Minaret Vista - Hiking Mammoth Lakes, CA

The Minaret Vista hike above Mammoth Lakes is an explosion of colors and magnificent vistas.  It is a 4WD road that runs from CA-203 about 2 1/2 miles up to a hilltop with a 360º view of the surrounding mountains - the White Mountains to the east and the Sierras around Mammoth Lakes to the west.  It is steep in places, and a steady climb, but it is an easy hike other than that.  Unfortunately, it was another cloudless day and we were there at high noon, so the rainbow of colors from the carpet of wildflowers is pretty much washed out in the pictures below.  Take a look, and use your imagination to turn up the color saturation!

To reach the trailhead, follow CA-203 through the Mammoth Mountain lodge parking lot and continue on until just before the Forest Ranger shack that leads to Devils Postpile.  Turn right (it is currently signposted for Minaret Vista), and continue on until you find the Minaret Vista parking area a little more than 1/4 mile up the road.

First, stop at the lookout and read the signs and look through the pipe provided as a viewer to pick out some of the major mountains and geographic features visible.  The view is panoramic.  Mammoth Mountain, the Minarets, Banner Peak, Mount Ritter, and the White Mountains are all visible.  This is the view from the lookout.  Even if you're not going to hike, this is a great picnic spot and there are a few tables, restrooms, and plenty of parking.

The trail begins behind the bathrooms, and is currently marked (or blocked to ORV use) by several large logs.  If you walk past the logs, to the top of the hill, past the bench, and then pick any trail from the maze of paths that go down the other side, you will come to a 4WD road.  Make a note of the empty sign and the arrow blaze nailed high up in a tree on the road, as these will show you where to turn up hill on the return journey to find the Minaret Vista parking lot.

Once you break out of the trees, the amazing quilt of wildflowers begins to coalesce.  Lower down the trail, it's more greenery and fewer flowers.

The views and the flowers get progressively better as you walk the road higher up the ridge. 

The yellow and blue flowers carpet either side of the trail, but the sun is so bright that you can hardly see them in the shot of Mammoth Mountain above.  Here's what they look like up close.

The carpet of wildflowers keeps getting thicker as you climb higher.  As you near the 2 mile point, this is the view that you're treated to.

That picture really doesn't do justice to the amazing colors that surround you at this point in the hike looking back towards Crowley Lake.  This hike rivals Rainbow Falls.  While Rainbow Falls has the spectacular endpoint, here you are immersed in beautiful views and surrounded by color every step of the way.

Since I'm always behind the camera, here's one that my wife got with her camera of me...