Church's Pond Trail

Church's Pond Trail as shown on a panel map of Galena Creek Park

Church's Pond Trail—southwest of Reno in Nevada—is a 0.7-mile-long hiking trail in the Mount Rose Wilderness connecting the Jones Whites Loop Trail with Church's Pond (also written Church Pond). The water level of this tiny sub-alpine lake fluctuates seasonally and over the years. The following two pictures compare the nearly dried-out lake at the end of the precipitation-deficient period from 2011 to 2016 and the regrown lake in July 2017—after being refilled with meltwater of the 2016/2017 snowpack.

Church's Pond with a high water level (2017); Mount Rose with snow patches very far back

Church's Pond with a low water level (2016)

Church's Pond Trail is a single-track trail through mostly open forest with views of Little Washoe Lake and Slide Mountain. The short trail traverses a narrow open slope covered by red-brown rocks, then climbs over a ridge and passes through a stand of young aspen before descending to the “beach” of Church's Pond with views of Mount Rose in the background.

Partially snow-covered Church's Pond Trail traversing a rock-covered slope

Visitors come to see and fall in love with Lake Tahoe. Renoites love Church's Pond (and Lake Tahoe as well).