The Trail
When approached as shown on the maps below starting at the Ruth Lake Trailhead, doing the entirety of this route is a moderate 9.25 mile trail round trip with a roughly 900 ft elevation change. However, keep in mind that with all the combined ascents and descents, the total trail climb will be over twice that. There are plenty of options to go further along this trail, whether you head off to Naomi Lake (shown in red on the maps below) adding about 0.3 mile to your trip, or you hike down to Cutthroat Lake (adding about 0.4 miles to your hike), route find your way to Teal Lake (off any official trail), or follow other paths to one of the other many lakes in this area.
There are multiple shorter trail alternatives within this route too. Just hiking to Ruth Lake is one popular option with a 1 mile hike to reach about the end of the lake and a 215 ft climb to that point. Hiking from the Ruth Lake Trailhead to Jewel Lake is another longer option that involves a 1.6 mile trek to that point with a 325 ft. elevation gain. Then again, the Lofty Lake Loop is another beautiful and popular option that is about 4.8 miles around and involves a 1,890 ft climb by the time you go up and down as you transverse this path. If you wish to just do this loop, start the trail from the Pass Lake Trailhead.
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| Topographical Map (Blue=main trail, Red=to Naomi Lake, Green=Off the trail) |
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| Graph of Elevation |
Starting from the Ruth Lake Trailhead, be sure to first sign into the log so that people know to look for you in case of an emergency. The trail starts climbing here some but levels out close to Ruth Lake. There is a turn off to the rock climbing area about a half mile up the trail with a little stone bridge to cross the stream. Because the trail to Ruth Lake is mild and short, it's popular for families and other groups looking for an easier scenic hike.
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| Ruth Lake |
After passing Ruth Lake, the trail heads up a couple switchbacks before reaching a split. That being said, the trails at this point are not particularly obvious. The main trail heading more south at this junction was made more obscure while we were there by a fallen tree across its path. If not for this tree, this path would probably have been the most obvious of the two.
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| Trail to Lofty Loop |
The trail to Jewel Lake heads off to the right from this point. This trail is clear enough to follow, but it is not considered an official trail and is not maintained as such.
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| Trail to Jewel Lake |
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| Coming up on the split for the two trails |
We headed up toward Jewel Lake and camped at a lake along this way. Hayden Lake is commonly used by backpackers, but the other lakes also had campers at them during the weekend. Some of these lakes are more marshy than others though, like Liberty Lake (just north of Hayden Lake) and Naomi Lake (which is not on the main trail and will add 0.3 miles to your trip, as shown in red).
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| Liberty Lake |
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| Small unnamed lake on way to Naomi Lake |
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| Naomi Lake |
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| Naomi Lake |
Jewel Lake is another half mile from the split. The south side where the trail approaches this watery gem is rocky, but there are grassy areas on other sides of the lake if you make your way through the boulder field.
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| Columbines grown by Jewel Lake |
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| Jewel Lake |
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| Jewel Lake |
If desired, there are other lakes a bit further north such as Teal Lake that some people hike too from here, though there isn't a trail to any of these other lakes.
We spent the night in the area around these lakes, but the next day, we hiked over to and around the Lofty Lake Loop. From the split heading up to Jewel Lake, it is 0.6 to the Lofty Loop Trail. After getting past the fallen log, the trail is outlined with a wall of stones making it hard to miss.
However, shortly after this point, the trail becomes less clear again, which resulted in us heading the wrong way and bushwhacking a bit as we eventually found our way back to the trail (our off trail path is shown in dark green above). To avoid making this mistake, stay to the rocks on the left as you come to these points when coming from Ruth Lake. The trail is much easier to follow on the way back. We added a couple rock cairns, but those don't always last.
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| Stay to left here |
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| Stay to left here too |
A junction with the Lofty Loop Trail is marked with a helpful sign. At this point, we turned right to complete the loop counterclockwise, heading first to Lofty Lake.
This portion of the trail is fairly steep, but it boasts some incredible views. The trail peaks at its high point along here shortly before heading down to the lake.
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| View heading up the the high point of Lofty Lake Loop |
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| Lofty Lake |
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| Lofty Lake |
The next lake up along this route is Cutthroat Lake. We did not take the trail down to this lake, which would have added and additional 0.4 miles to our total distance, but we did stop and enjoy the overlooks of this little fishing lake from a couple viewpoints. It's around 0.4 to 0.5 miles to these viewpoints from Lofty Lake.
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| Sign showing trail distances down to Cutthroat Lake |
Continuing counterclockwise around the loop, hikers will reach Kamas Lake in another half mile from the Cutthroat Lake viewpoint. There are some smaller ponds along the way too, but Kamas Lake is significantly larger and is known as a good fishing spot.
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| Kamas Lake |
There aren't any other major lakes along the trail after Kamas lake until passing the Pass Lake Trailhead. However, there is a turn off for Cubert Lake about 0.7 miles from Kamas Lake and another roughly half mile after that hikers will be walking through Reids Meadow, a marshy open area with streams running through it and the point of Reids Peak rising in the background. This area is fairly flat and is the low point of the entire trail.
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| Hiking through Reids Meadow |
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| Bald Mountain on left, Reids Peak on right |
Not too far past the meadow hikers will come to a junction with the Weber River Trail, and after that hikers will arrive at the Pass Lake Trailhead. There are vault toilets here, so its a great place to use the restroom if you are coming all the way from Ruth or Jewel Lake. This trailhead is about 2.2 miles from Kamas Lake.
The next larger lake this trail goes by is about 0.6 miles up from Pass Lake Trailhead. This lake is labeled as Picturesque Lake on most maps I have seen, but some label the larger lake adjacent to it as Picturesque Lake instead. However, most maps I have seen label this larger lake as Scout Lake, and since this adjacent lake is next to the scout camp, Scout Lake seems a fitting name. Scout Lake is roughly 0.8 miles up from the trailhead, so neither of these hiking distances seem to actually match the trail marker labels at the Pass Lake Trailhead.
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| Sign at Trailhead |
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| Picturesque Lake/Smaller Lake |
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| Scout Lake |
From here the trail climbs back up to the split with the connecting trail to Ruth Lake, which can be followed back out to the trailhead.
This trail is open to dogs and livestock. Backpacking in and camping is common all along this trail; just be sure to pack out whatever you pack in and work to keep the area pristine by otherwise being responsible.
Directions
This trail is located near Kamas, Utah. It is found in Duchesne County in the high Uinta mountains between the Mirror Lake and Crystal Lake areas. To get there from the Salt Lake area, take I-80 to Exit 146 for Heber. From there head south on UT-189 and take Exit 4 toward Kamas traveling east on UT-248. Once in Kamas, turn left onto Main Street, then take a right onto Center St./UT-150. Continue on this road for about 35 miles until you arrive at the marked trailhead, which will be on your left. There is limited parking, and it can fill up during weekends and other popular times, so plan accordingly. GPS Coordinates: N40° 44.026' W110° 52.055'
