History Hike to Glen Alpine Springs

While many may hike past Lily Lake to get to a myriad of trails going through Desolation Wilderness, I took the trail to go the historic Glen Alpine Springs. Even though my walk was mid-day on October 13, I passed many other hikers on the two-mile hike, all enjoying the warm, un-fall like weather.

Even though I've lived in South Lake Tahoe for 36 years, I'd never gone past Lily Lake. Wanting to get to the springs before winter, there was no time like the present to finally accomplish that task!

The Glen Alpine Springs is the site of a natural springs that was turned into one of the Tahoe Basin's first resorts in 1884.

As I reached my goal, the site of the former resort, I was struck by the peacefulness and tried to imagine how it was over 130 years ago. It wasn't hard with the sounds of a small waterfall and a breeze fluttering through the leaves, along with the historic, old buildings spread around the mountain.

What I also reflected on was, how did the founders ever find this place?

The old Glen Alpine Springs is a living museum that has a docent staff on duty during the summer months. I was left to the signage and my memory of past stories, though I'll be back next summer when there are guided tours at 1 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, an interpretive center open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. mid-June to mid-September.

On the maps I'd seen of the area, the number of buildings (25) that the resort once had are amazing when one thinks of the year they were built and location. They were all built around the “Soda Spring” which was discovered in 1863 by Nathan Gilmore who built the resort in 1878. Nathan is responsible for introducing Angora goats in 1875 to the Fallen Leaf Lake area in which Angora Peak, Angora Lake, and Angora Ridge are named after. Gilmore Lake is named after Nathan. He and Barton Richardson created trails through "Devil's Valley."

Gilmore shipped the bottled spring water from the Tallac Wharf and it went to San Francisco and Virginia City in 1876.

Families from San Francisco and Virginia City traveled to the resort to relax in the cool mountain canyon and plush resort, and enjoy the "curing" properties of the mineral spring waters from the late 1880s through the 1930s. There was a 2-story, 16-room hotel, dining room, kitchen, office, barn, outbuildings, ice house, and a Post Office. Guests stayed in the hotel or in tent cabins, and at times there would be up to 50 tents spread around the resort.

They arrived on the steamer in South Lake Tahoe and were taken to the resort by stagecoach or on a Pierce Arrow. (think of either of these vehicles traveling n the same trail as you walk).

The cold, brown, spring water that still bubbles here is high in iron, calcium carbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium chloride and calcium sulphate. The spring is still under the protective pagoda that was built in 1905.

The nine remaining resort buildings were designed by famous architect, Bernard Maybeck who was the designer of the San Francisco Palace of Fine Art. They were among the first fire-proof buildings in the basin. The unique buildings use natural rock and have rounded metal eaves that resemble thatched roofs.

The dining hall still had tables and chairs set up and I could imagine people from 1900 sitting around enjoying a summer meal as I had seen on a photo at the Lake Tahoe Historical Museum. Meals were served here on fine china and white linen tablecloths in 1905 for as little as $3 per day (including lodging).

One disturbing observation as I walked around the resort was the gang tagging on an old Dodge truck part as well as what appears to be remnants of two small fires. One burned area is on the porch of the dining hall, the other near the old hotel.

John Muir came to the Glen Alpine Springs Resort in 1892 with the Presidents of the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University to meet with Gilmore. It was here they formed the first Sierra Club in hope to convince the U.S. to declare the Devil's Canyon area as a Forest Preserve. Gilmore gave up his rights to that area (he owned 10,000 acres from Fallen Leaf Lake to Mt. Tallac) as it became the Lake Tahoe Forest Preserve in 1899. Now we know the area as Desolation Wilderness.

If you take this hike: Park in the USFS parking lot at Lily Lake which is above Fallen Leaf Lake. Use the facilities at the trail head (there are none during the hike). Take water and wear sturdy shows. Much of the trail is covered in rock. There are some inclines. There is a nice bench in front of the Interpretive Center where you can relax and have a rest/picnic.