Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Utah / High Uintas

Naturalist Basin via the Highline Trail

High Uintas Wilderness, Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest (Mirror Lake Highway)

Naturalist Basin is a cluster of lakes below Mount Agassiz on the west end of the High Uintas, reached by the first miles of the Highline Trail from the Mirror Lake Highway. Road Trip Ryan says most visitors do it as an overnight, and the lakes make a base for day trips to higher basins and peaks.

The approach is moderate. The upper basin is open, high and exposed.

The hike

The Highline Trailhead is on the Mirror Lake Highway near Hayden Pass, about 34 miles from Kamas. Girl on a Hike gives the junctions: at 0.8 miles stay left where a trail goes right to Mirror Lake, at 3 miles stay left past the Packard Lake trail, and at 4.3 miles go left for Naturalist Basin (right continues on the Highline toward Rocky Sea Pass). She notes the sign at that junction was blank. Road Trip Ryan also suggests a short detour to Scudder Lake along the way. Girl on a Hike describes built steps and boardwalks and a section through an area that burned in 2018.

At about 5.5 miles, stay right for Jordan Lake, crossing a stream on boulders. Girl on a Hike puts Jordan Lake at 6.5 miles from the trailhead with about 765 feet of gain, and based there for three nights. From Jordan Lake she day-hiked to Shaler Lake, about 3 miles round trip, and climbed Spread Eagle Peak, 5.2 miles round trip with about 1,900 feet of gain and some boulder-hopping.

Road Trip Ryan recommends a counterclockwise loop from the Jordan Lake junction: up past Jordan Lake to Shaler Lake above treeline, then off trail past Faxon, LeConte and Walcott lakes to Blue Lake beneath Mount Agassiz, then down between two ponds and steeply to the Morat Lakes before rejoining the trail. Road Trip Ryan lists the whole outing at 17.23 miles. It calls the loop a highlight but warns that the highest lakes are exposed and to avoid them in lightning.

Past the Naturalist Basin turn, the Highline Trail continues east toward Four Lakes Basin and Grandaddy Basin and, eventually, the full Uinta Highline Trail.

Tips

Camping

No permit is required. Under the 2026 High Uintas order, camp at least 200 feet from any occupied campsite, trail, lake, pond, stream, spring, or other water source where terrain allows; groups are limited to 14 people and 15 stock; and stays are limited to 14 days in one drainage. Campfires and wood stoves are banned within 1/4 mile of the lakes in Naturalist Basin, so cook on a stove. Road Trip Ryan suggests camping 1/4 to 1/2 mile back from the lakeshores for more solitude.

Inside Intel: Girl on a Hike found plenty of sites at Jordan Lake, several along the east side, and used it as a base. She says Shaler Lake has two or three decent sites but is very exposed, and she wouldn’t want to be there in a thunderstorm.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Sleeping above 10,000 feet at Jordan Lake:

Cold ground and chilly Uinta nights make insulation underneath as important as your bag in Naturalist Basin. See the pads testers like.

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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.