The hike to Pear Lake in Sequoia National Park is a moderate hiking trail that is a little over 6 miles each way and leads you to beautiful views of Heather, Aster, Emerald, and Pear Lakes. This is a great hike for beginner backpacking or makes for a little longer hike to complete in one day!
Trip Overview
Dates: May 22 – May 23, 2022
Time: 4 hours in, 3 hours out
Miles: 12.6
Permit: Non-Quota Season (Sept. 18 – May 25): pick up permit at the nearest permit-issuing station to the trailhead, which is the Lodgepole Visitor Center. During the Quota Season (May 26 – Sept. 23): permits are available through Recreation.gov. Some might be available by walk up during this time. You’ll also need a Standard Entrance Pass for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks when the park entrances are open, or an Interagency Pass.
Trailhead: Wolverton Trailhead
Parking: Available parking at Wolverton
Dogs: Not allowed
Getting There
The trailhead to start this hike begins at The Lakes Trail at Wolverton. Coming south from the 198 you will enter the park at the Foothills Visitor Center and continue on Generals Highway. There are many stopping points to visit on the way including Tunnel Rock and General Sherman Tree, which you can add to your trip either before or after backpacking. The road will veer off to Wolverton Road. Take this road for 1.4 miles to get to the parking lot and trailhead.
Trip Details
We did a quick overnight backpacking trip starting from Los Angeles. On Friday morning we took off for Sequoia National Park and arrived at around 1 PM. After picking up a self-issued permit at the Lodgepole Visitor Center, we drove to Wolverton and started our hike around 2:30 PM.
The trail starts from the overnight parking lot at Wolverton at the north side of the parking lot. Follow the signs for the Lakes Trail and after about 1.8 miles you’ll make a left when the trail comes to a split. 0.3 miles past this point is another split: you can either take the left trail and detour to The Watchtower (this way seemed much more scenic), or take the right trail, the Hump Trail, which is 0.4 miles shorter than the Watchtower Trail. We had to take the Hump Trail because The Watchtower was closed due to too much snow.
Next along in the hike you’ll pass along Heather Lake, Aster Lake, and Emerald Lake. There are designated campsites at Emerald Lake that you can choose to camp at, but we decided to trek about 1 mile further to make it to Pear Lake.
We arrived at Pear Lake around 6:15 pm and there was still enough light out to set up camp. Make sure to camp in the designated marked sites, away from the lake. There is no camping near the lake due to high use of this trail and campsite. There are also food storage lockers available so make sure to store all your food in the provided bins.
After setting up camp we watched the sunset on a rock by the water and we realized we were the only ones camping at the lake that night!
The next morning, we enjoyed our coffee, packed up camp, and headed back down the same trail.
Need to Know
- There is a 25 person daily quota limit at Pear and Emerald Lake basins
- Camping is allowed only at designated sites at Pear and Emerald Lakes
- Camping is limited to 3 nights total
- Animal-resistant food-storage containers are required from May 1 to October 31 (must be park-allowed containers)
- Outhouses are provided at both Pear and Emerald Lakes
When to Go
Anytime from May to October would be a good time to hike to Pear Lake. We went in late May and there was still a considerable amount of snow, but managed to get by without snowshoes. If we did it again with the same snowpack, we would still be iffy on whether or not to bring snowshoes, just because of the extra weight and the amount of time we would actually need to use them. Going during the Quota Season would be ideal if you can get your hands on a permit. September and October is also a good time to go (weather permitting) when there are less crowds, it might be easier to get a permit, and the weather still might be nice enough to take a dip in the lake!
What to Pack to Backpack to Pear Lake
- Hydration: We usually start with 2-3 liters of water, each, and pack a water filter and some iodine tablets. If you’re hiking where there’s snowpack, you can boil some snow to have drinkable water. Electrolyte packets are also very useful for hydration on the trail.
- Nutrition: We usually eat a bar or oatmeal and a piece of fruit before starting off on our backpacking trips. For this trip, we started later in the day so we had already eaten lunch. Then for snacks along the way, more bars, jerky, or trail mix. For dinners, we either eat dehydrated foods or even leftovers from a meal we ate on the road trip out to the hike (cold pizza makes a great dinner!).
- Shelter: We use our Marmot Tungsten 2-Person Tent (3 season, 4 lbs, 13 oz).
- Stove: We love our Jetboil to boil water for drinking and to heat up our dehydrated dinners, oatmeals, coffee, etc.
- Navigation: For hikes with more difficult trails to follow, you may want to invest in a GPS tracker. For simpler hikes, we use the GPS system on our phones and a tracker such as Gaia GPS or AllTrails.
- Headlamp: and our inflatable solar latern by MPOWERD.
- Sun protection: Sunscreen, sunglasses, and sun-protective clothes – always a must!
- First aid: Our first aid kit consists of band-aids, gauze, medical tape, Compede Bandages (love this more than Moleskin for blisters), antibiotic ointment, alcohol wipes, ibuprofen, tweezers, pocket knife.
Leave No Trace
Always remember to practice the principles of Leave No Trace! These 7 principles include:
- Plan Ahead & Prepare
- Travel & Camp on Durable Surfaces
- Dispose of Waste Properly
- Leave What You Find
- Minimize Campfire Impacts
- Respect Wildlife
- Be Considerate of Others
Check out the Leave No Trace program for more information.
