Mono Recreation Devils Postpile Devils Postpile is a dark cliff of columnar basalt near Mammoth Mountain in extreme northeastern Madera County in eastern California. The postpile was created by a lava flow sometime between less than 100,000 years ago (according to current potassium-argon dating) to 700,000 years ago (according to other dating methods). The source of the lava is thought to have been somewhere near Upper Soda Springs campground at the north end of Pumice Flat on the floor of the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River, from where it flowed to the site of the Postpile, was impounded by a moraine, and reached a thickness of 400 feet (newer estimate) to 600 feet (older estimate). In any event, the lava that now makes up the Postpile was near the bottom of this mass. Because of its great thickness, much of the mass of pooled lava cooled slowly and evenly, which is why the columns are so long and so symmetrical...

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]]> #style_landform -119.083557,37.621845,0 Ansel Adams Wilderness The Ansel Adams Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Sierra Nevada of California, USA. The wilderness is part of the Inyo and Sierra National Forests. The wilderness was established as part of the original Wilderness Act in 1964 as the Minarets Wilderness. The 109500 acre Minarets Wilderness was created by enlarging and renaming the Mount Dana-Minarets Primitive Area. In 1984, after his death, the area was expanded and renamed in honor of Ansel Adams, well-known environmentalist and nature photographer who is famous for his black and white landscape photographs of the Sierra Nevada. The wilderness spans 230,258 acres (932 km�). Yosemite National Park lies to the north and northwest, while the John Muir Wilderness lies to the south...

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]]> #style_poi -119.182434,37.683006,0 Convict Lake Convict Lake (elevation 7850 ft), is a lake in the Sherwin Range of the Sierra Nevada in California, USA. It is known for its fishing and the dramatic mountains (including Mount Morrison) that surround the lake. The lake was named after an incident in 1871, where a group of convicts escaped from prison in Carson City. A posse, led by Sheriff Robert Morrison, encountered the convicts near the head of what is now Convict Creek. Morrison was killed in the encounter, and Mount Morrison was named after him (See: [1]). In 1951, a film titled The Secret of Convict Lake was released with the location as the film's setting based on the events in (1871) starring Glenn Ford and Gene Tierney.According to the narrative included with the movie "How the West Was Won", Convict Lake was in the opening scenes. It was also used in Star Trek Insurrection, and in an advertisement for Nature Valley granola bars in 2007.

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]]> #style_poi -118.853958,37.591724,0 June Lake June Lake is a subalpine lake in Mono County, California, located at at an elevation of 7612 ft, 20 miles North from Mammoth Lakes and 15 miles South from Lee Vining. It is one of the four lakes (June Lake, Gull Lake, Silver Lake & Grant Lake) inside the June Lake Loop. The lake is popular for fishing. It is located about 5 miles south of the southern end of Mono Lake following U.S. Route 395 and then 2 miles west on State Route 158. The town of June Lake, California is on the southern end of the lake. The population of the town is approximately 600 (according to the posted signs) full time residents. In the Summer that can blossom to 5400 fisherman, campers, tourists, backpackers and outdoors enthusiasts.

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]]> #style_poi -119.067764,37.791473,0 Lee Vining Lee Vining, California is an unincorporated town in Mono County, California, USA. It is located on the southwest shore of Mono Lake. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 488 and its elevation is 6781 feet (2067m). At the previous census the town population was 398, and at the census before that it was 315. The economy of Lee Vining relies largely on tourism, since it is the closest town to the east entrance of Yosemite National Park, and is near other tourist destinations such as Mono Lake, the ghost town of Bodie, popular trout fishing destinations, and June Mountain and Mammoth Mountain ski areas and the June Lake recreational area. Tourism is mostly confined to the summer months, because State Route 120 through Yosemite is closed otherwise because of heavy snows, although year-round tourism has been increasing in recent years. Lee Vining has a year-round Information Center for visitors. The town was named after Leroy Vining, who founded the town in 1852 as a mining camp.

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]]> #style_poi -119.117889,37.951508,0 East Yosemite Entrance/Tioga Pass Tioga Pass (el. 9,943 ft. / 3,031 m.) is a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. State Route 120 runs through it, and serves as the eastern entry point for Yosemite National Park. It is the highest highway pass in California and in the Sierra Nevada. Mount Dana is to the east of the pass. There are several trailheads into the Yosemite backcountry which begin at Tioga Pass, including the trail to the Gaylor Lakes to the west/northwest, and the rough trail to the summit of Mount Dana. Dana Meadows is immediately south of the pass alongside the highway, as the pass itself is roughly angled north/south as opposed to east/west. Dana Meadows contains several small lakes. This pass, like many other passes in the Sierra Nevada, has a gradual approach from the west and drops off to the east dramatically, losing more than 3,000 ft (914 m) by the time the road reaches U.S. Route 395. The pass is subject to winter closure, due to high snowfall...

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]]> #style_poi -119.258141,37.911564,0 Mammoth Mountain Mammoth Mountain is a large lava dome complex that lies to the west of the town of Mammoth Lakes, California in the Inyo National Forest. It is home to a large ski area. Mammoth Mountain was formed in a series of eruptions that ended 57,000 years ago.
Mammoth Mountain is home to the Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, the tallest ski resort in California. Mammoth Mountain is notable in that it gets an unusually large amount of snow, about 400" annually, compared to other Eastern Sierra peaks, due to Mammoth Mountain lying in a low gap in the Sierra crest. In the summer months the ski gondolas are used by mountain bikers and tourists who wish to get a summit view of the Long Valley Caldera directly to the east and Sierra peaks to the west, south and north.

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]]> #style_landform -119.035492,37.631092,0 Crowley Lake Crowley Lake is a reservoir on the upper Owens River in southern Mono County, California in the United States. It was created in 1941 by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) as storage for the Los Angeles Aqueduct and for flood control. For more on the history of the lake, see Owens Lake. It is also known for its trout fishing: between 6,000 and 10,000 anglers hit the lake on opening day. The largest brown trout taken from the lake weighed 27 pounds (12 kg).

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