Our family loves Mammoth Lakes, but we’ve only all been up in that area in the winter months for ski vacations. We decided to add in a Fall trip this year to see sights that we can never see in the winter when every place is snowed in. We got lucky and our trip fell right at the peak of Fall leaf colors – the aspens were gorgeous! We hiked roughly 20 miles over six days, visited a historic state park, and explored a few town sites.
We booked a wonderful townhouse in Snowcreek Resort for our stay. I’m sure staying there costs a fortune during ski season, but since we were there during the off season, it was reasonable. The townhouse had great space, a big garage, was new and well maintained, and had a lot of open space between the buildings, which allowed the kids space to run and play. The views were spectacular and even the deer liked hanging out at the resort. There was no pool, but Dan and the kids did take a dip in the outdoor community hot tub one night.
We ate almost all of our meals in the townhouse or on picnics with packed food. I spent a lot of time prepping and planning food and I was determined not to have to do a grocery store run while we were there (we didn’t!). Dan and William did go to the Mammoth Roasting Company one morning to get coffee for the rest of the week. We ate lunch one day at The Basin Cafe in Lee Vining (great outdoor dining space with views of Lake Mono), dinner one day at Distant Brewing (wide beer and cider selection), and breakfast one day at The Stove (a Mammoth icon).
Alright, now that we got the logistics out of the way, here’s where we went and what we did in the Eastern Sierras in October 2023:
Big Pine Library
Although most of our trip was spent outside hiking and exploring, our first stop was at the very small Big Pine branch of the Inyo County Free Library. Dan had to attend an important online meeting, so he used the library’s free Wi-Fi to do that and I took the kids to the children’s section. We read one book and then hightailed it out of there because, I’m sorry to say, the library had the meanest librarian I’ve ever encountered and it was very clear that she did not want us there. There were no other people in the book stacks and I think she liked it that way, so when we came roaring in excited to find books, she complained and hovered near us until we gave up and left.
Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
While Dan attended his meeting, I took the kids to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains. In the winter, the road up to the forest is closed, but it was clear and open during our trip. We drove up to over 10,000 feet to hike around trees over 4,000 years old! The visitor’s center, which was beautiful from the outside, was already closed for the season, so we just walked around it and then hiked a little over one mile on the Discovery Trail, which was the perfect loop trail for the four kids (don’t get me wrong, they still complained, but since the trail was short, the complaining was short-lived, too).
Parker Lake
On our first full day in the Mammoth area, we hiked almost 4 miles down the Parker Lake Trail, alongside Parker Creek, to Parker Lake. The aspens were slightly past their peak on the trail, but everything was still so beautiful. We had to drive a few miles down a dirt road to get to the trailhead, so this hike would not be possible in the winter months.
Mono Lake
After hiking to Parker Lake and eating lunch in Lee Vining, we stopped at the Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center. We had tried to visit this center in winter once, but like most other places (besides the ski resorts!), it was closed in the winter. This time, though, we could explore the exhibits and watch a video about Mono Lake. The kids also picked up Inyo National Forest Junior Ranger Program booklets that they worked on throughout our trip. Afterwards, the big three kids and me hiked a little over one mile in a loop around the South Tufas. We even got to see and hold the tiny brine shrimp in the lake.
Devil’s Postpile National Monument & Rainbow Falls
On day three, we hiked at Devil’s Postpile National Monument, again, a place that is completely closed in the winter. In the summer, you have to take a shuttle into the monument, but since we were there during the offseason, we could drive our own car in. We first hiked 4 miles to upper and then lower Rainbow Falls. Lillian had an especially hard time on this hike, but once we got to the lower falls, Dan taught the kids how to skip rocks, and then she didn’t want to leave. The aspens were brilliant and we had a clear view of the backside of Mammoth Mountain, including the summit.
After our hike to the falls, I was really worried to tell Lillian that we were going to go on another hike that afternoon. Thankfully, I had packed plenty of lunch and snack food (there were no concessions or restaurants at this time of the year) and she got a second wind. We moved our car and then hiked another 2 miles to the bottom and then the top of Devil’s Postpile. I will always remember Irene repeating “I’m a good hiker!” on this hike and how neat it was to see the hexagonal columns from the top.
Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park
In our continued adventures of exploring places that we cannot access during winter, we drove into eastern Yosemite on Tioga Road. We stopped at Olmsted Point to check out the views (the kids were so excited to see Half Dome again from a distance), attempted to check out the visitor’s center (it was closed – again, I was glad that I had packed plenty of lunch and snack food), and then parked for our day hike in Tuolumne Meadows. We hiked 5 miles to Dog Lake and then Lembert Dome. Lillian and William spent almost the entire hike playing a pretend game, Vivian hiked by my side, and Irene napped on my back for a solid 2 miles. Being on Lembert Dome gave us some flashbacks to being on Half Dome. Of course, since it was a big granite rock, the kids loved it.
Bodie State Historic Park
After three days of hiking, the kids needed a little break, so we spent the day at Bodie State Historic Park, walking around and learning about the California gold rush. To get to the park, you have to drive a few miles down a dirt road that is closed in the winter. This park is preserved in a state of “arresting decay,” so everything looks just as it did when the town people up and left. It was so dusty outside and inside any open buildings – you could smell the dust. The kids were mildly interested in this park – perhaps they’ve already seen their fair share of ghost towns. Again, there were no food services, so packed snacks were invaluable.
Inyo Craters
Since on our fifth vacation day, we didn’t do a day hike, we decided to slip a quick one mile hike in before dinner to the Inyo Craters (again…down a dirt road, inaccessible during the winter). It was pretty neat to see these huge craters (still filled with some water) in the middle of the forest.
Mammoth Town Sites
While we were in Mammoth, we stopped by the Mammoth Museum at the Hayden Cabin. Unfortunately, we were too late in the season to go inside the cabin, so we just walked around the outside of it.
Then we attempted to learn more about Mammoth’s ski history at the Mammoth Lakes Foundation, but a play was happening in the building at the same time, so we just looked at some of the pictures on the wall and then left.
Hot Creek Geological Site
Our final trip hike was one mile around (below and above) the Hot Creek Geological Site, which was beautiful, interesting, and a little smelly. The hot springs here are HOT and you are not allowed to go in them. They are also not accessible in the winter. I think Lillian’s favorite thing about this place was the cows roaming around – she was devastated when we wouldn’t let her walk up to a 2000 pound cow and pet it.
Stops for Our Next Visit
During this trip, we focused on visiting places that we can’t during the winter. We stopped at two other places on our drive home that are accessible during the winter and that we’ll have to return to – Convict Lake and the Manzanar National Historic Site. We’ve actually driven to Convict Lake before – it’s beautiful – but we’ve never hiked around it. Honestly, I’m not sure if we would since it’s a pretty flat hike and our kids tend to do better on more challenging hikes. However, there is a nice restaurant there and seeing the lake surrounded by the mountains is always spectacular.
We drove around Manzanar, which we’ve done before, but we really wanted to go into the visitor’s center. Unfortunately, it was closed on the Tuesday that we were there.
There was one other thing that we wanted to do, but couldn’t because were were in the area too late in the season – horseback riding. The area horses move out at the end of September to get cozy at lower elevations for the winter, so we couldn’t go riding on this trip.
The Sierra Nevadas are the Best
John Muir said that, “Of all the mountain ranges I have climbed, I like the Sierra Nevada the best.” Although we weren’t climbing mountains on this trip, so far, our favorite mountains to visit are the Sierra Nevadas. Dan and I have hiked Mt. Whitney and explored the Cottonwood Lakes in these mountains. And now we got to hike in and around them with our four children. This was a trip we’ll always treasure. Just a few weeks after our trip, the snow started falling and nearly all of the places that we visited were no longer open and accessible. The next time we go to Mammoth, we’ll be skiing. I’m glad we have some hiking and skiing memories in these mountains.
The Chambers Family - A.D. 