Byway Main Page

Byway Sites (Traveling South to North)

  1. Topaz Lake
  2. Walker River
  3. Bridgeport
  4. Conway Summit
  5. Virginia Creek
  6. Mono Lake
  7. Mono Craters
  8. June Lake
  9. Crestview
  10. Mammoth Lakes
  11. Crowley Lake
  12. Sherwin Grade
  13. Round Valley
  14. Bishop
  15. Bristlecone Pines
  16. Division Creek
  17. Owens Valley
  18. Dehy Park
  19. Manzanar
  20. Lone Pine
  21. Diaz Lake
  22. Coso Junction
  23. Fossil Falls

 

Site No. 15— Bristilecone Pines

Highlights

Portal to Paradise

Of the many scenic wonders found within the Inyo National Forest, one of the most amazing is the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains. These trees (Pinus longaeva) are the oldest known living trees on earth—surviving more than 40 centuries, exceeding the age of the oldest Giant Sequoia by 1,500 yrs.

On the other side of the valley, high in the Sierras, you will find the Palisade Glacier. At 2.5 miles in length, 1 mile in width and several hundred feet thick the Palisade Glacier is the largest glacier in the Sierra and the Southernmost glacier in the Western Hemisphere and sits at an elevation between 13,000 and 14,000 feet.

While it is possible to see the glacier from the Owens Valley (hwy. 395) many choose to make the challenging nine mile, five-hour hike on a trail that climbs 4,000 feet and parallels the North fork of the Big Pine Creek.

Local Resources

Big Pine Chamber of Commerce

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

Map of Bristlecone Pine Forest