Echo Lake & Phillips

Echo Summit

If you love winter, this is the place for you. At over 7000 ft elevation, this area has a lot of snow in the winter, and cool summers. The Pacific Crest trail crosses through here and enters the Desolation Wilderness, so you can literally walk to Mexico or Canada from here. Echo Lake makes a great summer or winter destination. Once it freezes over, it makes a wonderful flat cross country ski area. In the summer the Chalet has food and ice cream as well as a boat shuttle to cross the lakes. Some of the cabins (especially the Forest Service cabins) have stunning sweeping views of Lake Tahoe and Christmas Valley.

Phillips Area Information

Phillips is a small unincorporated community in El Dorado County, California. It is located on the South Fork of the American River 2.5 miles west of Echo Summit, at an elevation of 6873 feet. It is the site of the Sierra-at-Tahoe ski resort. Joseph Wells Davis Phillips began cattle ranching here in 1859, and opened a hotel in 1863. Phillips Station was established in 1862 as a stage stop and way station along Highway 50. The original hotel was situated in the grassy meadow across from the turnoff to Sierra at Tahoe ski resort and operated well into the 1930’s.