California’s High Sierra region is best known for its majestic peaks, world-class ski resorts, and giant sequoias. Summer months are perfect for sightseeing, hiking, fishing, and camping. Winter visitors enjoy skiing and snowboarding: Ghost Towns, Historic Sites, Hot Springs, Campgrounds, and Natural Wonders.
Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
The strangely appealing beauty of these trees makes the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest a favorite spot for photographers and hikers. Explore a unique, off-the-beaten-track destination with incredible views of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Convict Lake Eastern Sierra
Convict Lake is an easy day trip from many points in the California High Sierra. Hiking, fishing, and sightseeing are the most popular activities at the lake. Convict Lake is about 35 miles north of Bishop.
Mono Lake
Mono Lake is one of North America’s oldest lakes, formed over one million years ago. The famous one-mile South Tufa Trail takes hikers along the shore to view the area’s landlocked tufas and those that rise majestically from Mono Lake’s waters.
June Lake Loop
June Lake Loop is a 16-mile stretch of Route 158 that wraps around four picturesque lakes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Much like the nearby Mammoth Lakes, the June Lake Loop is home to incredibly gorgeous vistas and countless opportunities for outdoor activity.
Alabama Hills Owens Valley
Located in the Owens Valley at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Alabama Hills’ collection of spectacularly unique sunburned granite rock formations and arches has become the quintessential Western landscape.
Manzanar Historic Site
Manzanar was one of ten internment camps spread throughout the western United States. At its peak, Manzanar housed over 10,000 men, women, and children in crude barracks-style housing that offered no creature comforts or privacy.
Lone Pine California Highway 395
Lone Pine is the jumping-off point for Mt. Whitney trails; over 10,000 people attempt to climb the 14,496 peaks each year. Lone Pine also hosts the Lone Pine Film Festival each October. Lone Pines offers spectacular views of the Sierra and Owens Valley.
Bodie Ghost Town
As a bustling gold mining center, Bodie had the amenities of larger towns. Two banks, four volunteer fire companies, a brass band, a railroad, miners’ and mechanics’ unions, and a jail. Today Bodie is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the California High Sierra.
Benton Hot Springs
Benton Hot Springs’s other accommodations include two private historic homes with luxurious hot tubs, plus ten other private hot tub areas for both day and overnight guest use.
Twin Lakes Bridgeport
Outdoor enthusiasts have visited the Twin Lakes Resort for decades to enjoy fishing and hiking. Eight different cabins surround the resort. The largest can accommodate 11 people—nightly, weekly, and monthly rentals. There is always plenty to do at Twin Lakes.
Mammoth Lakes
The gorgeous five lakes in Mammoth Lakes Basin are only a ten-minute drive from town. Mammoth Mountain’s hiking and mountain biking trails and scenic rides up the gondola are just some ways to enjoy the resort after the snow melts.
Keough’s Hot Springs Resort
Three hot springs feed the large swimming pool, and a smaller one at Keough’s Hot Springs Resort. Over one million gallons a day of hot 127-degree mineral water (cooled to about 90 degrees for the pool) flows through the resort. Keough’s Hot Creek pools are nearby.
Laws Railroad Museum
Laws Railroad Museum is a fascinating place to visit near Bishop. Laws was a Southern Pacific Railroad station and rail yard. The line was abandoned in 1960, and the track was torn up. The museum showcases railroad and mining artifacts from Owens Valley.
Bishop California
Bishop, California, is a little town with an extensive history. It is located in Inyo County and has a population of under 4,000. Named Bishop Creek initially, it is the most populated place in Inyo County.
Mono County Highway 395
Side trips and things to do along Highway 395 as it travels through Mono County. Between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the California-Nevada border, this 3,000-square-mile county is 94% publicly owned.
Inyo County Highway 395
Side trips and things to do along Highway 395 as it travels through Inyo County. Inyo County is home to the highest point in the United States, Mount Whitney, and the lowest point, Badwater Basin, in Death Valley National Park.
Eastern California Museum
Located in Independence, this fantastic museum displays historic artifacts and photographs from the Eastern Sierra and Death Valley to Mono Lake. Visitors to the museum will find a treasure trove of pictures, maps, arrowheads, baskets, old stoves, and clothing.
Whitney Portal
Set against towering pines and rugged granite peaks, Whitney Portal, formerly known as Hunter Flat and Hunters Camp, is located 13 miles west of the quaint town of Lone Pine and serves as the trailhead for the Mount Whitney Trail.
Cottonwood Charcoal Kilns
Cottonwood kilns were used to produce charcoal to power the smelters for the Cerro Gordo Mine in the Inyo Mountains across the lake. Two steamers, Bessie Brady and Mollie Stevens, were used to transport the charcoal.
Fishing California Eastern Sierra
The Sierra Nevada’s home to hundreds of freshwater lakes; some of them, you can pull up your car or RV right up to the water’s edge. More remote lakes require a hike, especially those that hold the coveted golden rainbow trout.
Eastern Sierra Natural Hot Springs
Natural hot springs and hot spring resorts in the High Sierras. List the best places to soak and soothe the senses in hot mineral water: directions, nearby attractions, and points of interest.
Cerro Gordo Ghost Town
Throughout much of the 1800s, Cerro Gordo (or the “Fat Hill”) pumped thousands of tons of high-grade silver, lead, and other metals. Cerro Gordo Ghost Town is privately owned, and you’ll need permission from the owner to access the property.
Mormon Station State Park Nevada
The township was founded in 1850 as the first settlement of the Nevada Territory. Mormon pioneers first settled in the area; the region acted as a trading post called Mormon Station for travelers on the California Trail.
Sequoia-Kings Canyon Parks
Tucked side by side in the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains, east of the San Joaquin Valley. Both parks are connected by a single road that provides nearly 866,000 acres of outdoor adventure in the “Land of the Giants.”
Mono Hot Springs
Mono Hot Springs is located in the Sierra National Forest, northeast of Fresno. If you are looking for a fantastic wilderness experience with some of the comforts of home, then Mono Hot Springs Resort is defiantly worth checking out.
Tahoe City Lake Tahoe
Tahoe City provides travelers with a perfect getaway during any season. With summer temperatures of up to 75 degrees, visitors can enjoy the lake’s clear blue waters and numerous hiking trails. For those seeking a winter wonderland adventure, Tahoe City is the gateway to some of the best ski resorts in the world.
Emerald Bay Lake Tahoe
Emerald Bay was carved in granite by the movement of glaciers. It is only one mile wide and three miles long and contains the only island in Lake Tahoe, Fannette Island. Emerald Bay State Park has the distinction of being a National Natural Landmark.
Donner Memorial State Park
Located 6,200 feet in the Sierra Nevada just outside Truckee, California, Donner Memorial State Park was established to preserve and tell maybe the darkest side of early pioneer life in California. Donner Memorial State Park is best visited in the summer as temperatures range from about 75 degrees during the day to the low 40s at night.
Truckee California
With its unique restaurants and shops set in original historic buildings, the downtown district is the heart and soul of Truckee. Once the industrial center of a gritty railroad town, today, downtown is an epicenter of activity.
Grover Hot Springs State Park
Situated on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range at the edge of the Great Basin Province and surrounded on three sides by high granite peaks and vast pine forest and sagebrush, the park has hot springs, a campground, a picnic area, and hiking trails.
Hunewill Dude Ranch Sierra Vacation
Hunewill Ranch is located in Bridgeport Valley below the snow-covered mountains of the eastern Sierra. A real working ranch with cattle thatthe Hunewill family still runsy. The Guest Ranch has been around since 1931 and is even more popular now than when it first opened.
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