[NoHo Arts District, CA] – This month’s Active World Journeys travel blog: Mammoth Lakes – A Hiking Paradise.
Mammoth Lakes, California is truly a hiker’s paradise in summer. I’ve lived in Southern California for 20 years and for some reason never got up there to check the trails out. And wow, was I surprised; it really offers up incredible lake vistas and interesting geothermal wonders and there’s plenty of restaurants and bars in town to satisfy your after hike(s) hunger and thirst.
Mammoth Lakes boasts more than 300 miles of hiking trails. Here’s my hiking itinerary you can follow if you only have about 2-3 days to spend in Mammoth Lakes:
First, since Mammoth Lakes sits at about 8,000 ft. above sea level (and many hikes will be even higher), it’s best to get acclimated before rushing out to do a long and challenging hike. So, when I got into town, I did a nice 3-mile easy hike around the deep blue Convict Lake. The lake got its name from a famous shootout that took place there in the 1800’s between some inmates that had escaped from a nearby prison and law enforcement. But you’ll have a get-out-of-jail-free-card on this peaceful and serene loop.
The hike I did on my first full-day in Mammoth Lakes was called Mammoth Rock Trail, it is 5-miles out and back with an 800 ft. elevation gain. It has some great views looking down on the village area and of course the star of the hike is a prominent outcropping of white limestone and marble. Afterwards on that same day, I explored a couple geological marvels nearby… Inyo Crater Lake, which is about a mile and a half loop hike up and partially around a beautiful emerald green body of water, and also Hot Creek Geological site, which features boiling turquoise water bubbling up from a creek bed. It’s only about a quarter mile walk down to the site and back from its parking area.
On my next full day in Mammoth Lakes, I started off at The Devil’s Postpile. It formed when lava flow slowed and then cooled and cracked about 100,000 years ago. It is a truly unique formation to be amazed by. From there, you can hike 2 miles to Rainbow Falls, a spectacular 101-ft. waterfall, widely recognized for the vibrant rainbows its mist creates. Just a heads up, from 7a-7p, you have to take a shuttle bus from the Mammoth Adventure Center (plenty of free parking on the street) to Devil’s Postpile ($15 r/t). It’s about a 30-minute ride. What I did was instead of hiking back from Rainbow Falls to Devil’s Postpile trailhead to wait for the shuttle to return, I extended my hike from Rainbow Falls by about 1 mile to Red Meadows Resort (basically a general store, post office and cafe for Pacific Crest Trail through hikers) and from there it’s one of the shuttle stops back to the Adventure Center where my car was parked.
While not in Mammoth Lakes, I highly recommend driving about 30 minutes north to visit another unique attraction in the area: Mono Lake. At about 760,000 years old, ancient Mono Lake is known as “California’s Dead Sea.” Its water is mostly sodium chloride (table salt) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and peeping up and out are limestone formations called “Tufas.” There’s a 1-mile loop trail called South Tufa Trail that is very easy. On the drive back to Mammoth Lakes, I detoured off of Route 395 for the 15-mile June Lake Loop drive that takes you past a half-dozen lakes, providing incredible views of the high mountains surrounding the high valley.
Later in the evening, back in Mammoth Lakes, I went to watch the sun set behind the sharp jutting spires of the Ritter Mountain range at Minaret Vista. It was so peaceful and relaxing.
On my last morning in Mammoth Lakes, I did the Crystal Lake hike. It’s only three miles (up and back) but has an 800 ft. elevation gain that gets the heart rate up quick. On the way up to this gorgeous high mountain lake, you look down on Lake George and Lake Mary from the trail. (I did this in mid-June and there was still some snow in scattered sections of the trail making it hard to stay on course, so I suggest downloading the trail directions from AllTrails Pro.)
As I was getting ready to drive back to Los Angeles, I felt that this alpine community in the Eastern Sierras that I just explored was indeed a world-class experience with boundless opportunities for hikers and adventurers. Mammoth Lakes is one of those places that you could return to time and time again and never get tired of.
Jack Witt, MS, CPTFitness and Health Coach
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