While the wilderness area itself is only 12 square miles, once inside, surrounded by exposed granite peaks tipped with snow on all sides, it seems much vaster. Despite being a high traffic park only four hours from San Francisco, with a little care and preparation it is possible to distance oneself from the madding crowd.
Desolation offers a variety of trailheads from which to begin.
It is not, however, until you've had a chance to hike past the day hikers and into the interior that you can truly appreciate this park. Heading in from Wright's Lake Outpost on the south west side of the wilderness area one immediately comes upon the Willow Flats area. This valley is moonlike in appearance. Cleared of all soil by glacition, the trail is on bare rock, marked only by stones lining it on either side. This was our first glimpse into Desolation's wonders.