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Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

The Shingle Creek Trail in the High Uintas is a popular trail for an “early season” trail for hikers and backpackers to follow when the higher elevations haven’t thawed out from winter. I have driven past this trail so many times, yet had never done it – until now! I decided to head up for one night with two friends and our destination was South Erickson Lake. East Shingle Creek Lake is more popular, but a little lower in elevation, and seemed to have more mosquitos so we wanted to keep going.

About

This trail, I found out, is extremely hot in the middle of summer. It was close to 90F when we hiked it. Therefore, I would highly recommend saving this route for a Fall trip. Yes, there is a stream along the way and two lakes to stop at, but generally this trail is exposed making it feel really hot and sweaty. You start hiking at 7,800 ft and end at 10,000 ft so it can be a slower hike if you aren’t used to the elevation. If you still really want to this in summer, I suggest to start hiking no later than 6am to beat the heat. Dogs are able to do this trail, but horses and bikes also use this trail so have a leash handy in case you come across either, or near wildlife.

Keep in mind that the Uintas can get cold at night, and they also get the daily afternoon thunderstorm. When backpacking to any part of the Uintas, be prepared for any kind of weather, and especially mosquitoes.

 

Directions

From Kamas, Utah drive East along the Mirror Lake Highway for 10 miles, and turn left at the brown sign for Shingle Creek TH. It’s just past the Shingle Creek Campground. The trail starts at the larger green gate, in the NW corner of the dirt parking lot.

Here’s a driving map.

 

Trail Info

Distance: 6 miles to East Shingle Creek Lake,

7.5 miles to South Erickson Lake

Elevation gain: 2,400 ft to S. Erickson Lake

Time: 1 night backpacking 

Dog friendly? Yes, off leash

Kid friendly? No, due to distance and elevation gain

Fees/Permits?

The Mirror Lake Highway charges a $6 fee for a 3 day pass. It’s free if you have an annual Mirror Lake Hwy, American Fork Canyon pass, or annual National Park Pass. No permit is required.

 

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 The Shingle Creek TH official sign.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 Start from the bigger green gate – there is a small one to the right of this. Both lead the same way, but the small green gate is the “old” trail with lots of downed trees. This one with the brown signs is the correct/new way. Right away you’ll hike up a hill, and within 10 minutes of hiking cross the first bridge with a tin silo structure.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 The first 2.5 miles are flat and shaded.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 There are a few places for dogs to stop and drink as well. Even though there is a creek most of the way, the trail goes in and out of following it so I recommend carrying a minimum of 2 liters of water. On the way back down because it was so hot I ran out of water the last 2 miles.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 The views start to open up with a nice, rocky area on the West side of the trail.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

There were SO many flowers! I thought this was my best photo I took of “Piper’s Anemone, Windflower“.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

Passing by a nice meadow. There was also a campsite right around the corner if you wanted a shorter trip (though I imagine the bugs are worst here).

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 Cross the 2nd bridge at 2.4 miles.

UPDATE 2020: This bridge no longer looks like this – scroll to the bottom to see the updated bridge.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

Right after the 2nd bridge is where you’ll start to gain elevation, in an open sandy/rocky trail.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

This part was the worst section of trail for me because it was SO HOT! There is zero shade here, plus the uphill is kind of steep. At the top of this section it will level out for about 1/2 mile.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 The 3rd bridge at mile 3.4 is no longer here. You can see the remnant of it to the left of Troy, in the shade. There are plenty of rocks and logs to get across dry though.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 Once again the trail gradually climbs uphill, and it gets even hotter!

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

Another nice meadow, as we get closer to the first trail split.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 5.9 miles reach the Shingle Creek Trail split – stay right/straight. If you turn back, uphill in a southerly direction, that will take you to the Upper Setting TH parking. Starting from there would make for a much shorter hike in – only 1.5 miles to East Shingle Creek Lake, and 3 miles one way to S. Erickson Lake. However, you do need 4×4 drive to make it up the long dirt road.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 Charlie takes a break in the shade – it was just too hot for him. This is why I recommend waiting to do this hike in the Fall once the temps cool off.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 Only .1 miles from the trail split you’ll reach East Shingle Creek Lake.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

We thought about camping here but it seemed a bit buggy. We figured it we kept going another 1.5 miles to South Erickson Lake the bugs would be better, and would have cooler temps since we would be at 10,000 ft. There were a few nice campsites here though. We could only see one campsite occupied on the other side of the lake.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 So we kept going. Charlie sought shade wherever possible.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 We reached the pass, and as soon as we started downhill again, we saw this sign. I thought it was kind of funny because, don’t all trails have the possibility of everything listed? LOL! It didn’t prevent us from continuing, and the trail was just fine. Yes a few logs to hike over, but there were logs on the lower part of the trail too.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

 We knew we were finally close when we crossed a small stream.

PS – if you are looking to go ultralight (UL), I highly recommend Waymark Gear Co. for a UL backpack. It weighs only 2 lbs for a 50 liter pack! Get 10% off your entire backpack order, use the code “GIRLONAHIKE” at checkout here!

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

Turn right at the trail split. Left would take you down to Smith & Moorehouse Reservoir. We actually met a group of about 12 people that had hiked up from that route, and they said it was only 5 miles to S. Erickson Lake. So there’s a 3rd option for you to reach this area!

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

Finally at 7.5 miles we reached our destination.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas, South Erickson Lake

South Erickson Lake!

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas

We set up camp, and I got to test out my new tent!

For the past 4-5 years I’ve been using the Kelty TN2, which weighed close to 5 lbs! Yikes. I had been saving up some REI gift cards, and finally made the upgrade to a 2 lb tent – the MSR Freelite 2! I couldn’t believe how light this tent was – and super easy to set up! It will definitely fit two of us plus Charlie. My base weight on my pack for one night is now 22 lbs yahoo!

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas, South Erickson Lake

 The water was so clear we decided to swim! I’m very nervous around water, but I was able to swim about 15 feet out to a large boulder in the lake that I could sit on. I hate swimming, but this was doable, and the water temp was so refreshing!

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas, South Erickson Lake

 Ok, maybe I did have fun in the water! But, Charlie also makes everything more enjoyable for me.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas, South Erickson Lake

 He loved swimming for sticks – his favorite!

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas, MSR Freelite 2 with dogs

 One thing I have been lucky with with Charlie – he will put himself to bed when he’s ready haha! He’s so cute when he’s sleepy.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas, MSR Freelite 2 with dogs

 He also enjoys watching the sunset.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas, MSR Freelite 2 with dogs

 It looks cramped but because it was just the two of us, we spread out.

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas, South Erickson Lake

 Good night!

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas, South Erickson Lake

I admit – this isn’t my photo. The next morning Troy decided to hike up to the summit above the lake. He got this sweet photo – South Erickson Lake to the left, North Erickson Lake in the center. You can also see the sky is a bit smoky from all the wildfires Utah is having this year.

 

Winter/April 2020

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas, Backpacking in the Uintas, Backpacking with Dogs in Utah

 In winter we like to hike up to the 2nd bridge, 2.8 miles one way (from the winter road parking area).

Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas, Backpacking in the Uintas, Backpacking with Dogs in Utah

The bridge was way nicer this year – thank you to whoever constructed it!

 

Trail Map

My track via Gaia GPS – the best tracking app! Get your app here for a discount.

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Backpacking the Shingle Creek Trail, Uintas, South Erickson Lake

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