Bishop Visitor Logo

Bishop Visitor's Center

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

*This section of road is closed during winter and offers excellent cross-country skiing and snowshoeing when winter snowfall is deep. The planet’s oldest living, non-clonal organisms live here. The oldest individual is almost 5,000 years old and still living....
Lake Sabrina

Lake Sabrina

Situated at over 9,000 feet above Bishop is lovely Lake Sabrina, pronounced “Suh-bry-na” by locals. Temperatures here in summer are 20-30 degrees lower than in the valley making it a perfect place for a half day summer outing. Take a hike along the trail that climbs...
North Lake

North Lake

North Lake is located along the north fork of Bishop Creek at 9,500 ft just 20-miles from downtown Bishop. The drive along CA-168 W. (West Line St.) is on a scenic, paved mountain road for 18-miles to the junction of N. Lake Rd. Here the road climbs more steeply...
South Lake

South Lake

South Lake is the highest of the three large lakes in the Bishop Creek Canyon lakes basin. It sits at 9.868 feet above sea level. It is a popular start point for hiking into the wilderness along the Bishop Pass Trail, which connects to Kings Canyon National Park and...
Volcanic Tablelands

Volcanic Tablelands

Rising 300-feet high for over 5-miles across the valley floor north of Bishop is Chalk Bluff. This scarp forms the cliff edge of the Volcanic Tablelands formed 760,000 years ago from a pyroclastic flow that cooled and hardened following a massive explosion that...
Eastern Sierra Tri-County Fairgrounds & Event Center

Eastern Sierra Tri-County Fairgrounds & Event Center

The Eastern Sierra Tri-County Fair is a true country fair that shows off all that Inyo, Mono and Alpine Counties have to offer. We boast a wide array of hand and homemade exhibits for all tastes and interests, interesting commercial and educational exhibits and tons...
Bishop City Park

Bishop City Park

The Bishop City Park is the family fun universe in downtown Bishop. It comprises 44 acres of parkland where the city maintains a swimming pool (open from Memorial Day to Labor Day), baseball fields, tennis courts, a skate park and bike park, an off-leash dog park,...
Millpond Recreation Area

Millpond Recreation Area

Millpond Recreation Area is one of Bishop’s best kept secrets. It is a wonderful area that includes a baseball field, two playgrounds, tennis courts, horseshoe pits, lots of open grassy areas, and the pond, which has good swimming access, fishing, as well as a...
Buttermilk Country

Buttermilk Country

Buttermilk Country is a well-known, world-class bouldering destination. It also offers so much more! The area covers 325 acres of high desert meadow harboring clear streams weaving among the rocky hills. Numerous dirt tracks and single-track trails connect for miles...
Owens River

Owens River

The Owens River, although relatively short at 183 miles, compared to the major rivers of the USA, has a long and legendary history. It flows through two of the major valleys of the southwestern Great Basin, Long Valley and the Owens Valley ending in the closed basin...
Happy and Sad Boulders

Happy and Sad Boulders

Bouldering in Bishop is world class! Just 10 minutes north of Bishop, at the southern edge of the 300-foot high volcanic tablelands are long, deep washes filled with perfect boulders. The Happy and Sad Boulders offer hundreds of boulder problems that will delight and...
Manzanar National Historic Site

Manzanar National Historic Site

The Manzanar National Historic Site is a stirring reminder of a period in our history that should not be forgotten. During World War II over 10,000 Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese aliens (men, women and children) spent all or part of the war detained...
Owens River Gorge

Owens River Gorge

The Owens River Gorge is a deep, steep-sided canyon about 10 miles long located northwest of Bishop. It is a world-class destination for rock climbing and California’s most concentrated sport-climbing area with nearly 1000 routes in addition to being a favorite...
Rawson Canal Rd.

Rawson Canal Rd.

Less than 2.5-miles from downtown is a quiet dirt road that wanders the valley floor alongside Rawson Canal. It feels wild and remote with magnificent views of the White Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Stop and fish in Owens Valley Warm Water Fisheries or simply...
Druid Stones

Druid Stones

Two thousand feet above Bishop is a large collection of big monzonite boulders that is home to hundreds of boulder problems. It’s the cooler summer alternative to the Buttermilks with identical, high-quality climbing and all without the crowds. ...
Alabama Hills

Alabama Hills

The Alabama Hills, nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada just west of Lone Pine, is one of Hollywood’s favorite filming locations. This monumental landscape provides a multitude of settings for movie backgrounds and evocative scenes. The beautiful rock...
Pine Creek Canyon

Pine Creek Canyon

Pine Creek canyon is a spectacular example of a steep-sided glacial canyon. It is a deep, rock scoured canyon with a huge U-shaped cirque at the head of the canyon. The sides are bounded by high, steep walls and the mouth is bordered by glacial moraines. The road to...
Pleasant Valley Reservoir

Pleasant Valley Reservoir

This deep body of water weaves down the narrow mouth of the Owens Gorge canyon. The walls rise several hundred feet above the lake and on calm days the water is mirror-like. The dam that created this reservoir was built in the 1950s by the Los Angeles Department of...
Warm Springs Rd. Bridge over Owens River

Warm Springs Rd. Bridge over Owens River

This is a lightly used country road cuts across the old Owens River flood plain between US-395 and the base of the White Mountains. Along the banks where the bridge crosses the river there are numerous places to turn out to fish and wade in the cool waters of the...
Owens Valley Warm Water Fisheries

Owens Valley Warm Water Fisheries

Fishing is legal all year on the Owens River! The warm water fisheries on Rawson canal, that runs alongside the Owens river, are the perfect place for a quick fishing outing or family fun fishing day. Fishing in this series of beautifully maintained warm water ponds...
Canal Walk E. Line St.

Canal Walk E. Line St.

The Bishop Creek Canals are favorite paths for easy walks, runs, and bike rides. Close to downtown Bishop are several easily accessible trails along flat, graded dirt roads. They follow the twists and turns of the canals and waterways that run in and around town, and...
Mural Walk

Mural Walk

On buildings throughout Bishop the history of the Owens Valley is depicted on the exterior walls in the form of historically accurate and visually beautiful murals. A walk around town is a wonderful way to learn a little of its history from the beautiful murals that...
Bishop Downtown Intersection – Main St. and Line St.

Bishop Downtown Intersection – Main St. and Line St.

At the corner of Main St. (US-395) and Line St. (CA-168) adventure awaits! Each direction holds the promise of something exciting and interesting. The valley is wide, the mountains are high, the river is winding, the town is inviting, and the sun shines 336 days of...

Archived Blog Posts