AMOUNT OF USE:  Moderate

DIFFICULTY:  Moderate to Hard

USGS TOPO MAPS: Mount Wilson, Little Cone, Dolores Peak

SUGGESTED USES: Hikers, horses, mechanized and motorized allowed on road only. not on trail section of loop.

CONSIDERATIONS:  Silverpick Basin is almost entirely in slide rock with very little vegetation.  Mining roads and ruins of buildings, shafts, and a tram are scattered through out the Basin.  The Silverpick Trail is a popular route for climbing Wilson Peak and Mt. Wilson.  A few campsites are available along the trail, especially in the lower sections.  A loop can be made by taking the road one-way and the trail the other direction.  Both routes are described below.  Access to the basin is across private property.  Presently, the private landowner and the USFS are negotiating a conservation easement, which would allow public access to the basin, and an improved trailhead facility, also on the private land.  Please respect private landowner rights in Silverpick Basin in order to protect public access for future generations.

TRAIL DESCRIPTION:
From the Silverpick Trailhead, follow the road as it switchbacks up and around the abandoned Silverpick Mill.  The road traverses around, crossing a stream gully to reach a junction with a private mining road that leads over to a locked gate on the way to Elk Creek Basin.  Respect private property, please.  The Silverpick Road goes left at the junction, continuing up the talus slopes towards the upper basin.  There are occasional small patches of vegetation, but the basin is almost completely comprised of talus.  The road continues upward, following Big Bear Creek.  It then wraps around a ridge and arrives at the ruins of an old stone cabin, which makes a possible bivouac site.  The trail makes its way upward, switchbacking across the talus slope, topping out at the Rock of Ages Saddle and the Lizardhead Wilderness Boundary. 

For an alternate route up the basin, or to make a long trip out of the hike, start at the Silverpick Trailhead, follow the road as before as it switchbacks up and around the abandoned Silverpick Mill.   Look for a cairn on the left just across from a thick clump of trees and a fire-ring on the right.  A small trail takes off here, switchbacking steeply up under cliffs and talus slopes.  Continue to follow the cairns across more talus slopes and ledges with a few small stream crossings.  Just past a small pond, the trail heads up a brushy overgrown ridge.  There are limited campsites available here.  The trail continues to climb through low-lying trees up some rock ledges near timberline.   Follow the cairns.  The Silverpick Road is visible to the east as the trail winds up through willows to a small meadow.  It continues to climb through mixed talus and tundra.  At a trail junction on a talus slope, one trail heads left for a high traverse below Wilson Peak.  (This route is the one that is shown on the topographic map.)  The other trail heads right, working its way through talus slopes to another small meadow.  From there it follows the east side of a ridge up a relatively soft grassy grade which leads up to a junction with a larger road and old stone house ruins.  From this point, the route follows the road as described earlier, up a large switchback to the Rock of Ages saddle and the forest boundary.