The hike to Wallace Falls is easy and popular but much more fun, it seemed to us, to turn off and take the Greg Ball trail up to Wallace Lake. The trail is in fine shape with neither mud nor snow all the way. This is a superb trail created by WTA youth work parties several years ago. The drainages could use clearing as most of them are clogged with silt and twigs. The trail gains gradually and after 3.5 miles from the trailhead comes to Wallace Lake. A road goes around the west side of Wallace Lake to its inflow (now dry) and continues for another easy mile up to Jay Lake. Here there are some new, well crafted, tent sites and a picnic table with stumps to sit on and a metal firepit. Somebody has blazed a trail with red flags and slash bushwhacking part way to Shaw Lake. We followed this through the underbrush, across the stream bed, and along the steep, slippery slope to the big tree trunk. There the bushwhacking seemed to end, less than a half mile from Shaw Lake. I'm not sure this is the path I would engineer to get there.

    Started hiking at 7:30. Wallace River is still running strong. Only a few muddy spots. Stopped at all the view points, but skipped the Boy Scout nature trail. Pace was slow and leisurely with lots of conversation. Followed the blue diamonds from the Upper Falls up steep unmaintained user trail to abandoned road. Walked to the Wallace River to look at location of the old bridge and then turned around and headed to Wallace Lake. Tire tracks here on the road. Easy flat walking in the shade till the last mile or so when we were on a working forest road with no shade (welcome this day). Walked to the NW corner of the lake and ate our final lunch on the small delta of the North Fork Wallace River where it enters the Lake. Followed several roads down to the Greg Ball Trail. Very nice trail and beautiful forest. We can hear the North Fork, but only a few views of it. Bike tracks on the trail (closed to bikes????). Continued back to the TH on the RR Grade. Trails are well signed and in good condition. Met maybe a dozen hikers all day until we neared the parking lot when there were lots coming up. Stats were: 13 miles, 2,010’ gross elev. and 8 hours.

Started at the trailhead of Wallace Falls. Pretty busy along the way to the falls. Took the cutoff to the Greg Ball trail, which is in good condition and a great hike with some elevation gain. Make sure to take a right when you reach the end of the Greg Ball trail, this will lead you to the beginning of the short trail to Wallace Lake. Trail to Wallace is in good condition, the trail around the lake headed toward the Pebble Beach is very muddy in areas. Overall, a 14 mile RT, make sure you have plenty of time for this. Looks like there are new signs for no camping around any of the lakes.

We did the classic 11 mile loop hike to Wallace Lake and the waterfalls. The Greg Ball Trail is in decent condition, although a few nasty mudholes remain on the upper end of the trail. A few patches of snow linger around Wallace Lake, not enough to be a problem for hikers. Pebble Beach is still flooded, and the creek that flows into the lake at the "beach" is running strongly. Some extensive snow patches remain on the trail that goes from Wallace Lake to the upper end of Wallace Falls. There are also numerous blowdowns, but nothing that will slow you down much. The waterfall trail was wildly popular as usual; the trail itself is in good condition despite the pounding of numerous feet.