Spooner Lake to Marlette Lake – Lake Tahoe Hikes
October 30, 2022
Why hike to Marlette Lake when we have lake Tahoe? Â Well, it’s like this; Lake Tahoe is stunning, but also rather large with a huge area around that is great for hiking (and apparently some great ski areas). Â Our first view was from the north end and we couldn’t see the south end. Â I’m talking 22 miles long and 12 miles wide. Â Let’s put that into Hewitt perspective. Â Lake Como is slightly longer at 29 miles long, but only 2.5 miles wide. Â So our hike to Marlette Lake from Spooner Lake is merely the start of a hiking exploration of different areas around Lake Tahoe. Â We are house-sitting in Reno for 3 weeks, so this is on our doorstep.
Marlette Lake
Lake Tahoe is 6,224 feet above sea level, that’s 1.2 miles! Â Lake Marlette has an elevation of 8,200 feet. Â Feeling out of breath yet? (we certainly were on the walk…it’s the altitude)
Know before you go...
- Start: Â Spooner Lake Trailhead parking lot
- Top Tip, take cash. Â The park entrance fee is $10 ($15 for non Nevada licence plates – curses to our rental company who gave us a car with Utah plates. Â Eye roll). Â There is no option to pay with a card, so make sure you take cash. (I have since been informed that they now take cards. Â Yay, so much easier. Â Thank you to our reader Gregg for letting me know).
- Also, take a pen. Â We had to fill in an envelope with car reg on and date etc. We’re in a rental car, no pen and call me old fashioned but I don’t usually carry a pen for hiking (Not planning on doing any novel writing or diary entries en-route and all that)
Start the hike by walking straight to Spooner Lake and turning left along the lake shore. Â - It’s not completely obvious where to turn off the lake. Â But there is a sign for Spencers Cabin to the left. Â Also know that you will be walking north to get to Marlette lake, make sure the sun is behind you.
- We would recommend taking the Marlette Lake Trail on the way out, which is a walking and equestrian route only. Â There’s a sign at the start of the trail. Â For our return route we took the North Canyon Road to make a great circular.
The hike to Marlette Lake
Distance: Â 10.5 miles
Elevation: 470 meters of ascent
Time: Â 5.5 hours with stops (of course…stopaholics)
What a lovely way to start a walk, along the western edge of Spooner Lake, a stunning smaller lake (actually a reservoir) surrounded by trees.  Once away from Spooner lake we headed to the Marlette Lake Trail, a single track trail that undulates through woodland, passing a stream and all the time delighting with the fall colours. Our visit in October meant the autumn colours were really starting to come out.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an abundance of pure golden yellow.
Marlette Lake lies at an elevation of 8,200 feet (2,500 meters), that’s basically two and a half times the elevation of Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain. Â And, it’s surrounded by other mountains that are even higher. Â Phew! Â To be fair, Clark just pointed out that the house we are staying in is also higher than Scafell Pike…no wonder I’m out of breath up here.
To make a lovely circular, we took The North Canyon Road back to Spooner Lake. Â Not to be confused with an actual road, this is a dirt track popular with mountain bikers and hikers alike. Â It was definitely worth taking a different route back, as the track was flanked on either side by even more golden yellow trees….gorgeous.
This is the first of our hikes around Lake Tahoe and has only enthused us to explore more of what looks like a stunning area.
Beautiful fall foliage!