• Wildflowers Along the Tahoe Rim Trail
• Beautiful Scenery Along the Tahoe Rim Trail
• "The Bench" on Tahoe Rim Trail

A week ago, we hiked 11.7 miles, point-to-point, on the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) from Tahoe Meadows to Tunnel Creek, and the first mile was grueling, buried in feet of high-elevation snow. Today, we’re hiking 12.55 miles, point-to-point, on the Tahoe Rim Trail from Spooner to Kingsbury North.

Because this route was point-to-point, once again, we had to park a second vehicle at the end ahead of time.

We did encounter some snow on this hike from Spooner to Kingsbury, as well, but not nearly as much as we did on last week’s hike, which was higher elevation than today’s route. And we were pleasantly surprised by the plentiful wildflowers on this early-season hike.

When hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail from Spooner to Kingsbury, the first mile is a steady 500-foot ascent, which kind of feels like a lot when you’re just starting out the hike. But it helps to have pretty scenery and wildflowers to take your mind off of it.

Wildflowers Along the Tahoe Rim Trail

Over the years of hiking, we’ve come across lots and lots of bright red/orange Indian Paintbrush flowers, but this was our first time seeing yellow Indian Paintbrush.

During some seasons, the section of the Tahoe Rim Trail after it intersects Genoa Peak Road and opens to views of the east shore of Lake Tahoe, can feature some fantastic wildflowers. Since this was still a fairly early-season hike, before the wildflowers were able to really take off, we weren’t sure what to expect, but we did continue to see some Indian Paintbrush, Lupine, Arrowleaf Balsamroot, and Mule’s Ear.

Beautiful Scenery Along the Tahoe Rim Trail

Here’s that part where we ran into a bit of snow on the trail.

The closer we got to “The Bench” on the Tahoe Rim Trail, however, the more we were bombarded by large swathes of pink/lavender and white Spreading Phlox flowers.

“The Bench” on Tahoe Rim Trail

We have been to The Bench destination numerous times, either by hiking or by Jeeping up from Genoa Peak Road. The section of the Tahoe Rim Trail south of The Bench to Kingsbury was unfamiliar to us, however, before today’s hike.

It was a little bit of a grind, as many hikes longer than 10 miles can be, but again, the scenery made it worthwhile, and the weather was incredible.

In just under five hours, and with just over 2,100 feet of elevation gain, we arrived at the Kingsbury North Trailhead just off of Hwy 207. Our legs were fatigued, and we were eager to grab a seat inside the Jeep that was waiting for us!

TRT: Spooner to Kingsbury hike
Total Distance	12.55 mi
Total Time	4:55:57
Total Ascent	2,103 ft
Max Elevation	8,162 ft