California trails · Green Creek Trail
Green Creek Trail
A 10.2-mile out-and-back in California, with 3,114 ft of climbing. Reaches Virginia Lakes and other lake destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the first third: 46% of the ascent falls between mile 0.0 and mile 3.4. It gives back about 1,438 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Virginia Lakes (lake)
- Hoover Lakes (lake)
- Nutter Lake (lake)
- Frog Lakes (lake)
- Blue Lake (lake)
- Cooney Lake (lake)
- Gilman Lake (lake)
- East Lake (lake)
- Big Valley Lake (lake)
Heads up
Getting there
VIRGINIA LAKES TRAILHEAD — parking nearby, restroom, water. 38.04810, -119.26270 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:58 a.m., the sun rises at 6:25 a.m. and sets at 7:28 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:55 p.m. (PDT) — 13 h 02 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 20.5-mile round trip takes roughly 10 h 42 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 5:07 p.m. — 2 h 21 min before sunset.
Loop options
- Green Creek + Green Creek Trail — 13.6 mi loop, 2,894 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Green Creek — 4.5 mi
- 20 Lakes Basin Loop — 4.8 mi
- Robinson Creek Trail — 9.4 mi
- Robinson Creek — 9.7 mi