Summer is spectacular in our big backyard

Summer is Spectacular

Bishop is nestled in a deep, high-desert valley between two gargantuan mountain ranges—the Sierra Nevada to the west, which have long been a playground for outdoor enthusiasts and a sanctuary for seekers of solitude; and the White Mountains to the east, that are a bastion for the oldest living things on earth. These landscapes provide endless opportunities for adventure. Together they form an immense natural theater to experience summer in an ever-changing and varied environment.

Beat the summer heat in Bishop with a leisurely float ride along the sinuous Owens River or take an easy hike along the Discovery Trail in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest at 10,000 feet above sea level. Visit an old ghost town in the remote hills north of Bishop or could spread a blanket on the warm desert earth late at night and gaze up at the splendor of the Milky Way.

Bishop Creek Canyon

Bishop Creek Canyon is the ‘pièce de résistance’ for water fun and summer sun. There are few regions along the eastern Sierra that can match the beauty or deliver the amenities that this magnificent canyon can! It is a magnificent area of about 30-square-miles in the majestic Sierra Nevada where perennial creeks flow into large, high-altitude lakes surrounded by evergreen and deciduous forests laced with hiking trails.

The streams and lakes are regularly stocked with fish and miles of trails offer easy access to swift waters and calm lakes. The lakes are also great for stand-up paddle boarding, kayaking, swimming, and boating. A boat dock with boat rentals and a café are located at Lake Sabrina. This is a truly magical place for a summer afternoon outing or weekend getaway.

There are 12 USFS developed campgrounds that are perfectly situated and provide a variety of camping from tent to RV camping, with two especially designated for groups.

High Sierra

This is the place where waterfalls are born. The winter snowpack melts and water drips and trickles and cascades into naturally occurring lakes, down canyons, and into the creeks that quench the thirsty plant, animal, and human life of the eastern Sierra.

This vast and seemingly bare mountainscape is a rich floral rock garden. An extensive variety of annuals, perennials, shrubs, ferns, lichens and fungi can grow in suitable environments producing carpets of color and beautiful bouquets of flowers. The floral bloom in the Sierra Nevada alpine zone is considered by botanists to be one of California’s foremost wildflower displays.

Ancient Bristlecones

Summer is the time to visit the oldest living beings on the planet. High on a cold, windswept mountaintop above Bishop is an ancient forest; the Great Basin bristlecone pines have lived here for thousands of years. The oldest tree is almost 5,000-years old and still living. Come and see these ancient beings and let your imagination wonder about the passage of time and ponder the history of humankind through which these trees have lived.

These and many more super summer things to do like boating, trail running, biking, auto touring, photography, birding, stargazing and more are here for you to explore and experience.