I have used the hot springs without camping, and lately I have been camping without soaking, so I'm breaking them into two spots. This is the camping spot.When the hot springs road turns left, take a right and park at any of the several rough camping spots. The hot springs is a little less tan a mile further on.
at the end of beautiful Silver Lake. Probably has great lake swimming/kayaking in the summer. Sites 16-27-ish have best lake access. Spectacular fall color spot. All the June Loop campgrounds no longer allow checking yourself in at the kiosk. A stressed-out concession employee must come and personally check you in. A step backwards, IMO.
Tub 1 seems to always be booked. Tubs 2 and 3 are the lower priced tubs most likely to be open. I did T2 because it looked cozier in the picture. I like it better I think, but in T3 you can kick back and look at the hills which is cool.
In the style of Inyo Forest campgrounds(*), this one is hard to find(**) and kind of shabby and rough, but it's in a really beautiful location. This one is on Lee Vining Creek, in the aspen/pine forest on top of the glacial till. It's the first campground on CA 120 west of Mono Lake heading up to spectacular Tioga Pass. It's pretty cool. It's very popular with fishermen. (*) Except the Inyo campgrounds around June Lake/Mammoth. They are run by a concessionare. They are a little nicer, cost twice as much, and have three times as many rules. (**) There is an arrow for "camping", but you must turn off the road to see the "Lower Lee Vining" sign.
Right next to the movie museum at the south end of Lone Pine. Can walk to the pizza place.
A very nice price point for staying in Mammoth. Interior is very stylish and well laid out - plenty of electrical outlets in convenient places, nice table and shelves. On the negative side, no refrigerator and microwave, as I have come to expect in my cheap motels.
A nice free campground on the side of the glacial slope about ten miles north of Bishop. Pretty rough gravel spots running for some distance along lovely Horton Creek
The first (lowest altitude) of the string of Inyo campgrounds on CA 168 west of Bishop. The campground itself is very much like Silver Lake CG on the June Lake Loop - exposed sites, not much shade, pleasant and quiet and level with a little stream running along the far edge.
on a lovely little aspen-lined creek a few miles above Bishop. You can go even farther up either road and come to a lake, but this is a nice compromise, in the valley below the fork in the road. Save a few miles of driving straight up. Behind a big-ass moraine which cuts the valley in two. It's open and very pretty, with the annoying corporate management that most (all?) of the Inyo Forest campgrounds have.
Real good find! I thought these county parks were spendy, but $10 seems like a pretty good deal to me right now! On one of those little "creeks" LADWP sculpted out to constrain "their" water. Wide open sagebrush on one side, a column of willows and cottonwoods following the creek on the other. Very quiet and pretty today.
The third campground after leaving Tioga Pass. It is a few miles and a few thousand feet elevation down, more properly thought of as up from Mono Lake than down from Yosemite. As you're angling down the canyon wall you see a road hundreds of feet down in the valley below. This campground and Big Bend Campground are here. Eventually you get to the turnoff and drive up the road almost two miles and there you are. For some reason the signage is for Bid Bend, but Aspen is the first option you get to. Shady, near the same stream as Ellery Lake, lots of happy trout fishermen, a lovely meadow at the east edge of the campground. Nice enough place, but it ain't no Tioga Lake.
It's actually free, but there's a suggested donation of $5. Climb >4,000' of narrow curvy road out of Bishop to get to the Bristlecone Pine Forest, and your bonus is this sweet little campground. There are no numbered sites, it's all kind of freeform in a nice way. Short walks get you spectacular views west to the Sierras across the Owens valley, and east into the interior of Nevada.
steep, slippery hike down to the springs, which are a couple of hot streams falling into pools by the river
There's a very nice tub at the parking lot, holds 1-3 folks - adjustable temp, great soak. Down the hill is a travertine mound that starts with a pretty hot one person tub (109°-ish?) on the uphill side, which feeds into progressively cooler tubs as the water flows clockwise around the mound downhill. The last two have a spectacular view of the valley, but are too cool and have creepy stuff growing in them. This place is too accessible from 395 and too well known. It's usually busy, and sometimes straight-up creepy with weirdos straight off the highway. The camping spot is handy even without the hot springs. When the hot springs road turns left, take a right and park at any of the several rough camping spots.
Hot water pops out of the ground at numerous places around here. Get the Cal/Nev Hot Springs book for details. Today I went to the first one off Whitmore Tubs Road, called "Hot Tub" in the book, "Rock Tub" on the PDF. It was just excellent for one or two people. This is BLM land so I think you can camp. I did not this time.
When Silver Lake Campground is full, this parking area a few miles down the road is open for camping. It's just parking and a few [picnic tables, but it's quite scenic.
Another Inyo County campground along one of those "Creeks" controlled by LA Water Authority. Dusty and low tech, but very pretty. If you come on a summer weekend you run the risk of real asshole neighbors.
At 9,300', so a short season. A dusty, cramped, low-amenity national park campground that's in a REALLY cool place.
Large campground at the foot of Convict Lake. Really cool place, mountains on three sides, nice little bite-sized hike around the perimeter of the lake (2.6 miles). Quite popular, but it's a big campground so there are usually open sites. Downtown Mammoth is fifteen minutes away.
Campground is less than a mile off 395 on a good gravel road. It's free and the campsites are quite spacious.
In the good part of downtown Bishop. The funky little Bishop AAA office is right across the street, restaurants and coffee shops a block away.