At 10,776 feet, Mt. Rose is the highest summit you can reach on a (long) day hike in the Tahoe area. The trail starts high — at the 8,900-ft Mt. Rose Summit on the highway — so the climb, while serious, is shorter than the elevation suggests.
You'll pass a seasonal waterfall and wildflower meadows before the final switchbacks to the top, where the reward is an unbroken 360° panorama: Lake Tahoe to the south, Reno and the high desert to the east, and Sierra peaks in every other direction.
| Distance | ~10.7 miles round trip (out and back) |
|---|---|
| Elevation gain | ~2,300 ft |
| Difficulty | Strenuous |
| Trailhead | Mt. Rose Summit trailhead on NV-431 (Mt. Rose Highway), elev. ~8,900 ft |
| Dogs | Leashed dogs allowed |
| Season | Roughly July–October; snow-covered and exposed the rest of the year |