I posted a question on Sunday to see if anyone had any info regarding the trail that goes up to Fish, Round, and Sand Lakes on the Weber Drainage of the Uintas but I only got one reply (Thanks to Lunkerhunter)…
I called the Kamas ranger district to see if there was still snow pack up on top (around 9600 feet) but the person I talked to hadn’t even heard of these lakes and gave a general answer of “probably snow”.
I looked on a Topography map and see that Mirror Lake is near the same elevation as Round and Sand Lakes so I was hoping the conditions may be similar.
So, with the stead heat wave we have enjoyed for the last 6 days I was hoping someone may information in the last 48 hours regarding the conditions at Mirror Lake.
PS The DWR’s Fishing report for Central Utah (and the Uinta Mountains) hasn’t been updated since mid May so it was absolutely no help whatsoever.
The snow is melting very quickly at that elevation. You don’t say when you’re looking to go but even if it’s tomorrow I wouldn’t hesitate to give it a try as long as you don’t mind hitting some left over snow drifts. Fishing is usually very fast when you’re the first one to make it in to a stream or lake that been inaccessible because of snow for many months. Just go for it.
P.S. Don’t even bother asking the Forest Service if you want more than a clueless guess.
I agree with Riverdog, the forest service guys are no help with snow conditions. I drove the Mirror Lake Highway on Saturday (6/14). Even though the road was open, Mirror Lake is still two weeks out if we have more good warm weather. I have seen Fish, Round and Sand on the map, but have never been there so I don’t know how they compare with Mirror. I try to jump the first ice out on Grandaddy Lake each year by what I see at Mirror. I have a trip planned to Grandaddy on the 6/28 for what it is worth.
I rely heavily on the snotel site to know what to expect. The last foot of snow at trial lake melted out from 6/12 to 6/16 and that is at 10,000 ft. That means the monitoring site has no snow but expect 1-2 ft of snow drifts still in shaded/ north facing areas. If you looking to get in without much snow at all wait 7-10 days. Daytime highs are running in upper 60’s up there. I started hiking upto 7000 ft to fish 2 months ago and 7500 ft 6 wks ago. A bit more work because there was some snow but the solitude and great fishing where worth it.
I agree, the snow comes out fast when we get this nice hot weather. I was just going on 40+ years of experience - Trial and Mirror Lake drive bys trying to anticipate the opening of the lower Uintas (Grandaddy Basin) - the higher areas will still be later. I generally judge by the ice on those two lakes to anticipate. I have been into the Grandaddy Basin on ice out week as early as May 28 (one very early drought year) and had a few after July 4. I have even had a couple that I misjudged - went in and the lakes were still frozen. The average is about June 20, but my estimation this year from what I saw on Saturday is June 28. Now Bluegill was asking about Fish, Round and Sand Lakes of which I am not very familliar - but if as he said they are about the same as Mirror Lake they won’t be ice free untill about then. I hope he has a great trip either way.
I’m guessing you could get to them. The trail (the last two miles) will be wet, and the two Dry Creek crossings in the first mile or so might present a challenge if the water’s overly high. I’ve gone twice in years past this time of year with not much of a problem, though not on the heels of a snowpack like this years. I wonder if the grayling are a couple weeks behind like many other species right now.
After reading the posts about these lakes im curious as how to get there. I am new military stationed here at Hill AFB and it sounds like high mountain lakes…are they good fishing..can you drive by truck or are atv’s better…what is the best route to take? Sorry for the many questions i would just like to find other places to fish it seems the local lakes are so busy with skiers/tubing on the weekends you cant hardly fish…
There are a dozen or so lakes in the uintas that have grayling. Fish, Round, Sand, Marjorie, and I believe it is called Four Lakes Basin. The Fish lake loop is the easiest to fish and access. The hike if I remember is only around three miles.
The way I have gone is by way of Oakley, taking the road past Smith-Moorehouse in several miles to an area known as Holiday Park. It looks private (and most of it is) but there’s a trailhead on the left side of the road. It’s about four miles in and about 2,000 feet up. It is a hard hike, if you ask me. But the three lakes (Round, Sand, Fish) are all about a mile apart. There are other grayling lakes with easier access. Hope this helps.
You can access the Mirror Lake HWY by way of Evanston Wy, or Kamas UT. The HWY runs between those 2 cities and is probably 30 or 40 miles long. There are about a dozen lakes that are right off the side of the road and many dozen more that require hikes of up to 20 miles to reach. There should be directions in the “fishing holes” board. I will see if i can find the link for you. There are also lakes you can ATV to if you so desire. It is about a 2 hour drive to reach the highest point near MT. Baldy.
Try this link. It should help you out. Most of the lakes i said you can park right next to are on the way to this one. http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=58941;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;page=unread#unread
dwayneb if you are new to the area.. the Uintahs are a must see.
I would recommend picking up a map if you plan on going on an ATV to some of the lakes.. there are several lakes you can just park at and fish.. also a few you can ATV to.. and MANY that you can hike to.
We lose people every year in that forest.. it can get dense and it all looks the same for the most part from the ground. so, of coarse, stay on the trails and don’t think you can just get where you want by going by where you think you are on the map.
Don’t pass them up! Great place to go and see Utah Wilderness.
Most of the lakes, all you need to catch fish is a fly and bubble setup. You can catch a few species of trout from cuts to beautiful brooke trout. The Grayling is cool too.
It’s a little drive from HAFB.. but not too far.. There are several spots to camp, if you go up there.. do yourself a favor and stay the night.. so you can check out a few different lakes..
I got into Echo Lake in Murdock Basin today without any problem. It’s listed as 9740 ft in elevation. Totally iced out, the only snow I hit is when I walked around the lake. Fishing was very good but I’m sure all these higher elevation lakes will be good right after icing off.
You will have to cross the river twice to get to the lakes. We have a cabin in Holiday Park and the rivers are raging right now. It has been a long time since I have seen them like that. Anyway, if you can get across the river about a mile or so in you shouldn’t have a problem. Also, just before you reach the lower lake you will cross another small river that could be really high right now to. If you are really wanting to get in to those lakes I would say go for it, but plan on getting your feet wet getting across the river.
Sounds like you had a great trip to Echo Lake. If you feel inclined give us a report. I haven’t fished Echo for many years. What kind of fish are there? Supposedly Echo had a few golden trout back in the 70’s. Did you drive on up the Mirror Lake highway? conditions? You may want to start a new thread. thanks for the info.
Supposedly there still are golden but I didn’t catch any. Between my son and I we caught about 15 small brookies. Could catch them on hoppers, streamers, small nymphs as well as worms. Basically anything you threw out was good so there was no reason to match the size 22 hatch. Mirror lake highway has been open for 10 days now. Still can’t get in past Trial Lake in a vehicle because of snow however. Echo Lake is exceptionally beautiful but the road in is horrible and getting stuck behind crawling pickups is torture. Pyramid Lake is fishing about the same.
I have been to both Round and Sand Lakes. The fishing is fast for grayling and cutthroat. They will take almost any fly you give them. The hike is a killer though. It is only a three mile hike but half of it is straight up the side of a mountain. I took some 11 year old scouts up there and it took us better part of a day to hike it under full pack. But I gotta say that I would love to go back there again some day when my kids are old enough to hike it. Beautiful area.
It has been a long time since I fished those three lakes. I remember having to cross the Weber River to get to them, so I wonder how safe it’d be even if there is no snow.
Its been a while but I use to fish it all the time. We do a lot of bow hunting form that area, if you have a float tube and a decent truck go up a little higher to Beaver lake as well. I have had good luck with Panther Martins (yellow w/red spots) flies and the good old worms. Mostly planters but still a lot of fun in a very pretty place.
