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. 6 — Mono Lake

Highlights

• Lee Vining attractions and recreation opportunities
• Mono Lake—an oasis in the desert for birds
• Panorama of the Sierra and native grasses
• Habitat for millions of migratory and nesting birds
• Lee Vining: Named for Leroy Vining, one of Mono's first settlers who established camp here after gold found a year earlier.

Mono Lake, Birds & the Greater Basin

Mono Lake is a majestic body of water covering over 60 square miles. Throughout its long existence (over 700,000 years), salts and minerals have washed into the lake from Eastern Sierra streams.

Since Mono Lake has no outlet, the freshwater evaporating from the lake each year has left the salts behind so that the lake is now about two-and-a-half times as salty and eighty times as alkaline as seawater.

The Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center is a great place to start your visit to this area. Campgrounds are available and naturalists lead walks throughout the year at the South Tufa Area.

Local Resources

Mono Lake page - Bridgeport Bodie Visitors Bureau

Mono Lake Committee - History, Programs & Information

 

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