Eastern Sierras ~ The US 395, camping & day trips

We love exploring the Eastern Sierras. This area starts at Lone Pine in the South and extends to the Nevada state line in the North. There are so many things to see that include the surreal Mono lake, the eerie ghost town of Bodie, so many lakes and and streams and much more. There are tons of places to fish, hike, camp, bike and ski. Just relaxing in what is known as the Ansel Adams wilderness and enjoying the scenery is an amazing time.

Our first stop on our trip is always Bass Pro Shops in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca. It’s a great place to pick up last minute camping and fishing supplies. However, be sure to give yourself a time limit because this place is easy to get stuck in for hours.

Our destination is of our favorite places to camp, Bishop creek. This camping area is just west of the town of Bishop, Ca. Bishop is a sweet old-fashioned mountain town and makes a great base camp for exploring the Eastern Sierras. It’s a 6 hour drive from San Diego or San Francisco and a 4 hour drive from Los Angeles.

Lone Pine ~ The US 395 to the Eastern Sierras

From San Diego, we take the historic 395, there is so much to see on this route. We always plan our trip so we can spend a night in Lone Pine, the jumping off spot for hikers going to Mt Whitney and the southern entrance to the Eastern Sierras. Mount Whitney is the highest peak in the lower 48 @ 14,500 feet. We love waking up in the shadow of Whitney and taking a drive up Whitney Portal road. This 13 mile drive west of Lone Pine, takes you half way up the mountain to the trail head. There’s an awesome breakfast/burger joint called the The Whitney Portal store with amazing pancakes. You’ll find a campground here and lots of trails to explore. There are plenty of HOTEL options in Lone Pine and rates are reasonable.

Camping in Bishop, Ca.

We like to get an early start out of Lone Pine and make our way to Bishop. If we are tent camping, we always go to the Bishop Park campground. Most of the sites are next to the rushing Bishop creek. Take the 168 for 16 miles and you’ll find it at Middle Fork at about 8300ft in elevation. The campsites are first come-first serve so the earlier you get there the better. Each campsite has a picnic table, a fire ring and a bear box. There are several other camp grounds in this area as well. On the way up, you have to stop at the Burger Barn. It is one of our “Top 5 favorite” burgers ever!

If it’s too cold for a tent (for me, it’s never “”too cold” for Bryan) we like to stay at Parchers Resort. They have nice 1 and 2 bedroom cabins with decks and full amenities.

Once we have our base camp set up, it’s time to plan our day-excursions. There are so many places to go from here. We will be fishing, hiking and exploring for the next few days.

Check out our blogs on the Eastern Sierra’s. Get the low down on epic bucket-list day trips to Mono Lake, Mammoth lake, June lake & the ghost town of Bodie!