Florence Lake Trail

The trail starts off the dirt road on the west side of Florence Lake and loosely follows the shoreline at a higher elevation. As you make your way around the lake, beautiful vistas abound, including good views of the Florence Lake Dam. You'll reach the South Fork San Joaquin River about 3.3 miles from the trailhead. A large wooden bridge makes the crossing easy and offers good impressions of the impressive force the river already has at this altitude. Continue on and the trail becomes rockier and more exposed, ascending again for about 2 miles. Cross a wide dirt road at 3.9 miles that connects the southern terminus of the Florence Ferry with the Muir Trail Ranch further up the valley. As you continue your ascent, you pass Double Meadow at about 5 miles and Blayney Meadows after about 6 miles with a crossing of Alder Creek in between. Around 7.5 miles, views across the valley open up, right before you reach the Sallie Keys Cutoff - Muir Trail Ranch at 7.8 miles. The short trail on the right leads to a camp site next to the South Fork San Joaquin River and - if you can cross it - to a Hot Spring on the other side. Continue on and pass another large camp site right next to the river at 8.8 miles before you reach the Pacific Crest Trail / John Muir Trail at 9.2 miles.