1.8 mi of trail, end to end · 900 ft of descent · 7,806 ft–8,732 ft · native material surface · trail No. 18E24 · trail class 3 · typical grade 12-20% · tread 18-24 inches wide · hiking, horse
Sandy Meadow Trailhead the Forest Service's write-up
This trail can be used to access Wheeler Lake; it is flatter and easier than the Wheeler Ridge/Lake Trail out of Woodchuck Basin but longer. It is 4.2 miles to Wheeler Lake. In Mokelumne Wilderness.
Woodchuck Basin Trailhead the Forest Service's write-up
Woodchuck Basin is the trailhead for the Wheeler Ridge/ Wheeler Lake Trail (on maps as the Woodchuck Trail, 18E24 and Underwood Valley Trail, 18E02), which leads to Wheeler Lake and Avalanche Meadow. The trail connects with the Sandy Meadow Trail (19E53) , which passes through Sandy Meadow and ends at the Sandy Meadow Trailhead .
The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.
