Marlette Lake Hiking Trail

By Staff, Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park | Sun, 11 May 2008

Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park -- Marlette Lake Trail

The Nevada Mining Boom (1860-1900)

As gold and silver mining at Virginia City and Gold Hill grew, enormous amounts of timber and water were needed to supply the cities and mines. This insatiable appetite spurred the creation of Marlette Lake, Hobart Reservoir, Spooner Lake and an intricate system of flumes and pipelines (The Marlette-Hobart Water System)that today is a National Civil Engineering Landmark. The box flume that carried water (not timber) from Marlette Lake Hobart Laketo Tunnel Creek Station is now the site of the popular Marlette Flume Trail.

This flume and another from the north combined and entered a 4000' tunnel which emptied on the east side of the Carson Range. It then joined the key pipeline of the Comstock, the Inverted Siphon. This high pressure pipeline brought water to a reservoir near Virginia City and could deliver up to 10 million gallons/day. Amazingly, this pipeline still works, although the water supplied now primarily comes from Hobart Reservoir and the Red House diversions. Red House is the last remaining flume maintenance station and was rebuilt about 1910 after a devastating flood that claimed two lives. As the Comstock declined, limited livestock grazing replaced timber interests in the early 1900's. The forest slowly returned but the environmentally disastrous activities of the Comstock years are still being felt today.

The Backcountry Today

Land acquisitions in the 1960's from the Whittell estate formed the bulk of the 12,242 acres currently owned by the State of Nevada.

The trail to Marlette Lake via North Canyon Road is the easiest access into the back-country. A steeper access is available at Tunnel Creek Road. The one time millpond, Spooner Lake, now offers fishing and is surrounded by a peaceful, attractive natural area that provides opportunities for walking and nature study in the spring, summer and fall. The most sought-after trails in the backcountry are the historic Marlette Flume Trail and the Tahoe Rim TrailMarlette Lake during the Fall.

Park at the Spooner Lake Trailhead, located in Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park. The trailhead is just north and west of the U.S. HWY 50 & SR 28 junction. This road meets access to Flume Trail, a popular mountain biking trail.

A parking fee is charged, and dogs are allowed on a leash. Plan a leisure morning and afternoon for this relaxing Tahoe hiking trail.