Big Pine is located ten minutes south of Bishop. In Big Pine, take the only road that goes west (right), Glacier Rd. The trailhead parking lot is almost at the end of the road (before Glacier Lodge). There is a campground about 200 meters before the trailhead.

From that campground drive up the road shortly and find the hiker's parking lot on your right-hand side (there are bear lockers right at the parking lot). The trailhead is behind the restrooms. The altitude here is about 2,000 meters.

This is the beginning of the North Fork route. Beware that the water here is contaminated by all the mules and horses that are allowed to ride (and defecate on) the trails.

The North Fork trail goes around a huge hill and coasts three of the lakes.

(Note: one can also drive to the end of the road and take the South Fork trail for a while and then follow the signs to connect with the North Fork trail. This may sound like a faster way, but the way to go from the South Fork trail to the North Fork trail is so convoluted that i discourage it. On the way back it is also difficult to find the way down to the South Fork trailhead, especially in the dark).

It takes about 2 hours to the first lake. A few minutes later one reaches the second lake at 3066m of altitude. The third lake follows also after a few minutes. About 1km after the third lake (3 hours into the hike, 3124m of altitude), one can take a detour to the Glacier Trail (instead of continuing the Seven Lake loop). Careful: this sign is easy to miss.

The trail climbs up a canyon and reaches an enchanting place, Sam Mack Meadow (3280m), completely surrounded by mountains and waterfalls (3.5 hours into the hike).

Return to the seven-lake trail and turn left to reach Lake 4 and Lake 5. Then continue to Lake 6 and Black Lake. The train then descends rapidly towards the beginning of the loop, just south of Lake 1.

• North Fork parking lot (2300m)
• First lake 1h45'
• Third lake 2h45'
• Junction 3h
• Sam Mack meadow (3280m) 3h30'
• Back to junction 4h
• Lake 5 4h30'
• Lake 4 4h40'
• Lake 6 4h50'
• Black Lake 5h
• End of loop 5h40'
• Trailhead 6h30'

Links: