Love stopping in at this shop! Very knowledgeable - super friendly - helpful! Cool gear too!read more

Elevation Sierra is 100% the place to go for your gear needs. I just summited Mt Whitney, and…read morecouldn't have done it without the help from Jon and the gear he rented to my friends and I. He is super knowledgeable about the mountain and made sure conditions were safe before he taught us how to use all of the gear properly. We came up from LA late on a Saturday and Jon kept the store open an extra 2 hours late just so my friends and I could complete this dream of ours. Jon is the best.

The Mt Whitney Fish Hatchery was a fun stop along the 395 near Lone Pine, mainly Independence…read more However, it is no longer much of a fish hatchery following a flood and fire affecting the factory itself. While fish still live there, it no longer houses the famous "California Golden Trout". The Fish Hatchery now holds an intriguing museum with tons of history, facts, and artifacts of the West's nature. The staff are very nice and thoughtful volunteers, whom are very helpful.

Beautiful stop. I've never been able to go inside, as it's always been closed when I've come by,…read morebut the grounds are well worth the stop on their own. Bring quarters to feed the fish :)

Great location right off the 395 to stop and stretch legs and use the park! We definitely want to…read morecome back here and camp on the lake and make a trip out of it. The park has been recently updated and they also have bathrooms.

June 17th was my 60th birthday and the first day of a 5 day road trip to Mammoth Lake. Diaz Lake…read morewas the first campsite of my trip and boy was it hot when I pulled into my campsite. It was 96 degrees! My site was near the lake and had a water spigot. My dog Frankie was hot so I placed her under the spigot and completely doused her with water to cool her off. The site was nice but if I camp here again it will be in the spring or fall. Camping cost me only $21.

We had such a lovely and fun time here. We were first greeted by a dog named Sweetie. The scent of…read morelavender was everywhere. Although we could not ride horses (they were unavailable for rides today), we brought a little food and ate at a picnic table in the shade next to the creek. Kole was super kind in giving us a tour of the lavender garden, where we harvested our own bunch. He also introduced us to the horses, mules, and chickens. He was the same age as my kids, so they had fun talking and laughing. We also saw quail, honey bees, and the cutest bumble bees. The ranch is situated in a hidden pocket of the foothills. The drive to get there off the 395 is simple and beautiful, and also near the Alabama Hills. I'm so glad we visited. There was no one else there. It was so nice and peaceful. Definitely well worth the trip if you're passing through.

Cute little ranch located along horshoe meadow road. They have an actual lavender harvest which…read morethen they make oils, balms, spritz, and sachets for sale. Staff is friendly and will answer questions. They also encourage you to walk the grounds and check out the horses, chickens and nearby creek. The staff also mentioned they have cabins for rent.

Clean, cozy and quiet cabins. Staff is very friendly, check…read morein and out was easy. Dog friendly as well. Definetely recommend

Cute little cabins at the very edge of town under the the towering eastern escarpment of the Sierra…read moreNevada. The place is run like a tight ship. It's very clean. The bath towels are plush and blue, rather than the usual institutional white. The bedspreads have georgeous patterns and the mattresses are comfortable. There are no motel cleaner and perfume smells. One can bring the car right up to the front door, making unloading and loading a breeze. On the downside: Our cabin was small, not a lot of space to move around. There was some traffic noise from highway 395 which abated overnight. The place had a friendly vibe of cyclists, hikers, and outdoorsy folks. We will be back!

We stopped in the day before our 1-day permit for Mt Whitney because I needed a belt. The entire…read moregear selection was focused, high quality, and affordable. The Big Willi branded gear is a must-have. We left the shop with multiple items and better idea of the area. The encounter with Blair was awesome, he's helpful and very knowledgeable. I suggest stopping by even if you're only passing though, totally worth it!

We just happened upon this gem when we were exploring Lone Pine this fall and boy am I glad we did!…read moreThe owner is so friendly, has an awesome selection of good quality gear, and is extremely knowledgeable about the area! They have some awesome tech sun shirts that I highly recommend too! Love rocking my Big Willi shirt on all my adventures!

What an amazing campground. Let's start by introducing you to ranger Bob is amazing! Gave an intro…read morespeech about everything there is to know about the campgrounds. There's zero cell reception up here and even if you use satellite data, it's very spotty. The campground is pretty small, with roughly about 40 sites. Surrounded by tall trees, Mt Whitney, and the creek that falls downstream. Trout is stocked every Thursday, we arrived Monday and we still saw a lot of trout. We managed to catch 2 but these fishes did not bite even when the bait was dangling right in front of their mouth. The is a mama bear that roams the campgrounds especially at night so be careful and lock your car doors! This bear knows how to open car handles and will check every car. There is a bear storage so use it and make sure no food is lying around anywhere. The bear is said to be nice and it will walk away once she grabs what she wants. The elevation is a bit more than 8k. Amazing place, highly recommend. Will definitely come back sooner than later!

Had an amazing time camping at the portal campground. Campsites are very well located a 2-3 minute…read moredrive from the trailhead. Perfect for acclimating at some type of elevation before hitting the trailhead early (especially for single day hikers). Only caution is to bring bug spray or YOU WILL be quickly reminded of why you should have.

Not going to lie, this hike unexpectedly really beat me up. I intended to do the entire loop but…read morewas just so exhausted/overwhelmed when I woke up that I ended up turning back, although I took a different way back. I only made it to Lake 3 but to be fair, it started heavily pouring with intermittent thunder and lightning. The elevation gain destroyed me with my 20+ pound backpack, but I eventually made it to Lake 3 where I joined 2 other girls who basically adopted my clueless self. It is beautiful but perhaps would have been better without the cloudy skies. Overall, I would do this trip again but with more training!!

The Cottonwood Lakes are a series of 5 lakes in the high Eastern Sierra Nevada at about 11,000'…read moreelevation where you can catch California golden trout. This is a great place to camp out if you are looking for a place to acclimate before doing a high altitude hike such as Whitney. For convenience, you can just camp out at the trailhead which is at 10,000'. It takes about an hour to get from the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead to the Whitney Portal. I arrived here on July 3rd in the afternoon and spent one night and the following day fishing and hiking the area as a warmup to Whitney, which I was hiking on July 5th. Ultimately, I did not have any altitude sickness issues beyond a very mild headache which I could treat with ibuprofen. From the Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead, the Cottonwood Lakes are about 5.5 miles away, so 11 miles roundtrip. Cottonwood Lake #3 is the largest of the five, and I ended up catching all my trout here. However, I didn't spend much time, if any, at the other lakes due to time constraints. I caught 4 trout in about an hour and a half. It's a very beautiful area, with large open meadows and lots of wildlife. I saw a deer and a pair of coyote while hiking to the lakes. There are also hordes of mosquitos so be sure to bring powerful mosquito repellant. Cottonwood Lakes can also be the midpoint in a hike to Mt. Langley, but that's another review.