3.4 miles
Distance
252 ft
Climb
-414 ft
Descent
00:29:58
Avg time
Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Powerline Trail

  • USFS
    Land Manager

Powerline Trail Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • Horse
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
  • Riding Area
    Powerline
    South Lake Tahoe, California
  • Ref Number
    #18E33
  • Difficulty Rating
    Green rate
  • Hiking SAC Scale
    T1 Hiking
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Bike Type
    AM, XC, Fat, Adaptive MTB, Gravel
  • Direction
    Both Directions
  • Climb Difficulty
    Green
  • Physical Rating
    Easy
  • Trail Visibility
    Always easy to follow
  • Season
    May-November
  • Family Friendly
    Yes
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • eBike Allowed
    No
  • Global Ranking
    #43208 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • #44589 in Trail Running
    • #68668 in Hiking
  • Local Popularity
    75 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 65 in Trail Running
    • 60 in Hiking
    • 5 in Horseback
  • Land Owner
    USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

Smooth rolling single track takes you from town near Heavenly Cal Base up and along the forest above the neighborhoods of South Lake Tahoe. Easily accessible from many points in town. Very suitable for beginners to intermediates — and everyone can use it to connect to other trails, such as Cold Creek, and Corral and Incense Cedar (via the Moto Trail). West of High Meadow Road this trail ostensibly continues as the Moto Trail which morphs into Powerline Road that connects to Fountain Place Road and the Corral area.

Access Info

Head to the top of Ski Run Blvd and take a right onto Saddle Road, this dead ends after about a block where the trail begins. There is limited on-street parking immediately adjacent to the trailhead. However there is generally plenty of parking at the other end of the trail. To access, drive up High Meadows Road off Pioneer Trail. Park on the pavement at the end of the road or continue another mile up the forest access road to the terminal parking lot. The trail starts north out of the parking area.

Adaptive Bike Info
aMTB 2 Rating: Obstacles exist. You may or may not be able to ride this solo. Support rider recommended.

Rated a 2 due to bridge crossing at Cold Creek trail intersection which has a 8" lip to navigate over

Local Trail Association
Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for Powerline Trail multi-use trail trail
  • Altitude change
    -162 ft
  • Altitude min
    6,478 ft
  • Altitude max
    6,641 ft
  • Altitude start
    6,641 ft
  • Altitude end
    6,480 ft
  • Grade
    -0.9%
  • Grade max
    -20.6%
  • Grade min
    13.5%
  • Distance climb
    1 mile
  • Distance down
    2 miles
  • Distance flat
    2,887 ft
  • Avg time
    00:29:58
  • Avg reverse time
    00:32:08
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Apr 4, 2022
Variable
Avg: 4.15 (6 votes)
Your vote: 0

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  • Basemap 
  • Trail Style 
    • ?
  • Activity Type  
3D
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Snow Cover Inadequate
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)
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The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.
  • > 96%
  • > 90%
  • > 80%
  • > 70%
  • > 50%
  • < 50%
  • bi-directional trail
  • no data
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  • < 1 week
  • < 2 weeks
  • < 1 month
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  • > 6 months
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The intended direction a trail should be ridden.
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  • Downhill Primary
  • Both Directions
  • Uphill Primary
  • Uphill Only
  • One Direction
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  • Description & Photos
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Trail Popularity ?
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months. Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.
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Radar Time
x Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public ridelogs from the past 6 months.
  • mountain biking recent
  • mountain biking (>6 month)
  • hiking (1 year)
  • moto (1 year)
Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.
  • Downhill Ski
  • Backcountry Ski
  • Nordic Ski
  • Snowmobile
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      Directions to powerline-trail-24359 trailhead (38.895550, -119.948270)
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      Powerline Trail Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Apr 4, 2022 @ 5:27pm
      Apr 4, 2022
      		 Other than a couple snow crossings, trail conditions are ideal!
      Jul 13, 2021 @ 12:46pm
      Jul 13, 2021
      Jul 4, 2020 @ 10:29am
      Jul 4, 2020
      May 31, 2020 @ 1:25pm
      May 31, 2020
      May 31, 2020 @ 1:23pm
      May 31, 2020
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 0 rides
      •  
      6 Months
      • 6 rides
      • 14 miles avg distance
      All
      • 440 rides
      • Last: Jul 31, 2021

      Technical Trail Features (TTF)

      Photos

      more »
      96 |
      Aug 15, 2020 @ 6:10pm
      Aug 15, 2020
      70 |
      Aug 15, 2020 @ 6:10pm
      Aug 15, 2020
      119 |
      Aug 1, 2020 @ 3:37pm
      Aug 1, 2020
      100 |
      Aug 1, 2020 @ 3:37pm
      Aug 1, 2020

      Routes with this trail

      more »
      titledistance
      Cold Creek-Star Lake-Freel Peak-Mr. Toad's26 miles
      Iron Butterfly20 miles
      Stagecoach to Star Lake to Heavenly CA base24 miles
      Luther Pass Shuttle - TRT, Armstrong Pass/Connector, Corral, Powerline21 miles

      1 Review & Comments


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      Videos

      more »
      Squirrel flies again!
      0:17 | 497 | Nov 14, 2009 , South Lake Tahoe

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