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A hike or backpack to delightful Raspberry Lake in Northern California's Siskiyou Wilderness.


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Map Key

3.6

Miles

5.8

KM

Point to Point

5,342' 1,628 m

High

4,598' 1,402 m

Low

1,004' 306 m

Up

563' 172 m

Down

8%

Avg Grade (5°)

32%

Max Grade (18°)

Dogs Leashed

Features Commonly Backpacked · Lake · Swimming · Views

This trail enters the Siskiyou Wilderness and the usual federal wilderness area regulations and restrictions apply here. Practice Leave No Trace (LNT) backcountry skills and ethics. Camp 100 feet from fragile areas; bury human waste at least 200 feet from water, trails, and campsites. Trailhead access is limited by gate closures and snow during the wet season (to stop the spread of the Port Orford fungus), generally mid-October through mid-June.

Need to Know

Black bears are common, so remember to hang food 10 feet high at night or use a bear-proof container. Permits are required only for campfires or camp stoves, and are available at the Gasquet Ranger Station 18 miles east of Crescent City.

Description

Raspberry Lake is one of the most popular destinations in the Siskiyou Wilderness, second only to Devils Punchbowl.

The Raspberry Lake Trail #5231 leaves the Clear Creek National Recreation Trail (also called the Clear Creek Trail #5223) at a signed junction in Youngs Valley, 3.5 miles from the Youngs Peak Trailhead (which some call the Youngs Valley Trailhead). Up to this junction, the Clear Creek National Recreation Trail has been an old road originally built to service a now abandoned chromite mine.

At the junction, the Clear Creek National Recreation Trail continues downslope to the south (and soon reverts to a singletrack trail), while the trail to the lake goes uphill to the southeast as a continuation of the old mining road. There are water sources in Youngs Valley but no reliable ones between this junction and the lake.

Just beyond this junction, you'll pass an unsigned junction with the Twin Valley Trail #5232 (also called the Poker Flat-Youngs Valley Trail #5232) and, at 1.6 miles from the junction, you'll pass a signed junction with the unmaintained Cyclone Gap Trail to Elk Lick Ridge.

At 5.6 miles from the trailhead (2.1 miles from the junction) you'll come to the end of the road at the former Cyclone Gap chromite mine. Here the #5231 becomes a singletrack trail that contours over two ridges before dropping, on surprisingly nice switchbacks, to the shore of Raspberry Lake. There are a few good campsites on the northwest side of the lake, near its outlet. These are likely to be full on busy weekends and holidays.

Fishing in the lake is reported to be excellent.

Contacts

Shared By:

BK Hope

Trail Ratings

  3.3 from 3 votes

#26542

Overall
  3.3 from 3 votes
5 Star
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4 Star
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3 Star
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Trail Rankings

#2,781

in California

#26,542

Overall
10 Views Last Month
3,037 Since Jul 11, 2018
Intermediate/Difficult Intermediate/Difficult

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Photos

The old mine where the Raspberry Lake trail goes from an old road to a trail
Jul 12, 2018 near Happy Camp, CA
Raspberry Lake
Jul 12, 2018 near Happy Camp, CA
Raspberry Lake
Jul 12, 2018 near Happy Camp, CA
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