Similar to the Mix Canyon Road drive, this is a self-guided nature tour. The road is easy to locate but is winding, so drive carefully. It’s a great place to find wildflowers (even into the summer), and boasts an interesting variety of migrating birds in the spring.
- Easy to Locate? Yes
- Pet Friendly? Yes. Keep your pet in your car.
- Easy to Walk? This is really a driving tour; not much walking is required
- Is there a Fee? No.
- Are there Restrooms? Yes, in some of the turn-out areas like the Cleveland Corral and the Crystal Basin Information Ranger Station
- Is there Accessible Parking? Sort of. This is a driving tour and there aren’t a lot of places to park along the road itself. However, adequate parking is available below Bridal Veil Falls, at the Cleveland Corral and the Crystal Basin Information Ranger Station
- Other Notes: This is a driving tour up a winding road. Drive carefully, there are a lot of blind curves. Keep in mind that the road is at 5,500 feet in elevation, so in the winter and spring months, the road might be slippery with ice, snow and rain.
See my FLICKR account for more albums of photos.
A male Western Tanager, Piranga ludoviciana, with its lunch, in a Black Cottonwood tree, Populus trichocarpa 
Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra cerulea 
An old specimen of Sugarstick, Allotropa virgata 
Dark-Eyed Juncos, Junco hyemalis; an adult male and a juvenile. 
Witch’s Hair Lichen, Alectoria sarmentosa 
Witch’s Hair Lichen, Alectoria sarmentosa 
Part of the view from the Bill Hill ranger station 
Sugar Pine, Pinus lambertiana 
Sugar Pine, Pinus lambertiana 
Golden Dwarf Mistletoe, Western Dwarf Mistletoe, Arceuthobium campylopodum 
Fireweed, Chamaenerion angustifolium [bright pink flowers] 
Trembling Aspen, Populus tremuloides, along the road. 
Mountain Blue Penstemon, Penstemon laetus 
Naked Buckwheat, Eriogonum nudum 
Sierra Gooseberry, Ribes roezlii 
Manzanita, Greenleaf Manzanita, Arctostaphylos patula 
Chokecherry, Prunus virginiana
Ice House Road is in the Pollock Pines area and winds its way through the Eldorado National Forest. There are campgrounds and a lodge along the route for overnight visits, as well as access to reservoirs in the area.
Once you reach the road, just drive along it and stop whenever you see something interesting
On the way there, you can stop at Bridal Veil Falls. There’s a turnout on Highway 50, and the falls are right there. In the summer, there isn’t a whole lot of water, but it cascades down prettily down the 80-foot drop from the top to the bottom.
Other pretty stops include:
- The Cleveland Corral Information Station where you can rest as little picnic tables,surrounded by a mix of pine trees, cedars, and broadleaf trees including Black Oaks, Incense Cedars, cottonwood trees, Rocky Mountain Maple, Chokecherry trees, and Bitter Cherry trees.
- The Big Hill Lookout Tower: where there are incredible panoramic views. You can see parts of both the Union Valley Reservoir and the smaller Ice House Reservoir.
- Crystal Basin Information Ranger Station: where you can rest, get more information about the national forest, and see a variety of lichen and speciality flowers like the parasitic Snow Plant.
How to Get There:
From Sacramento, you literally just get onto Highway 50 East and follow it to Ice House Road. Then just follow the road as far as you want to go. Easy-peasy.
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