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Adams Peak

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Adams Peak
Adams Peak

Place Name: Lassen County

Place Description: State: California
Date: 05/17/2021
Elevation: 8,197 Feet
Prominence: 37 Feet
Miles: 2.0
Elevation Gain: 975 Feet
Lists: Tahoe Ogul, Sierra Clubs Peaks Section, Western States Climbers

  • Difficulty
  • Solitude
  • Kid Friendly
  • Summit Views

Another Head Scratcher of an Ogul

Adams Peak sits just east of Frenchman Lake, north of Highway 70. It’s one of the most northern SPS Peaks and also sits on the coveted Tahoe Ogul List, despite being nowhere near Lake Tahoe. There are also two summits, one being a P2K while the lesser peak gets all of the cool list designations.

Overall
2.8

Pros

  • Very short hike
  • Nice views
  • Great network of roads

Cons

  • Nowhere near the other Ogul Peaks
  • Brushy
  • More than likely burned during summer of 2021

Out of the peaks on the Tahoe Ogul List, Adams Peak is head scratcher. 

Since it’s nowhere near Lake Tahoe and is more of a Great Basin Peak, it’s kind of a mind boggler. That said, it’s still a beautiful mountain and I was glad to go check it out!

Getting There

To access Adams Peak, getting to Frenchman Lake is the main starting point. From here, you will be navigating National Forest roads. 

The roads have nothing technical but will require some clearance. Early on the roads that go past the meadows are rutted deeply in spots while the upper roads are a bit rocky.

We drove up to a higher starting point than most have chosen to do and it left us with a very trivial hike to the twin summits.

The Trail

The hike was short and easy from here. It started out following an old and degraded OHV road. 

Once that peters out, the west summit is a short climb. This is the Ogul and SPS listed summit. The summit next door is the P2K. We tagged both summits and thoroughly enjoyed the views on the clear day. The Diamond Mountains really are a beautiful area.

Adams Peak

Looking over to the next summit of Adams Peak.

State Line Peak was across the valley to the east. I can remember viewing back at Adams when I climbed that mountain the year before.

State Line Peak

State Line Peak as viewed from Adams Peak.

Crystal Peak

There is another easy bonus peak nearby called Crystal Peak which has a cool quartz summit block.

Crystal Peak

Crystal Peak summit block.

Crystal Peak can be driven to the summit with a good 4×4. We navigated some backroads from our Adams parking spot and found it to be a moderate driving trail. Despite having to move some rocks and logs, 4WD was engaged, however, we eventually came out just about a 1/2 mile from the summit. We decided to walk the road to the top.

The Final Word

This is a very quick peak to knock out. A lot of driving for very minimal hiking. The area is beautiful and there are lots of great areas to camp whether you are looking for dispersed or formal. Frenchman Lake is very popular with the fishermen. Dixie Mountain is nearby and you are not far away from fellow Oguls Sierra Buttes and Haskell Peak. Knocking out these 3 Ogul in a day is definitely doable.