I wanted to know how far the trail is and how long it would take from loon to tahoma or the other way around. keeping in mind nothing breaks. Does it make a difference which way you go in. Is one way harder than the other. Is there an actual entrance and exit.

11 miles of trail. 1 day without breakage is a pretty easy pace for experience wheelers in street legal vehicles. Some will tell you 2 days each way.

I personally think backwards is harder, going up big sluice and old sluice.

When he says "backwards", he means from Tahoe to Loon.

The "entrance" is at Loon Lake. Personally, I think 1 day is a little aggressive. Not much time to smell the roses. If you're gonna do it, allow yourself to enjoy it and devote 2 days. Friday to Sunday makes a perfect weekend of it. Arrive Friday night, late or come early morning Sat to enter at Loon Lake. Camp out at Buck or Springs Saturday night. Finish trail and go home Sunday. Happy faces everywhere.

plan two atleast cause if you break it might take two anyway :p

I've done it from my house in sacramento all the way through around the lake and back in one day... on the 4th of July!

It's doable but if you have the time take it..

It depends on traffic, the size of the group, experience, trail condition, and the pace. Loon to Tahoe can take as little as 6 hours and as much as two days.

1 day is a VERY long day for someone who has never been there before.
I assume this is your first trip?
Plan for 3 days and camp by the lakes and really enjoy yourself up there.
No need to rush.

I always enjoyed 3 days more. Camp at Buck, Camp at the springs and then head out Cadillac in the morning.

Gives you time to fish and hike etc. Then again, I take my wimmenzless time seriously :laughing: Stop at Rob's on Friday night if you have the time, nice place, friendly people and they always help out Friends of the Rubicon whenever they can.

I went all the way through earlier this summer in 3 1/2 days. Went into Ellis Creek after work on Thrusday night. Then made a loop around through Wentworth Springs and back to Loon to hook up with our group coming in on Friday. Then wheeled to Little Sluice and stayed there on Friday night. Then on to Rubicon Springs for Satrday night, after hanging out at Buck island for a while. Came out on Sunday and made it home at a decent hour.

If we didn't make the Wentworth loop, 3 days would seem right.

my first time on the 'con was nov. 2001. loon to tahoe done in one day. DD, open front/rear, no winch, 33" and 4" lifted jeep. did every part of the trail, no soup bowl, no little siulce. the springs were flooded to my frame rails at the cabin

I drove it in one day this past Labor day weekend, so it can be done. I left the dam at Loon around 2:00 in the afternoon (after eating some of the Cantina tacos of course), and got to Tahoe staging at around 10:30. That included two 1 hour hold ups due to breakage on the trail (other rigs, not mine). Arriving on the Tahoe side at 10:30 of course means that I drove part of the trail after dark, including Big Sluice and Cadilac Hill.

This was the only time I've ever driven it all in one day, and will probably be the last. I'd recommend at least 1 night on the trail either at Buck Island or Rubicon Springs. I would have made this trip and over-nighter, but I needed to be somewhere the next day. Besides, this was definately not my only trip on the Con this year.

my first time on the 'con was nov. 2001. loon to tahoe done in one day. DD, open front/rear, no winch, 33" and 4" lifted jeep. did every part of the trail, no soup bowl, no little siulce. the springs were flooded to my frame rails at the cabin

Why mention you did every part then say what you didn't do :p already see you mentioned loon to tahoe ;)

11 miles of trail. 1 day without breakage is a pretty easy pace for experience wheelers in street legal vehicles. Some will tell you 2 days each way.

I personally think backwards is harder, going up big sluice and old sluice.

It's not 11 miles. From Loon Lake to the staging area in Tahoma it's closer to 18 miles. While the last 7-8 miles from the Overlook on Cadillac to the staging area are nothing too difficult it still takes some time.

And 1 day is easy for a street legal vehicle? Huh...Define "easy" and describe "street legal". I'd say a good, experienced driver in a well built rig could go from end to end in 7 hours. Probably 6 if they pushed it. (I'm sure somebody will say they did it in less than 5) I wouldn't call it easy though.

Inexperienced driver with a daily driver yet capable rig should expect about 9-10 hours of driving time.

I do agree that running it from Tahoma-Loon is the tougher direction. Especially if you go up Old Sluice.

This is some good information. Some of us GA boys are planning a trip out there in 2010. I already plan to spend about 3 days on the trail at a nice slow pace to take it all in. This answers a lot of questions I had, now just got to figure out what time of the year is best with the weather.

This is some good information. Some of us GA boys are planning a trip out there in 2010. I already plan to spend about 3 days on the trail at a nice slow pace to take it all in. This answers a lot of questions I had, now just got to figure out what time of the year is best with the weather.

Mid June to late August would be best. Keep in mind the trail is closed for a copule of weekends at the end of July.

Earlier than mid June you run into the (slight) possibility of late winter snow still hanging around. Come September it starts to cool off, mostly evening and morning and afternoon showers become more likely. You can run the trail as early as May and as late as Oct if you like.

But if you are making plans a year out, or more and don't want to worry much about Mother Nature tossing you a curve ball, however slight, go with mid June through August

Thanks man. Yeah we plan for 2010 to save money and I need some time to get this JK off the ground. Just be on the lookout for some more information threads closer to the end of 09'.