The quieter sister to the Bishop Pass area, on the same road from Bishop. Equally stunning alpine lakes, less competition, better pie nearby.
The quieter sister to the famous Bishop Pass area, sharing the same road from Bishop. While crowds head to South Lake, Sabrina Basin offers equally stunning alpine lakes with less permit competition. Blue Lake is the main destination, but adventurous hikers can push off-trail to the rarely-visited Donkey and Baboon Lakes for genuine solitude in dramatic granite cirques.
Start: Lake Sabrina TH (9,100ft)
End: Lake Sabrina TH
Water: George Lake outlet, Blue Lake, Donkey Lake creek
From Lake Sabrina, climb steadily past the George Lake junction to Blue Lake, a large, scenic lake that most day hikers treat as the turnaround point. Continue past Blue Lake onto unmaintained, off-trail terrain, following the creek toward Donkey Lake before continuing up the basin to camp at Baboon Lakes. Route-finding gets trickier as you approach: the trail fades into thick forest, then opens onto granite ledges as the terrain steepens. Expect company even out here, sites on the west shore tend to fill first.
Water: Baboon Lakes, Sunset Lake creek, Blue Lake
Leave your pack at camp and hike off-trail up the creek to Sunset Lake, peak elevation about 11,400ft. Route-finding is easy and the terrain is forgiving, even without a maintained trail. Sunset Lake sits just a few hundred feet above camp but feels like a different world, fed by nearby glaciers and holding a milky turquoise color you will not see at Baboon Lakes. There are no good campsites here, so treat it as a lunch stop, not an overnight destination. Head back to camp, grab your pack, and retrace your steps past Blue Lake down to the trailhead.
Lamarck Col (class 2-3, connects to Darwin Canyon and Evolution Basin); Tyee Lakes (short side trail, chain of 5 lakes)
Lake Sabrina TH is on the same road as North Lake (Route 28/38) - combine trips or use as backup if other permits unavailable. Lake Sabrina Boat Landing has a cafe (excellent pie). Bishop Creek Lodge nearby. Bear canister required. No campfires above 10,000ft. Donkey and Baboon Lakes require off-trail navigation - GPS/map skills needed. The Sabrina Basin road forks to North Lake and South Lake - all three trailheads within 15min of each other near Bishop.
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