Backpacking in Inyo National Forest

9 documented trips · 40,211 total feet of climbing across all routes

Little Lakes Valley

Little Lakes Valley is a chain of emerald lakes threaded beneath the 13,000-foot granite spires of Bear Creek Spire and Mount Morgan, reache…

6.4 mi1,242 ft gain1–2 daysDiff 20

Rush Creek to Thousand Island Lake

This out-and-back climbs the Rush Creek drainage from the June Lake Loop to Thousand Island Lake, a granite-bound alpine basin at the foot o…

15.8 mi2,683 ft gain2–3 daysDiff 27

Duck Pass to Duck Lake

Duck Lake is the easiest true backpacking destination in the Mammoth Lakes area: a 4.75-mile climb past Arrowhead and Barney Lakes and over …

9.5 mi3,210 ft gain2–2 daysDiff 28

Cottonwood Pass to Chicken Spring Lake

Cottonwood Pass is the gentle giant of the southern Sierra: a 10,000-foot trailhead, a mellow 3.5-mile climb to the 11,200-foot pass, and Ch…

15 mi2,962 ft gain2–2 daysDiff 30

Sabrina Basin

Sabrina Basin is Bishop's classic two-day trip: a 4.25-mile climb from Lake Sabrina past a chain of blue lakes to a high granite bench benea…

8.5 mi3,652 ft gain2–3 daysDiff 30

New Army Pass via Cottonwood Lakes

New Army Pass is the classic high route out of Horseshoe Meadow: 4.8 miles past the Cottonwood Lakes to a 12,300-foot saddle beneath Cirque …

9.6 mi3,596 ft gain2–3 daysDiff 33

Big Pine Lakes

Big Pine Lakes is the classic Palisades backpack: a steady 6.75-mile climb from Glacier Lodge past turquoise lakes to Sam Mack Meadow, in th…

13.5 mi7,086 ft gain2–3 daysDiff 46

Mount Whitney Trail

The Mount Whitney Trail climbs 6,140 feet in 10.7 miles from Whitney Portal to the summit of the highest peak in the contiguous United State…

21.4 mi6,460 ft gain2–3 daysDiff 49

North Lake–South Lake Loop

This five-to-seven-day traverse links two classic Bishop trailheads — North Lake and South Lake — into one of the finest big loops in the Si…

47.2 mi9,320 ft gain5–7 daysDiff 73