Hite Cove Trail Hiker Reviews

This is a really special place to hike and enjoy back country camping if you can handle it. Spent 7 days down this trail. We carried in our own food & tons of water. However with recent toxic algae I wouldn't recommend swimming or using the merced river water to wash clothes. Don't go unless you are armed as there are definitely cougars bobcats bears. We would record the paw prints in our camp in the morning. You'll have to have bear containers for your food & trash although we strung our trash up high in the trees each night. There's some great mining trails, old mining gear left behind and of course early in the season the wildflowers. We were there in the middle of the summer at the end of july. It was extremely hot but we are experienced hikers and back road campers so we had no issues. Highly recommend for the most serious of hikers and campers. It can be very dangerous, elements, wildlife.

Just a warning for folks to bring adequate water. John Gerrish, Ellen Chung and the daughter Miju and dog all lost their lives at Devil's Gulch because of hyperthermia (heat exhaustion) in August of 2021.. Tragic. Be prepared and know when to turn around.

I have been hiking this trail for the last 10 years, and I average one hike every other year or so, so I've done this hike several times already. This is definitely the perfect hike for a relatively inexperienced backpacker, as there is little elevation gain (or loss) overall, and the scenery is entertaining, particularly the old mining equipment about halfway along the trail.

The best time to go is in the Autumn/Fall; DO NOT go in the Spring, as there are way too many tourists on the first part of the trail, and you'll have trouble getting around them while they're taking pictures of the pretty wildflowers. The Summer is just too hot. The actual camping spot is a flat area just north of the Merced River, and just east of the old jeep trail that goes up the hill to the left. Do not do what I did my first time out there, and try to continue hiking past the camping spot; there is no real trail past the camping spot, just a lot of brush!

The Sierra National Forest has officially closed the trail, and it's likely that it won't be open for the remainder of 2019. There are many other notable wildflower hikes in the area, namely in the Merced Canyon, south of Briceburg, especially where the north fork flows into the canyon.