Not only is the lake a popular destination for travelers, but also for the birds. Summer (June-August) is the busiest time of year. A ranger-guided walk is scheduled at 1 pm on Saturdays and Sundays at South Tufa. The weather can be changeable layered clothing is recommended and a late snowstorm is never a surprise. The shores of the lake are green and speckled with the first wildflowers of the season. The area is still quiet through mid-June and all the creeks flowing into the lake are full from the recent snow melts. Spring (April-May) is a beautiful time of year at Mono Lake. South Tufa, Old Marina, and the County Park boardwalk are all wonderful places to cross-country ski when snow conditions permit. The road to South Tufa is kept plowed, allowing year-round access except immediately after large storms. The crowds are gone, a quiet stillness prevails, and snow sparkles on the tufa towers, a photographer’s dream. Winter (December – March) at Mono Lake is a particularly beautiful time to visit. Visitor center staff is a wealth of information on Things to Do around the area. The center is located just off Highway 395, north of Lee Vining, and includes a variety of exhibits about the natural and human history of the Mono Basin. No matter the season, the Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center is a great place to start your visit to the area. Freshwater evaporating from the lake each year has left the salts and minerals behind so that the lake is now about 2 1/2 times as salty as the ocean. Mono Lake has no outlet, so throughout its long existence, salts and minerals have washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams. It is an ancient lake, over 700,000 years old, making it one of the oldest lakes in North America. Mono Lake is a majestic body of water covering about 60 square miles. Entrants are also given a collectors pin, which are highly prized by those who love to cast in the Eastern Sierra.ĭirections: Convict Lake is roughly two miles from Highway 395 and about 15 minutes south of Mammoth Lakes.Home > area adventures > mono lake Mono Lake For a small entrance fee, which goes towards helping to stock the lake, anglers have an opportunity to win all kinds of prizes, including gear, free boat rentals and stays at the resort. The Convict Lake Resort hosts the “Round Up at the Lake” each spring and offers the “Ambush at the Lake” in autumn. Perhaps the best time to fish Convict Lake is in the spring or the fall, when the lake gets well stocked to host its two annual derbies. So even on busy days, it always seems like there’s always some room to fish at Convict if you’re willing to search for it. Rainbow trout tend to get the largest, but Convict is also home to browns and brookies.Īt nearly 170 acres, it’s a great lake to fish by boat, canoe, kayak or float tube, but shore access is also solid as a trail follows along the entire shoreline. Thanks to its depth and ability to offer lots of cold, clean water, Convict Lake is known for producing large trout, with a few fish landed each season in the eight-pound range. Convict Lake Road runs for roughly two miles to the lake. In honor of the lake’s history, Convict Lake Resort holds two annual fishing derbies: the “Round Up at the Lake” in the spring and the “Ambush at the Lake” each fall.ĭirections: Just south of Mammoth Lakes and west of the Mammoth Yosemite Airport off Highway 395. The large peaks above the lake were renamed after the fallen posse members and the lake itself became known as Convict. Most of the inmates were eventually caught and put to frontier justice. A shootout ensued and two locals, Robert Morrison and Mono Jim, were killed. In the fall of 1871, a posse trapped a group of escaped convicts from Carson City, Nevada, at the lake, then known as Monte Diablo. It has also starred in numerous TV commercials and print ads, but it’s most famous for how it got its name. Convict Lake was originally carved out by glaciers, and at up to 140’ deep in some places, it’s one of the deepest lakes in the region.Ĭonvict Lake offers great trout fishing and hiking for folks wishing to access the high country. The oblong-shaped lake is filled with water as clear as glass, encircled by a three-mile long access trail and boxed in by the steep backdrop of the Sierra Nevada, highlighted by the 12,241’ Mount Morrison. The scenery, the fishing and the hiking it offers are all world-class. Just a couple paved miles from Highway 395, Convict Lake is a drive-to lake of the highest order. You could travel the world over and you’d be hard pressed to find a more beautiful lake than Convict, especially one that is so easy to access.
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