Mt. Rose, Nevada, at 10.775 feet (3,284 meters) towers more than a mile over Reno, in the Truckee Meadows to the east. The trail begins at Mt. Rose Summit, the pass leading to the Lake Tahoe Basin. At first, you pass through patches of mountain sagebrush and whitebark pine on a southwest facing slope. The first half of the 5.3 mile trail is gradual but then it ascends, at times steeply, to the summit. A wide variety of wildflowers can be seen along the way.