Rae Lakes Loop Day 1 Approach

The Rae Lakes Loop is considered one of the finest week-long backpacking circuits in the Sierra Nevada, and the Day 1 approach from Road's End in Cedar Grove follows the South Fork Kings River into the Bubbs Creek drainage on a route that John Muir himself traversed in 1895. The first day's 8-mile segment climbs steadily from the 5,000-foot canyon floor through ponderosa and sugar pine forest, past the thundering Mist Falls cascade — one of Kings Canyon's highest-volume waterfalls — and into the alpine granite terrain of the Kings Canyon Wilderness. Wilderness permits are required and heavily allocated by quota due to the route's popularity; the Rae Lakes Loop permit system operates through Recreation.gov with a lottery for peak season dates. The full 41-mile loop crosses Glen Pass at 11,978 feet, traverses the aquamarine Rae Lakes basin beneath the Painted Lady and Mount Rixford, and returns via Bubbs Creek. Day hikers commonly do the approach to Mist Falls as a turnaround at mile 4. Beyond Mist Falls the trail climbs steeply through a glacially polished granite landscape of increasing grandeur typical of the High Sierra's John Muir Trail corridor.