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 :)

A fun trail to walk with kids. There's plenty of free parking in the lot. The route to the hike is…read morereally just a dirt road. The trail is about a mile to and back. There are 2-3 porta potties available at the parking lot. There is very little to no shade. It's literally the desert and rocks. I do not recommend this hike during the summer. It's definitely too hot. Remember to bring a hat, sunscreen, and water!

+ Short, beginner-friendly hike. About 1.25 mile, 30 minutes…read more + Fantastic photo ops with vantages of arches circumscribing Mt Whitney. + Free access and parking. . One or two porta-potties. . Moderately crowded. . Minimal shade. - No water.

Once in a lifetime opportunity. Recommended driving a truck/jeep/suv/Subaru. It is nearly 30 miles…read moredown a dirt/gravel road with at times severe washboarding. It is 100% worth the drive. Once you get to the start of the lakebed there is a small area for parking to go walk around and see the grandstand. Keep driving south to get to the moving rocks area and here is a tip. don't spend your time at the rocks right at the entry. walk all the way to straight out to the side of the mountain where the rocks start from. If you continue south you will have to have a 4x4 vehicle with high clearance (Subaru's won't make it) it is a great off-road trail but will take you pretty much all day round trip from the start of the racetrack road to getting back into Death Valley on the south side. It is very much worth it, you get deep deep into the back country on this trail. This is an absolute must see place!!

Update to clarify a point: many reviewers are saying you need a 4WD to visit the Racetrack. You…read moredon't - it's a fairly good 27 mile gravel road that gets washboarded and has many, many tire-killing rocks. A 2WD vehicle will get there just fine as long as you drive carefully. The driver absolutely must concentrate on navigating the road and avoiding rocks. That said, what you DO need are good tires. Don't attempt this drive with anything other than at least fairly new street tires - not performance tires. All terrain tires are better. And make sure you have a full size spare in good condition with a jack and all necessary tools to jack up the car. This last trip, we encountered a guy in a pickup with a flat tire that not only didn't know how to jack the truck up but - after searching his truck - didn't actually have the tool necessary to get the spare tire down from where it was under the vehicle.

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.

Drove by so many times never got there, I didn't know this place exists,…read moreBeautiful, check it out, easy access and lots of parking.

Majestic falls accessible to all. If you're in Lone Pine, just take Whitney Portal Road 'til it…read moreends in a campsite (which is also the trailhead if you plan to hike Mount Whitney) and there's the waterfall to the right. We parked in one of the many available spots and were able to just walk up along the waterfall to get a closer look. It was really beautiful, surrounded by tall evergreens. Just needed a bear fishing, off to the side, to complete the National Geographic cover. Seemed like the trees along the water had cement to resemble bark, which I noticed while trying to steady myself standing on one of the boulders taking pictures. I've seen pictures of the falls frozen over in the winter, so hopefully I can make it up here again before the close off the road near the end of the year.

Being in the high Sierras is one of the best things in the world. Like many trails on the eastern…read moreside of the Sierras, this 9.7-mile roundtrip hike with 2500' elevation change wanders past a series of natural lakes (not fake dammed up reservoirs) before reaching the superlative view at Kearsarge Pass. The trailhead (0.0 miles in and at 9240') is next to the Onion Valley Campground - although Kearsarge Pass can also be reached from Kanawyers at the end of road in Kings Canyon National Park. The trailhead had plenty of parking, many bear lockers, and exceptionally well-maintained outhouses. Little Pothole (1.6 miles, 9960') is a crescent-shaped and somewhat marshy lake. The least attractive and smallest of the five lakes, it benefits from an easy-to-reach shoreline and visible cascades feeding it water. Gilbert Lake (2.3 miles, 10,320') is superior to Little Pothole with its larger and rounder shape. With vegetation at the water's edge, continue to the western side of the lake where standing on a massive boulder provides a clear view of the lake. With heavy winter snowfall in both 2017 and 2019, Gilbert Lake was half covered in snow on 6/18/17 (see pic) but was clear on 8/19/19. Flower Lake (2.7 miles, 10,470') is also bushy at water's edge but oddly not with flowers. If at Gilbert, take the rewarding effort to reach nearby Flower. Flower is a good turn-around point if not going to Kearsarge Pass. Heart Lake (3.6 miles, 10,960) is truly heart-shaped. The pond at 3.4 miles is not Heart Lake. Reaching the shoreline requires a steep scramble that needs a healthy heart. Big Pothole (4.3 miles, 11,420') is the best-looking pothole I've seen. Below a Baroque-rippled rock face, the lake has a pentagon shape. An extensive scramble is needed to reach the water but the trail wraps around the lake and delivers plenty of bird's eye views. The bluish-green water also provides motivating sights while making the final ascent to the pass. Kearsarge Pass (4.8 miles, 11,760') is an absolutely phenomenal vista - not necessarily looking back towards Independence but forward to Kings Canyon with a broad basin filled with multiple reflective lakes in front of rows of piercing mountain ranges. I'd share a picture but I couldn't rightly capture the enormous beauty.

Got to the pass via the onion valley trailhead. Really pretty waterfalls and lakes along the way…read more Been awhile since I was there but remember it being beautiful.

Marvelous experience! Truly deserving of its title Tallest Peak in the Contiguous US. We went the…read morelonger 45-mi route from Cottonwood Pass, which took us 3 days 2 nights. Camped 1st night in the forest by a creek, 2nd night by Guitar Lake. Lots of privacy throughout this ordeal. Each day we passed about 10 ppl each. Heard cows mooing. Saw pikas, marmots, chipmunks, and fighter jets. Mesmerizing night sky completely blanketed with stars. Tough altitude experience. Lightheadedness and windedness from AMS will kick your butt. Better train beforehand by hiking shorter mountains such as San Gorgonio (11.5k', tallest peak in SoCal). Many people camp at least one night somewhere along the trail to help acclimate/acclimatize to the lower air density overnight. Turns out the hut at the summit (14.5k') will protect you from lightning. You will definitely need a water filter. Don't wanna lug 5 L of water for 20+ miles. Refill your bottles at creeks and lakes.

We were very lucky to snag a couple of last minute permits. Drove 4 hours and started hiking at 1…read moream. Summit the mountain around 8 am and enjoyed our time at the top. The views are amazing and the 99 switchbacks seem like eternity. We got back to the parking lot at 6pm and drove home. Weather was great at about 40 degrees. An unforgettable adventure. Please come and create your own.

If you like a good adventure then Alabama Hills is the place. You can easily get lost so keep an…read moreactive gps on you. No matter the type of season you go it's an awesome sight. I come every season and stopped by this past Monday. The views from Mobius Arch were great. They have BLM overnight camping sites and a lot of day use sites.