower Sunset Lake is a lake in Alpine County. It is around 15 acres in area and the shoreline is a mix of rocks, sands and willows. It is a beautiful location for a picnic and also there are so many other adventure opportunities also.

Lost Lake is a lake in the Desolation Wilderness in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, south of Lake Tahoe in El Dorado County, California, United States. It is a wonderful recreational area with a lot of things to see and do. This place is surrounded by lush greenery and is famous for swimming and fishing.

Fourth of July Lake is an alpine lake in Custer County, Idaho, United States, located in the White Cloud Mountains in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The lake is accessed from Sawtooth National Forest trail 109. This lake is in top form and is one of the areas top producing winter-only lakes for trout fishing. It is a popular destination for fly anglers.

The Ebbetts Pass National Scenic Byway is one of only seven nationally designated byways in California and 151 in the nation.Ebbetts is the eastern of two passes in the area traversed by State Route 4. The western pass is the Pacific Grade Summit. The pass is registered as a California Historical Landmark. The Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,650-mile long National Scenic Trail crosses State Route 4 at Ebbetts Pass.

Kinney Lake is a wonderful fishing destination hidden away back in the woods about a mile from Highway 4. Easily accessed via a network of hiking trails that provide spectacular views of the surrounding peaks and Ebbetts Pass. Half the fun for anglers is driving historic Highway 4 to Kinney along the Ebbetts Pass National Scenic Byway that connects Arnold to Markleeville for an unparalleled fishing experience.