From the McGee Creek Trailhead at the end of McGee Creek Road, the trail climbs gently for a mile or so through an open, high-desert landscape of sage, rabbitbrush and mule's ears to an aspen grove at Buzztail Spring and the boundary of the John Muir Wilderness. The trail continues for another 10 miles to the crest of McGee Pass at 11,895 feet of elevation. From there, it's possible to continue down to Fish Creek and then back up past Purple and Duck Lakes, over Duck Pass back out of the wilderness into the Mammoth Lakes Basin.