Page 103 - 2024/2025 Travel Guide to CALIFORNIA

The range is home to three national parks, 15 state parks, two national monu- ments and more than two dozen officially designated wilderness areas. Hikers get itchy feet at the mere mention of its cele- brated walking paths: the John Muir Trail; the Tahoe Rim Trail; the Pacific Crest Trail; and the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail. At the drop of winter’s first snowflake, skiers begin making plans for the three premier ski resorts on America’s West Coast: Squaw Valley (site of the 1960 Winter Olympics), Heavenly and Mammoth Mountain. Streams rushing down the range’s sheer east slope into the Owens Valley are renowned for their fly fishing.
Geographically speaking, the mountain range is pretty much one big chunk of gra- nite tilted like a badly placed brick in a cobblestone street. It’s gently sloped on the west side and quite steep on the east, lower in the north and higher in the south. Keep that in mind when choosing a hiking trail. For an easier amble, look to the north and west; for a challenging ascent, head south and east.
City & Town
Connected by gondola to the Heavenly ski resort, the bustling town of South Lake Tahoe, located on the lakeshore and the Nevada border, has seen an injection of
MUST
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• OLDEST TREES Bristlecone pines growing high in the White Mountains are the world’s oldest trees, some surviving nearly 5,000 years. To visit them, follow Highway 168 east from the town of Big Pine. An easy, mile-long trail winds through the Schulman Grove.
• bishopvisitor.com/activities/bristlecone-forest
• CLIMBING “CALIFORNIA’S EVEREST” At 14,495-feet, Mount Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous U.S. It is also, surpris- ingly, the most frequently climbed peak in California—thanks to a well-graded, 11-mile trail to the top. Very fit hikers make it up and down in one long, arduous day. Sounds tough, but it’s so popular there’s a lottery for the coveted permits. • nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/whitney.htm
• MOUNTAIN HAMLET The picturesque town of Markleeville (pop. 187) is the largest metropolis in Alpine County, California’s least populated county. It makes a great base for fishing excursions and for soaking up the Sierra’s version of fall colors—the turning of the aspens. • alpinecounty.com
• THE WILD, WILD WEST Possibly the Old West’s most notorious mining town, Bodie now exists in a state of “arrested decay” on a high, windswept plain northeast of Yosemite. It’s one of America’s most extensive ghost towns.
• www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=509
• LAKE TAHOE SALMON RUN Salmon in Lake Tahoe? Yes, every autumn the kokanee salmon congregate by the thousands at the mouth of Taylor Creek on the south shore to make their spawning run upstream, drawing bears and mer- gansers to dine, and people to look on in awe. The site also has interpretive paths and a sunken aquarium that suggests you’ve descended beneath the surface of the creek itself.
• facebook.com/TaylorCreekVisitorCenter
OUTDOOR DINING IN SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, above; hiking in Yosemite National Park with Half Dome, opposite.
SPECIAL EVENTS 2024
“LIGHTS ON THE LAKE,” Held each Fourth of July at South Lake Tahoe, it is the largest synchronized fireworks show west of the Mississippi. July 4 visitlaketahoe.com/events/lights-on- the-lake-fireworks-display
AMERICAN CENTURY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP It has been called the “Super Bowl of Celebrity Sports,” with pro athletes and Hollywood celebrities competing for their share of a $600,000 purse. July 10-14, South Lake Tahoe americancenturychampionship.com
LONE PINE FILM FESTIVAL The hundreds of Hollywood westerns and other movies filmed in and around Lone Pine, from 1925’s Riders of the Purple Sage to 2008’s Ironman, are cele- brated here. Oct. 10-13, lonepinefilmfestival.org
2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA 101