Coming Up Roses

Hiking Mt. Rose Summit in Lake Tahoe

09.13.2024

Looking to spice up your hiking life? Give your partner a rose—Mount Rose! The 10-mile out-and-back peak hike goes up to one of the grandest views in all of Lake Tahoe. Get ready for a solid hiking day!

The first few miles are a nice steady incline traversing sagebrush, lodgepole, and whitebark pines. At 2.5 miles a waterfall makes a nice place to stop, catch your breath, and peer up at your goal: the 10,778-foot summit. In total, you’ll gain 2,425 feet, so take your time!

Walk through a broad meadow filled with willows, wildflowers, and mule ears before starting the final push uphill through rocky switchbacks. It can be a huff and puff, but the Sierra Nevada scenery keeps you inspired: The views get better and better as you ascend. The peak welcomes you with a ridge traverse and jumble of shale and rock walls stacked to block the wind.

If you have a clear day you’ll see out to Lake Tahoe and other majestic peaks like Mount Tallac and Pyramid Peak. Reno and the Truckee Meadows are also easily visible, as are other smaller lakes. Take a selfie in front of the summit sign, high-five your hiking partner, and celebrate the most beautiful rose in Tahoe!

TIP: Find more adventures around Reno Tahoe.

Park at the Mount Rose Summit Trailhead on Hwy. 431 (map). Go early as the parking lot fills up quickly on weekends. Follow the Mount Rose Trail all the way up to the summit and back. Dog-friendly!

Trending Stories NorCal

View all Stories

  1. Can't Top This

    San Francisco’s Presidio was already a fantastic place to hang out for the afternoon, a beautiful site within the largest urban national park in the United States (the Golden Gate National Recreation Area). And Presidio Tunnel Tops is like a cherry on top. Make that two cherries on top, with the newly opened (July 2025) Outpost Meadow, a 1.5-acre green space located at Old Mason Street across from the Crissy Field Marsh in the Presidio.

    View

  2. This Is Paradise

    Granite mountain-scape, superb sunset views, crystal lakes, and shoreline campsites … the trip to Paradise Lake in Tahoe National Forest lives up to its idyllic name.

    View

  3. Aloha from California

    Say Aloha without leaving California with a 7-mile out-and-back hiking adventure to Lake Aloha in El Dorado National Forest. You can also camp here, a premier place for stargazing.

    View

  4. Sequoia Re-opens Crystal Cave

    Step inside Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park's hidden world by visiting the newly re-opened Crystal Cave—the only cave in the parks open to the public. Closed for four years, this rare marble karst cavern is welcoming visitors once again, but only through the summer season!

    View

Trending Stories SoCal

View all Stories

  1. Hot As (Bumpass) Hell

    So you like going to all the hot spots when you visit places? Well, in Lassen Volcanic National Park there’s a place so hot it gets downright steamy. Bumpass Hell is the largest hydrothermal area in the park, with sputtering mud pots, sulfur vents, and boiling pools. It’s California’s Yellowstone. But it only opens in summer through fall.

    View

  2. Underground Garden

    Looking to escape the summer heat? Head to Fresno and discover its cool secret: the Forestiere Underground Gardens–an enchanting garden and architecture oasis like no other.

    View

  3. Oh Ryan

    Sure, it’s those whimsical trees that give Joshua Tree National Park its marquee billing; but this beautiful landscape also has surrounding mountains and its night sky—one of the darkest in Southern California and designated an International Dark Sky Park. Joshua Tree has four allowable stargazing parking lots, and a newly opened haven for spending the night nearby...

    View

  4. Easiest Best Hike in the World

    Choose the easiest and most view-rewarding hike in Yosemite. Okay, we’ll go first: the combination of hiking to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point. Both of these lookouts are within a couple miles of each other on Glacier Point Road

    View