A Second Chance of Round-Lake Hiking at Heenan Lake Wildlife Area

Heenan Lake

 

Date: May 25, 2026
Place: Markleeville, California 
Coordinates: 38.656215, -119.663887
Length: 5 miles
Level: easy plus

 

Last May Pappa Quail and I went on a long weekend trip to the Eastern Sierra. Our main objective was to see the rosy finches below the White Mountain Peak. Led awry by misinformation about the snow conditions on the White Mountains Road we had to change plans. Instead, we hiked at the Schulman Grove of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. We also explored a bit at the lower elevations of the White Mountains, near the Grandview Campground and on the following day also at the mountain slope below the campground. After leaving the White Mountains we spend the rest of the day at Mono Lake - checking out the South Tufa again, and then driving all around the lake, stopping to explore at certain spots along lake's eastern side. 

On the last day of our trip we spent some time exploring Bodie State Historic Park, and we stopped briefly at Bridgeport Lake to look for birds. From there we started driving up Monitor Pass Road on our way back west of the Sierra Nevada and home. Pappa Quail wanted to stop at Hope Valley to look for birds. He was not all too happy about the bird sightings of this trip so far, and he had memories of Hope Valley being a good birding spot. I love Hope Valley too, but I wanted to hike around Heenan Lake before we went to Hope Valley. 

 

Heenan Lake is a small reservoir just below Monitor Pass on its west side. We've been there before with the chikas on our return from our April 2021 road trip to Utah. It was really early spring in the mountains at the time and there wasn't much going on near the lake so we hiked a bit then and continued home after that. Ever since however, I've been hoping for an opportunity to visit the lake again, and to hike around it. Now that day had finally come.

 

Other than us there was only one other car in the small parking area. The driver seemed to be taking a break from his drive and not very interested in what was going on around. There was also a motor home parked in the corner of the parking lot but we saw no one else around. After taking a quick meal we took our cameras and started down the trail toward the lake. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

 

Heenan Lake is at an altitude of 7,000 ft. It was an afternoon time, cool and somewhat breezy. Light clouds moved across the sky and we were walking between patches of blissful sunshine and somber chill. 

There were wildflowers abound - lots and lots of wildflowers. It was hard for me to keep pace with Pappa Quail because I wanted to stop by each and every one of them. 

Western Hawksbeard, Crepis occidentalis

 Many of these wildflowers I saw blooming there I was familiar with, at least at the genus level. Some were represented only by a few individuals, while others were in higher numbers. 

Waxy Checkerbloom, Sidalcea glaucescens

 

Although there were many wildflowers around the lake, none of them were forming mats. The only species that came kind of close was the sulphur buckwheat. 

Sulphur Buckwheat, Eriogonum umbellatum

 

I caught up with Pappa Quail when he stopped to watch a bird. This bird we could listen to as well - it was a sparrow singing his heart out. 

Brewer's Sparrow

The trail along the northeast shore of Heenan Lake was a well packed gravel dirt road. I recall that road ending at the east cornet of the roughly diamond-shaped lake, where Heenan Creek spilled into the reservoir. There was a building there to which the road led.

On the south, way past the lake, towered a large, multi-peaked snow-capped mountain, possibly Boulder Peak. A cool breeze blew across the lake, rippling the water gently. 

Heenan Lake

The breeze didn't bother the pelican that cruised the sky over the lake. This bird was alone - we saw no other pelicans in the area, not on the water and not in the air. 

White Pelican

I returned my attention to the wildflowers. With every step I took on that trail I discovered more and more species of wildflowers. 

Silverleaf Phacelia, Phacelia hastata

Not al of the wildflower species I was able to identify. Not even with the help of the iNaturalist App. I got close enough with the genus, though. 

Rockcress, Boechera sp.

Between the larger and more colorful bushes and shrubs bloomed also miniscule plants with tiny flowers. 

Small-flowered Blue-eyed Mary, Collinsia parviflora

These plants are commonly referred to by plant photographers as, 'belly flowers', implying that the photographer has to lay flat on their belly in order to get a decent photo. 

Slender Phlox, Microsteris gracilis

Well, I guess I'm not such a dedicated plant photographer. I didn't go flat on my belly to photograph anything on this hike. I merely stooped down. 

Staining Collomia, Collomia tinctoria

I wasn't the only being there who was attracted to the wildflowers. There were the usual pollinators of course - bees and butterflies. Then there was this yellowjacket wasp too. It wasn't doing any pollination as far as I could see, but it was hovering very intently from one flower to another. I was able to take a couple of decent photos. Yellowjackets are in fact, quite beautiful, seen from a safe distance.

Western Yellowjacket

Once again Pappa Quail was ahead of me. He focused his gaze on the lake while I had my eyes downward still, looking at the flowers.

Field Alison, Alyssum simplex

A large cloud drifted over the lake, dimming the sunlight. It felt like the breeze intensified a little. I pulled my jacket about me and rushed to catch up with Pappa Quail.

A few ducks were floating on the water not too far from the shore, bobbing up and down on the little waves that rippled the lake. 

American Wigeon

None of the ducks were of a species new to us, but they were not mallard either. Both wigeon and gadwall are migrating duck species, and the few we saw at Heenan Lake might have been stragglers, as the migration season was mostly over at the time. 

Gadwall

The cloud passed and the sunlight flooded again the area where we were, brightening up the flower colors. The insects also seemed more active around the flowers. 

Variable Checkerspot

Naturally, I paid most attention to the butterflies, as they were larger and more colorful. Then again, other insects also interest me, and whenever I had the chance I took a closer look at some of the bees and other bugs that I saw.

Bee

A turkey vulture glided over us. Pappa Quail ignored it - vultures are all too common a bird to excite him. The vulture swooped so close however, that I was able to get a good photo of the bird with my own wide-angle camera. I like these birds. 

Turkey Vulture

There wasn't anyone else on the trail. The clouds kept passing above us. We were now within sight of the building at the end of the gravel road. 

There weren't many trees along this side of he trail. We were on the northwest shore of the lake, meaning we were on the shore facing southeast, which is generally sunnier and drier. There were however, a few small trees or large bushes here and there. 

Curlleaf Mountain Mahogany, Cercocarpus ledifolius

I returned my attention to the tiny wildflowers that were blooming at the side of the trail. Moisture seeping at the base of the hill turned the edge of the trail a bit muddy, and even flooded a little bit. Different wildflowers blooming in the mud puddles. 

Scouler's Popcornflower,Plagiobothrys scouleri

As we got closer to the building at the end of the gravel road we saw a large pickup truck parked near the wall. The large garage door was open. 

Spreading Fleabane

We approached slowly, not sure what we would see there. Soon enough we saw a man standing near the truck. When he saw us approaching he came over and introduced himself. 

Yellow Pincushion Plant, Navarretia breweri

The building he said, was a fish hatchery, breeding Lahontan cutthroat trout fish. Lahontan cutthroat trout are native trout species of the Great Basin lakes and rivers. He was the sole operator of the station for a couple of month now, and was near changing his shift with someone else. He offered us a look inside the building, and we got to see the egg collection tanks and the equipment used. 

Outside the fish hatchery operator showed us the fish in the canal leading to the lake. The fish were crowded, and thrashing in the tight passage, gasping. 

Lahontan Cutthroat Trout at the Heenan Lake Fish Hatchery

On the cement outside was some trout roe. The operator told us that bears try to break into the canal and sometimes they succeed. He told us that bears visit the hatchery regularly and suggested that we had a good chance of seeing one. 

I asked him about the trail around the lake past the fish hatchery. The man said that we should have no issues picking up the path after we cross the creek. It wasn't a maintained path though, he told us, and was grown in with vegetation.  

Pappa Quail hesitated. He wanted to go back and drive to Hope Valley. I convinced him on the grounds that we've been many times in Hope Valley already. 

California Cornlily, Veratrum californicum

I crossed the creek first with Pappa Quail following behind. I spotted the red-winged black bird  first and took a quick photo. When Pappa Quail came from behind the bird had already flown. 

Red-winged Blackbird

 

A thick thicket of willows was right at the lake. behind the willows it was low shrubs covering the entire area, with no view of exposed soil at all. 

I moved forward gingerly, expecting a bear to jump out of the willows at any moment. There were no bears but there were plenty of wildflowers.  

Woodbeauty, Drymocallis lactea 

No clear trail was visible right away but I could tell with good confidence where the path was so I moved in that direction, pausing  here and there for the wildflowers that I saw. 

Rydberg's Beardtongue, Penstemon rydbergii

I came to a full stop when I saw the iris blooming in my path. I saw a bunch of these irises earlier in a small ditch near the parking lot but I didn't have the camera with me at that moment. Now I had the opportunity to look at this beauty from up close. 

Western Blue Flag, Iris missouriensis

Before long I found an actual trail. It was narrow, and indeed overgrown, but it was clearly a trail where people have walked fairly regularly during the warm season. 

This time I was at the lead and Pappa Quail came up behind me. Then he spotted the bald eagle in the sky. The fish Hatchery guy told us that there were two eagle nests in the vicinity of the lake - one of bald eagles and one of golden eagles. He had pointed roughly their location to us. Then he said that there was a nest of osprey too. We haven't seen the golden eagles or the osprey, but here was the beautiful, majestic bald eagle cruising the sky. 

Bald Eagle

Now that we were away from the creek the trail became more clear and the soil underfoot more dry. The path itself had some little plants growing on it. Little plants with tiny flowers. 

Purple False Gilia, Gilia Allophyllum gilioides

The path was very narrow though, and we constantly needed to push our way between shrubs that were growing into it, may of which were woody and hard. 

Suddenly there was a quick movement on the trail just ahead of me. A snake! Excited, I  called out to Pappa Quail, snapped a photo and moved forward. The snake quickly vanished in the bushes. 

Mountain Garter Snake

Pappa Quail didn't get to see the snake but he did spot a bluebird perching on a bush nearby, holding its catch before gulping it down. 

Mountain Bluebird

Pappa Quail voiced his displeasure with the slow walk, having to negotiate the narrow trail with the bushes and sections that were partly eroded. He also didn't subscribe to my estimation that going around the lake was only about 2 miles (he was right about that). 

Heenan Lake

At that point however, we were nearing the half way point. My navigator showed a real dirt road on the western side of the lake. Once we made it around the south tip of the lake the walking would be much easier. 

Anderson's Larkspur, Delphinium andersonii

A step later we came upon bear scat, and once again I raised the argument that we have a good chance of seeing cool wildlife here. 

American Black Bear scat

 

Even more exciting than the bear scat was the peony that I found blooming near the trail. I spent a few long minutes to get the best shot I could of this flower. 

Brown's Peony, Peonia brownii

Then the trail became even narrower and the shrubs that grew into it seemed more thorny as well. I kept at the lead, squeezing myself gently between the bushes. It was still pretty clear where the path was, but on occasions we needed to bypass it because it was too eroded. 

A bit higher on the hillside were trees - some pines and other conifers, but also a nice pando of quaking aspen. The aspens were wearing their lovely spring foliage already. 

Pappa Quail passed me and stopped to screen the opposite shore with his binoculars. He found the bald eagles nest and pointed it out to me. For all we could see, the nest was unoccupied at the time. The antelope bitterbush dominated the southeastern shore of the lake. They were in full bloom, giving the entire slope a lovely spring color of lemony yellow. 

Antelope Bitterbush, Purshia tridentata

The trail got very close to the water. So close in fact, that in places we had to carve our way through the vegetation a little above muddy places. I didn't see any fish in the water but I did look at the sedges that were growing off shore, mostly submerged. 

The path rose above the lake a little, and once again we were treading on dry ground. A large gooseberry bush blocked our path. Pappa Quail squeezed right by it but I paused to take a photo - it was in bloom. 

Wax Currant, Ribes cereum

After we passed the gooseberry bush the trail became much easier to walk on. The bushes here were more far apart and kept to their perimeter. 

 The dominant shrub on this part of the trail was the low sagebrush, a relative of the tarragon herb. The sagebrush wasn't blooming at the time but some of the shrubs did had round brown galls. 

Galls on Low Sagebrush, Artemisia arbuscula

 

 The antelope bitterbush was present still, and I took a moment to look more closely at its pretty, light yellow blossoms. 

Antelope Bitterbush, Purshia tridentata

I spotted a lily-like inflorescence a bit off the trail and went over there to take a look - it was a deathcamas plant. Beautiful flowers, deadly toxic bulb. 

Foothill Deathcamas, Toxicoscordion paniculatum

While I was looking at the deathcamas Pappa Quail went ahead. When I looked up I saw that he stopped and was waiting for me. 

The trail we were walking on continued south. The dirt road I saw on the navigator map was very close, merely a few yards to the west. Why walk longer to the south to the point where the paths met? With a few steps we covered the distance directly to the west. 

 

 The dirt road itself stretched much further to the south. I had an urge to continue in that direction - I wondered where did that road lead too. That however, would have to happen a different time. 

 

There were more wildflowers in that area. A lovely onion with pink flowers bloomed in abundance between the narrow foot path and the dirt road. 

Swamp Onion, Allium validum

It was in that place where I first saw a paintbrush in bloom, and it was very small and not of a species I was familiar with. If there were any more paintbrush plants in the area, none of them were in bloom. 

Toothed Owl's Clover, Orthocarpus cuspidantus

There were fleabane plants in bloom as well, and these were almost done blooming already, their ray flowers fallen. 

Bloomer's Fleabane, Erigeron bloomeri

Now that we were on the gravel road again walking indeed became much easier. We started striding north, hoping to make a good time around the lake. 

The road went almost under the eagle's nest that we saw earlier from the eastern shore. Even from up close we could not see any bird inside the nest. 

Bald Eagle Nest

There were man more trees on this side of the lake - the northeast-facing slope. It was likely better shaded and more moist during summer. 

There were also more birds on this side of the lake. Many more birds. Finally, Pappa Quail was in his element. 

Cassin's Finch

With the shade of the trees added to the occasional cloud and with the day growing older, the air also got cooler. Once again I zipped my jacket up. At least the wind didn't get any stronger.

Lake Heenan

Most of the trees growing near the trail were pines. Then there were the quaking aspens - a broad leaf tree that grows high in the mountains but needs to be close to plenty of fresh water. The aspens we walked under on the trail were scarred by the sap well dug by sapsucker birds. 

Sapsucker sap wells

We didn't see the sapsucker birds but we did see a chipmunk on the nearby pine tree Most uncharacteristically, the chipmunk chewed its food nonchalantly while we stared at it. 

Long-eared Chipmunk

On a thin branch of a bush further up the trail was a yellow bird - a female western tanager. The bird had some plant fluff in her beak - nesting materials. 

Western Tanager, female

The trail was ascending on the hillside and we were going up with it. Now we had a nice view of Heenan Lake from above. 

Heenan Lake

A large cloud crept over us. The slope we were on was completely shaded and so was most of the lake below. On the east side of the lake only the peak remained lit. It felt like evening, but it was too early still. 

Little suns lit the earth below in the form of the woolly mule's ear blossoms, bright and yellow, facing the sky. 

Woolly Mule's Ear, Wyethia mollis

There were other wildflowers too. Many penstemon flowers matted the hillside between the trees and the bushes. 

Rydberg's Beardtonge, Penstemon rydbergii

The trail continued rising above the lake, going higher and higher. There were more birds around as well. Another bluebird perched on top of one of the bushes eyed us warily as we passed by on the trail.

Mountain Bluebird

Once again we were out in the open, the trees becoming fewer and farther between. The dominant shrub was the sagebrush, painting the entire slope gray. Between the gray shrubs however, there were many blue dots - wildflowers. 

Some of those blue flowers were of the beautiful silvery lupine, which were still early on their bloom season. 

Silvery Lupine, Lupinus argenteus

Most of the blue blossoms however, was of larkspur. Large inflorescence towers of Anderson's larkspur poked through the thicket of the bushes, reaching high above them to attract the bees. 

Anderson's Larkspur, Delphinium andersonii

I didn't see any bees now. Perhaps it was already too cold for them. I did spot one lady beetle as it was crawling on a grass stem. 

Convergent Lady Beetle

A flash of red between all the gray bushes captured my attention - finally, a red paintbrush in bloom. This one, like the one I saw earlier, was the only one of its species that I saw blooming. 

Desert Paintbrush, Castilleja chromosa

Pappa Quail stopped again - he spotter a green-tailed towhee atop a nearby bush. The towhee didn't cooperate and wouldn't turn his face to us. When Pappa Quail tried going to the other side the bird flew away. 

Green-tailed Towhee

The trail leveled a bit and for a short distance we were walking between two walls of tall, white-blooming bushes. 

 

Some of these bushes were of cherry, relatives of domestic plums. Their flowers had a delicate, lovely scent.  

Bitter Cherry, Prunus emarginata

Then there were their close relatives - the chokecherry bushes. They also bloomed in white, but their flowers seemed more neatly arranged on the stems. 

Chokeberry, Prunus vigriniana

On a gooseberry bush further up the trail was another western tanager bird, this time it was a male, with his beautiful rosy face. 

Western Tanager, male

While Pappa Quail was busy photographing the western tanager I was busy looking at the wildflowers that were blooming near the trail. The spreading phlox - an early bloomer, was already on the down side of its bloom season.

Spreading Phlox, Phlox diffusa

There were more lupine plants in bloom too, and not only the silvery lupine. I saw there the longspur lupine too, with white flowers. 

Longspur Lupine, Lupinus arbustus

The large cloud had moved on and sunlight returned to the trail. Higher up the slope Pappa Quail spotted a large nest of top of a dead tree - it was the osprey nest that the fish hatchery man told us about. This nest too was empty and we saw no osprey birds nearby. 

Right then a bird with robin-like colors flew by us with the moves of a woodpecker and settled on top of a dead tree. Pappa Quail trained his camera on that bird and caught it just as it was flying off, holding a bug in its beak. 

Lewis' Woodpecker

The bird settled on another tree nearby and Pappa Quail was able to get a better photo - it was a Lewis woodpecker! 

Lewis' Woodpecker

This bird was a jackpot. The last time we saw this bird, and the only time that Pappa Quail had seen it before, was on a hike we did years ago on the Biz Johnson Trail in Susanville. Now we were seeing this beautiful bird once again. The woodpecker flew back to the dead tree and disappeared behind it. We waited for a while but it didn't come around the tree so I hypothesized that there might be a woodpecker hole on the other side of that tree. Pappa Quail labored up the hill between the bushes (at a good distance to nor disturb the bird) and confirmed that indeed there was a woodpecker hole on the other side. 

The woodpecker didn't come out for a long time and eventually Pappa Quail came back down to the trail and we resumed our hike. 

We have reached the crest and at last we were going downhill. The trail chained from gravel to packed dirt, and there were some wildflowers that were blooming right in the middle of the trail itself. 

Slender Phlox, Microsteris gracilis

On the way downhill we passed a small meadow irrigated by a tiny creek, originated in springs somewhere up the slope. 

Onion plants were blooming in that little meadow, onions of a different species than that I saw earlier on the trail. 

Lemmon's Onion, Allium lemmonii

 

The lake's dam came into view. We reached the cutoff path leading down top the dam. The dirt road continued north to meet SR 89 and we took the path down to the dam. 

Heenan Lake Dam

As we made our way I looked also at the area downstream of the dam. There was a meadow there with two oval pools that were connected by a small canal. It looked like a lovely place to explore more closely but I knew that Pappa Quail wanted to resume our drive home as soon as we completed the hike so I didn't even propose going down there.

We reached the dam. Thankfully the reservoir outlet wasn't running high so we had no problem hopping across to the other side. 

Past the dam it was a short, narrow trail back to the dirt road we begun our hike on. There were some wildflowers along that path too, but none that I haven't yet seen.

We reached the parking area in time with another large cloud that shaded the sun. From there, we had a lovely view of the snow-capped mountains south of the lake.

We also met again with the fish hatchery operator. The motor home that was parked in the corner of the parking lot was his. Pappa Quail got into a chat with the man and I took the chance to sneak back to that ditch where I saw the irises earlier, this time taking my camera with me. 

Western Blue Flag, Iris missouriensis

It was still early enough in the afternoon when we left Heenan Lake but Pappa Quail didn't feel like making another stop at Hope Valley. This hike around Heenan Lake was a good, beautiful hike all around and the perfect finish for our Eastern Sierra Trip.