Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Utah / High Uintas

Grandaddy Basin Loop

High Uintas Wilderness, Ashley National Forest (Grandview Trailhead)

Grandaddy Basin, on the south slope of the High Uintas, holds many lakes, mostly in forest with alpine ridges above. The Ashley National Forest calls the walk from the Grandview Trailhead “moderately strenuous” and notes that lakes “off the beaten path” offer solitude if you want it.

Road Trip Ryan’s version is a loop of about 14.5 miles that crosses Hades Pass and circles a chain of lakes past Betsy Lake.

The hike

From Grandview Trailhead, the trail climbs about 2.4 miles to Hades Pass, which Road Trip Ryan describes as not steep but long, especially under a heavy pack. Hiking Project says the pass overlooks Grandaddy Basin and the Rock Creek Basin. Small Heart Lake sits just off the trail beyond the pass, followed by Grandaddy Lake, which Road Trip Ryan calls the largest natural lake in the Uintas at about 260 acres. Stay left at the Lodgepole Lake junction.

Betsy Lake is about 1.7 miles past Hades Pass, according to Road Trip Ryan. Partway along it, go left at the Fish Hatchery/Rainbow Lake junction and keep straight at the Mohawk Lake junction on the north end. Fish Hatchery Lake is about 1.3 miles on, and Pine Island Lake, with its islands and a backdrop of ridges, is about 1.4 miles beyond that. A right turn about 0.75 miles past Pine Island leads to Palisade Lake. From Palisade, the loop drops about 1.1 miles to Brinton Meadow, goes right at the meadow’s south end, and returns about 1.3 miles to Betsy Lake, then about 4.2 miles back over Hades Pass.

Road Trip Ryan says most junctions are signed but it’s still easy to take a wrong turn, and advises checking the map at each one. For a short day, Grandaddy and Betsy lakes, about 4 miles in, make a reasonable destination.

Hiking Project describes an out-and-back variation that leaves Betsy Lake toward Lost Lake, and notes that Four Lakes Basin, below Cyclone Pass, is a few miles beyond. Visit Utah describes reaching Four Lakes Basin from the north on the Highline Trail instead, about 16 miles round trip from the Mirror Lake Highway, with Pigeon Milk Spring near the Four Lakes junction and good cutthroat fishing on the west end of Dean Lake. That approach shares its first miles with Naturalist Basin.

Tips

Camping

No permit is required. The 2026 High Uintas order bans camping within 200 feet of any occupied campsite, trail, lake, pond, stream, spring, or other water source where terrain allows, limits groups to 14 people and 15 stock, and limits stays to 14 days in one drainage. Campfires and wood stoves are banned within 1/4 mile of the lakes in Grandaddy Basin and Four Lakes Basin. A few primitive car-camping spots are on a spur road about 1.5 miles before the trailhead, Road Trip Ryan says, with campgrounds along the North Fork road as an alternative.

Inside Intel: Road Trip Ryan says Betsy Lake is the most-used area, with many sites and company to match, and points backpackers to Pine Island and Palisade lakes, which have “many excellent camping sites” and more solitude. Pine Island was the writer’s favorite stop.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Cold mornings below Hades Pass:

Grandaddy Basin's lakes sit near 10,000 feet, and without a campfire your sleeping bag is what keeps the chill off. See which bags testers rate.

See what testers chose →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.